What motivated the insurgent vietcong to take up arms against south vietnams government? quizlet

French Vietnam, or also French Indochina, was created in 1887 and lasted until 1954. The French had the Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina areas with Cambodia and Laos later added. The capital of French Vietnam was Hanoi. Under French rule and the Vichy government, French Vietnam fell under Japanese occupation.

French rule was fully established in the 19th century in several stages. The French first occupied city of Saigon in 1859, then Cochinchina and Cambodia. Next, the French extended their control over Hanoi (Tonkin), Annam, and the rest of Tonkin thus founding French Indochina. Laos was added in 1893, and Siam (now Thailand), ceded further territory to the French in the 20th century. While French rule in Cochin was direct (French officials, governors, and citizens), the French left local leaders in place in other parts of French Indochina: the Annamite emperor in Tonkin and True power was held by the French (utilized a combination of French rulers and puppet rulers to keep placated but hold control).

The French began taking control in Indochina by exploring Indochina. Catholic Church missionaries had the first interest, backed by the French gov, as the only religion able to convert in the region. First interest in Indochina came from missionaries and explorers (some involvement of French navy), however the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War saw a resurgence of interest. While many French politicians were more intent upon the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine, the French military looked towards overseas military expansion and French businessmen were attracted by the prospects for trade and raw materials.

On May 15, 1883, French parliament overwhelmingly voted funds for a full-scale expedition to impose a protectorate on Vietnam (placed without Vietnam say). Jules Delafosse, an ultra conservative French politician, took issue with protectorate saying, "Let us, gentlemen, call things by their name. It is not a protectorate that you want, but a possession" (Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History).

French rule was categorized by brutal suppression of rebellion and many exiled businessmen with money taken from them. The Vietnamese had financial autonomy and no French support, but were expected to export most raw materials to France with prices set by the French. There was heavy direct and indirect taxation on the population, some of which financed investment in infrastructure. Mission Civilisatrice (Acculturation) and political and economic dominance of the Vietnamese took place.

By 1914, Indochina appeared so peaceful that the French left only 2,500 French soldiers there, and sent thousands of Indochinese to work for the French war effort. After 1918, French rule was challenged by nationalism, democracy, and socialism.

The Viet Minh were the group of people that worked under Ho Chi Minh to create independence of Vietnam from French rule. The Viet Minh was led by Communists and worked in infiltrating and launching guerrilla tactics against the Southern Vietnamese and foreign troops. While many members of the Viet Minh were communists, not all fell into this category, and instead the political coalition held the common nationalistic belief in an independent Vietnam. The Viet Minh were formed in 1935 against imperialism, and reformed under Ho Chi Minh in 1941. The initial work of the VIet Minh was against the Japanese occupation, and was with the support of the US and China against the common enemy of the Japanese. However, this changed upon the Japanese fall and bombing in WWII. After this point, the Viet Minh, still hoping to gain independence for Vietnam, worked against the French and American imperialist and colonial forces. They also fought the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam War.

WWII: The Viet Minh started to fight against the Japanese occupation with a membership of 500,000. They simultaneously fought the French. After the fall of the Japanese and Viet Minh seizure of the government, the nationalist organization proclaimed the independence of Vietnam.

Vietnam War: After the Vietnamese independence, the Viet Minh worked against the French re-colonization methods. THey had very little military tactics, and instead worked in guerrilla tactics. During the Vietnam War, they were supported by the Chinese, though still with the goal of an independent Vietnam. The Viet Minh, angered by the divisions of Vietnam by the Geneva Accords, began fighting against the French and American entities.

The Viet Minh were monumental in the independence fighting forces against the foreign rule, and were one of the main driving forces in the independence of Vietnam.

Giap was born in 1912 in An Xa, Vietnam, and died in 2013 in Hanoi. Giap was significant in that he was the general in the North Vietnam that can be said to be key to the success of the Vietminh.

Background: Giap was an educated and privileged child, the son of an anticolonialist scholar. Giap's parents worked land and lived a comfortable life. His father was a minor official and committed Vietnamese nationalist. When Giap was young, his father was arrested by the French colonial authorities and died, and a similar fate took his sister after. In his youth, he was educated with many other youth that would become revolutionary leaders. He then was arrested for his student protests, and upon his release joined the communist party in Vietnam. He was educated in university, and began working as a history teacher in Hanoi. It was here that his political activism continued.

Involvement In Politics: During the Popular Front years in France, he founded an underground socialist newspaper titled Soul of Youth (Hon Tre Tap Moi). Giap wrote many propaganda pieces, and worked with the communist party to establish an intelligence network and organize political bases in the north of the country. In 1939 the party was prohibited, and Giap escaped to China, leaving his wife behind who died in prison. In 1941 Giap formed an alliance with Chu Van Tan, guerrilla leader of the Tho, a minority tribal group of northeastern Vietnam. The formation of the Vietnam Liberation army was proclaimed, with Giap as its commander in 1944. With Ho Chi Minh, Giap marched his forces into Hanoi in August 1945, and in September Ho announced the independence of Vietnam, with Giap in command of all police and internal security forces and commander in chief of the armed forces. After their victory, Giap executed many non-Communist nationalists, and censored nationalist newspapers. He then served as a general during the French Indochina War, and his work led to the winning of the key battle at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954.

Giap then became the deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and commander in chief of the armed forces of North Vietnam. When the Vietnam War began, Giap commanded the People's Army of Vietnam and the expansion of the PAVN into its equipped and large army. His victories with the PAVN forced the American forces to leave, and the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.

Impact of Actions: After the Vietnam War, Giap served as the minister of national defense, and a deputy prime minister. He was a member of the Politburo of the communist party. Giap's actions were incredibly essential to the victory of the North Vietnamese. His strategic military strategies, combined with the expertise he held in guerrilla warfare, allowed for the North Vietnamese victory.

The ARVN is the acronym for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. This army was the army of the South Vietnamese.

Background: The Vietnamese National Army was created in 1949 under Emperor Bao Dai in an effort to fight communist forces alongside the French. The VNA was advanced and aided by the French in training and arms, but after the French withdraw from Indochina in 1954, the Geneva Accords also mandated the disband of the VNA. The militia remained, however, and was reorganized into the ARVN under President Diem in 1956. This military force was focused on the guerrilla forces of Northern Vietnam and the Viet Cong.

Actions: The ARVN fought against the Northern Vietnamese and their guerrilla tactics. During their time, they received aid in the form of arms and military advisors from the US and President Kennedy. However, they were also internationally criticised for their religious attacks against seemingly insurgent religions. They were attacked and further criticised for their inhumane actions against Vietnamese villagers.

After the assassination of Diem, the ARVN became nearly obsolete compared to American troops. The ARVN still fought with the majority of the ground battles, but suffered casualties in the hundreds of thousands.

During Vietnamization, the US attempted, under Nixon, to pull out of Vietnam but leave technology to enable the ARVN to fight on its own. The South had some victories during this time, but when the US had pulled out all of its troops by 1974, the ARNV was severely hurt. A lack of funding by the US, the unpopular nature of the war, and the low morale of the Southern Vietnamese all caused the ARVN collapse.

Impact/Significance: The ARVN was incredibly significant to the Vietnamese War as one of the driving military forces. The ARVN, despite some of its many technological advancements provided by the US, suffered from the unpopularity of the war, and eventually collapsed. The demise of the ARVN meant the success of North Vietnam, and the decimation of soldiers and leaders as a part of the army.

Agent Orange was a chemical weapon that revealed Vietnamese hiding places by destroying forests, brush, and crops, especially along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was later discovered that the chemical had effects on livestock and even humans, like Vietnamese civilians and American troops. Agent Orange was used during teh VIetnam War by the US to eliminate forest cover and create defoliation through Operation Ranch Hand. Agent Orange has since been found to cause tumors, birth defects, rashes, and cancer among both US army and Vietnamese populations.

The defoliation program of the US from 1961 to 1972 worked with deployed aircraft. The work of Agent Orange was also on crops to limit the food supply for the Northern Vietnamese. The population of the Southern Vietnamese was also hurt by this operation with over 4.5 million acres of land sprayed. Agent Orange was not nearly that successful in its aim of defoliation in order to catch the Northern Vietnamese. It was a popular herbicide used on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and yet did not succeed for the most part in finding the hiding places of the Northern Vietnamese.

The impact of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese War is more significant in its after-effects, rather than the effects during the war. Not only have there been severe health repercussions from the chemical, but there have also been lawsuits by the veterans on the use of Agent Orange. In Vietnam, it is estimated that over 400,000 people have been maimed or killed due to exposure. They have had nearly 2 million cases of suffering of cancers or other illnesses due to Agent Orange. However, the lawsuit by the Vietnamese failed, unlike the US lawsuit. Agent Orange is one of the largest long-term impacts of the Vietnamese War today.

Carpet Bombing was a tactic utilized by the American forces during the Vietnam War against the Northern Vietnamese. In this tactic aerial bombing is done to inflict damage to every part of an area. The area is so covered by explosions that it resembles a carpet on a floor. Instead of targeting a specific target, the entirety of one area may be obliterated. This method of fighting, though not unique to just the Vietnam War, was used extensively by the Americans during this time.

During the Vietnam War, the operation of carpet bombing was called Operation Rolling Thunder. The purpose of this bombardment was to place pressure on Northern Vietnamese leaders and make it harder for them to take part in the war. The significance of the operation lies mainly in it being the, "first sustained American assault on North Vietnamese territory and thus represented a major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War" (A&E Networks).

The aim of these carpet bombings was to reduce morale in North Vietnam, reduce their ability to fight, and have North Vietnam accept South Vietnamese governments. Despite this, these goals were not met due to the North building its own air force with Chinese aid, the rebuilding of infrastructure, and utilization of bombings as propaganda against America. The bombings lasted for almost three years, but by the time of Nixon's presidency, the US withdrew from Vietnam, thus ending the bombing that had killed nearly 2 million Vietnamese.

A draft dodger was someone who, for reasons of a personal manner, chose to avoid the draft at the risk of being persecuted and sent to war. During the Vietnam War, the reinstatement of the draft meant that men were required to go to war with the risk of prison time and crippling fines of thousands of dollars for not complying.

There were many ways for men to avoid the draft, especially for college students. Furthermore, those coming from affluent families, or who had some physical handicap limiting their combat abilities, found exemptions from the draft as well. These measures of the war meant the draft mainly applied to the poor in America while the affluent remained in college or managed to evade the draft.

Other ways to avoid the draft were seen through feigning homosexuality or mental disorders. People who were known as draft dodgers were those that, upon receiving the call to war, fled. If caught, these draft dodgers would face severe consequences. Many of them evaded the draft by fleeing to another country or having antiwar lawyers argue for their case.

The My Lai Massacre was against civilians during the Vietnam War when American soldiers killed the majority of the civilians in the village of My Lai in March of 1968. Over 500 were killed, not disincluding women, children, and the elderly.

The village was believed to be a base of the Viet Cong, and thus was a frequent target of US and South Vietnamese bombings. The 11th Infantry in March of 1968 received word saying the VC guerrillas had control of the Son My village that My Lai was a part of. Being sent on a destroy mission, they were told to destroy the mission. However upon arrival at the village, the found no Viet Cong. Despite this, they chose to round up and murder the civilians brutally.

In the aftermath, the US attempted to cover up the massacre. Ridenhour, a member of the 11th that hadn't participated, learned of the events and tried to spread their word. The story was broken in November of 1969, causing a major inquiry, and some life sentences.

My Lai was impactful in making morale to plummet amongst the Americans, making anti war sentiment higher than ever before and influencing the US decision to leave Vietnam.

A donut dolly the nickname, albeit one of many such as Kool Aid Kid, for a woman that joined the war effort in order to boost the morale of the US troops. The job was one where they would be flown from base to base in order to entertain by talking to the men or playing games with them. These women served as a sort of distraction for the daily lives of the troops at war.

The job was one that was meant to boost morale, rather than have a tangible benefit such as a nurse or cook. However, this job also came with its own traumas and dangers. These women were faced with dealing with dying men constantly, trying to raise their spirits with the knowledge that they were going to die. They often flew into hotspots of danger, and even then lived with the risk of being attacked. Furthermore, the women faced the risk of rape, which was not uncommon among the troops, and their lives were often threatened.

The job was often taken on by wives and sisters, though often those without children. They would deploy for a few years before returning to the US.

Background: Lydon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908 in Stonewall, Texas and died on January 22, 1973 in Stonewall, Texas. He lived a privileged lifestyle in his youth, with his father serving as a farmer, businessman, and state legislator. In his youth, he was involved in school politics and debate. He was educated in the Southwest State Teachers College, and taught disadvantaged Mexican-American students. During college, he continued in his role in debate and politics. This teaching job enabled him to see the effects of poverty and discrimination, and made a deep impression on Johnson.

After this time, in 1931 Johnson moved to DC to serve as congressional secretary for Kleberg. During his time there, he became the Texas director of the National Youth Administration, a federal program aimed at helping young people find jobs or volunteer work during the Great Depression.

Involvement in Politics: His political career boomed in 1937 when he was elected to the House of Representatives, and received 5 resulting re-elections. He worked for the military in active duty for WWII and served in the Navy as a lieutenant commander.

In 1948 he was elected to the US Senate, and he became the Senate majority leader in 1955. He became the VP under Kennedy, and upon Kennedy's death assumed the presidency. His role as president led to many progressive reforms proposed by Kennedy for poverty, civil rights, and voting lives.

During the Vietnam War, he was considered more of a failure. During his rule, he dramatically escalated the US military involvement in the Vietnam War, committing hundreds of thousands of American troops to Vietnam. During his time, anti-war protests rocked college campuses and cities across the U.S. The Vietnam War was his downfall, as with the anti-war demonstrations increasing, he was met with less popularity, causing him to leave without running for re-election.

Results of Actions: While Johnson's reforms in the US were beneficial to millions, his actions with regards to Vietnam caused thousands to millions of deaths, both of the Vietnamese and US troops. His commitment of more troops to the cause escalated the war, a war that would continue for four years after his leaving the Oval Office.

Background: Henry Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Furth, Germany. In his youth, Kissinger lived a fairly moderate childhood with little money. However, his family was forced to flee Germany with the Nazi persecution, and arrived in London, and later New York, in 1938. He was educated in Manhattan as a part of the German jewish immigrant community. He went to the City College of New York, but was drafted during his studies in 1943 into the US Army.

During his time in the Army during WWII, he was instrumental due to his German background. He became a commandant, and was later a teacher in the Army. Upon returning from the war, Kissinger earned his doctorate degree from Harvard. He began to work in the Department of Government, and was a study director in nuclear weapons and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He worked with several government agencies, and finally was made the National Security advisor under President Nixon in 1968.

Involvement in Politics: While at Harvard, Kissinger worked with the White House and State Department as a consultant on Vietnam. While touring Vietnam, Kissinger became convinced of the meaninglessness of military victories in Vietnam. Kissinger's hard-line policy resulted in him helping to engineer the U.S. bombing of Cambodia. Nixon's Vietnamization was another area where Kissinger played a major role in negotiating a cease-fire to allow for the US withdrawal of troops and a permanent peace settlement between the North and South.

Results of Actions: Kissinger's actions were key in the time period of apparently orchestrating peace in Vietnam and the US withdrawal, for which he won a Nobel Peace Prize. The reality of the situation, however, was that Kissinger's actions allowed the South Vietnamese to be decimated by the North Vietnamese, and the nation to fall to communism. His actions caused more anti-war sentiment in America prior to the withdrawal, and strife in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The War Powers Act/Resolution was a law passed by Congress on November 7, 1973.

Traditionally under the constitution, the power of war is divided within the government, with the President serving as commander-in-chief. The funding of war is in the hands of Congress. During the Vietnam War, however, the US had never declared war, and instead the Presidents at the time were acting without the Congressional decision to declare war. After President Nixon had secret bombings of Cambodia, the War Powers Resolution was meant to check the power of US president's ability to commit US forces overseas by requiring them to report to Congress before involving U.S. forces internationally.

The act was vetoed by President Nixon, but his veto was overrridden by a 2/3 majority in Congress and went into effect. The act was ignored by many presidents, but since its passing, presidents have tended to take actions consistent with, rather than against the provisions of the act.

While the impact of the War Powers Act has not been always considered constitutional by many presidents, and it has not always been followed by presidents in many international situations, it has required some more reports and oversight by Congress before committing troops to a foreign dispute. In addition, the impact of the War Powers Act on Vietnam was limited, and mostly meant to prevent future involvement like that in Vietnam for the future.

Operation Rolling Thunder was an operation from March of 1965 to October of 1968 wherein Carpet Bombing was utilized to hurt North Vietnam physically, and also to place pressure on its leaders. Operation Rolling Thunder was significant in marking the first sustained American assault on the North Vietnamese Territory, thus representing a major expansion of the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Air operations in Vietnam by the US had been active since 1962, but President Johnson expanded these operations in 1964 against reported attacks on US warships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Bombing was also done on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to disrupt the flow of supplies. Operation Rolling Thunder began in response to the Viet Cong attack on the Pleiku base.

The strikes gradually grew northward, with the aim of not only making it difficult to wage war by losing people, land, and supplies, but also by lowering morale and pressuring the North Vietnamese. This expansion of the US role in the Vietnam War was the precedent that later would allow Johnson to place the first ground troops in 1965.

In response, the North Vietnamese, aided by Chinese funds, expanded their own air force and air-defense system to shoot down American planes. These air strikes caused them to rebuff their effects with underground tunnels, night construction, and propaganda uses.

The impacts of the operation are argued among historians, but they identify the limitations in not being able to bomb Hanoi. However, nearly 2 million Vietnamese were killed by these bombing raids by the US.

Amerasians were the children of the Vietnam War, born to Vietnamese mothers and US servicemen. During the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese women would become pregnant by the US military men there. However, the culture shaming the premarital relations would cause the mothers to abandon their children, with most of these orphans never knowing either parent. These children, numbering in the thousands, were resettled in the US in 1980. At the time, however, neither the Vietnamese nor the US wanted to take responsibility for them. These Amerasians were seen as insignificant and useless, and thus cast aside. When the Operation Babylift came into effect under President Ford to evacuate the Saigon orphans, a large majority of the 2,000 orphans were Amerasians.

These children, now grown, lived with a lack of education or care as orphans that were unwanted. They are mostly in poverty and without support. They are a reminder of the lasting effects of the war and responsibilities that were left behind.

Background: Ho Chi Minh war born, under a different name, on May 19, 1890 in a village in central Vietnam, Kim Lien, and died September 2, 1969 in Hanoi, Vietnam. As a child, he was highly educated in his village, and followed Confucianism with his father. Minh was exposed to rebellion early with his father rejecting a role in the bureaucracy under the French. He then traveled to France, working as a cook, then to Africa, the United States and Britain. He was living in France by 1919 when he organized a group of Vietnamese immigrants and petitioned delegates at the Versailles Peace Conference to demand that the French colonial government in Indochina grant the same rights to its subjects as it did to its rulers. Thus marking his first foray into politics.

Involvement in Politics: Ho Chi Minh was imprisoned in Vietnam in 1941 after organizing the Viet Minh. It was the Viet Minh forces that then seized Hanoi and declared Vietnam with Minh as president, thus making him a leader of Vietnam. Minh attempted to get negotiations for an independent Vietnam, but war broke out in December of 1946 with a French attack.

During the French Indochina War, Minh led his forces against the Bao Dai, though the Viet Minh were successful. It was after the Geneva Accords when the South Vietnamese began fighting with the Viet Cong of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh during this time served as the ruler of North Vietnam, appealing to and gaining aid from China for his endeavors against the South and due to his nationalism.

Ho Chi Minh ceded his position as party secretary-general to Le Duan. He remained the head of state during the Vietnam War, and remained a symbol of Vietnam's unification as "Uncle Ho." In July 1966, Ho sent a message to the country's people that "nothing is as dear to the heart of the Vietnamese as independence and liberation." This became the motto of the North Vietnamese cause. He then died in September 2, 1969 in Hanoi before the communist success.

Results of Actions: Ho Chi Minh, as both a revolutionary leader and negotiator, and also as a symbol, was the key leader and individual toward Vietnamese independence and fall to communism. Minh's nationalistic stance, combined with the aid he received from China led to two wars that would drastically alter Vietnamese lives in the fight for independence from the French. His role, as a symbol of unification between North and South and as a symbol of independence, helped to fuel the North Vietnamese, and his drive and revolutionary ideas led to their eventual success in the aftermath of his death.

The First Indochina War came in the aftermath of WWII. In WWII, the French had fallen to the Nazis, and were under the Vichy government. During this period of time, Vietnam fell under Japanese occupation.

By the summer of 1941, Indochinese Communists based in Southern China declared war against both the French and the Japanese. They formed a new guerrilla army called the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, which received some aid from the Office for Strategic Services (predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency). A large-scale famine in the early 1940s, combined with the Japanese surrender, led to Ho Chi Minh declaring Vietnam independence in September 2, 1945.

However, the French re-established control over Annam and Cochin Chin. In 1949 a nominally independent provisional government under the former emperor Bao Dai was established in Saigon in the South of Vietnam by American and French to counter Ho Chi Minh. In February 1950, the Bao Dai government was recognised by the Truman administration and began to receive direct economic and military aid from the United States. Bao Dai's regime was rejected by the Viet Minh.

In 1951 the Viet Minh created a common front with communist groups in laos and Cambodia, led by General Vo Nguyen Giap. Indochina war was unpopular with both Right and Left in France, particularly on the left. On March 13, 1954 the siege of Dien Bien Phu began by Ho Chi Minh troops on the base.

On May 7, 1954 French troops surrendered at Dien Bien Phu. It was considered one of the worst defeats of the French military. The Geneva Accords provided for a temporary partition of Vietnam at the 17th parallel pending country-wide elections.

The Geneva Accords took place in the Geneva Conference from April 26, 1954 to July 21, 1954. The members of Cambodia, China, France, Laos, the UK, the US, the SU, Vietnam, and the Viet Cong were in attendance.

These negotiations chose to have a cease-fire line along the 17th parallel, 300 days for each side to withdraw its troops to its side of the line, and communist troops and guerrillas to evacuate Laos and Cambodia. These provisions were not binding. The Final Declaration stated that all Vietnamese elections were to be held under the supervision of a committee made by the Accords.

The greatest part of this agreement was to have the Viet Minh and North Vietnam split from the South. In the agreement, most of the countries pledged themselves to guarantee the agreements, but the United States made it clear that it was not bound by them. The Final Declaration was left unsigned.

After the Geneva Accords, the US began to build a separate anticommunist state with a dissatisfied South Vietnam.

When Buddhist Monks began to go against President Diem in Vietnam, it is often referred to as the Buddhist Crisis. In South Vietnam, there is a large Buddhist majority among the population, and yet in 1963 President Diem's pro-Catholic policies antagonized many Buddhists, and his government was biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as in the allocation of land, business favors and tax concessions.

However, in May of 1963, a rarely enforced 1958 law—known as Decree Number 10—was invoked in May 1963 to prohibit the display of religious flags. This made Buddhists angry about the religious festival of Vesak, especially when Catholics were allowed to display flags. On May 30, more than 500 monks demonstrated in front of the National Assembly in Saigon, then began a nationwide 48-hour hunger strike.

Matters with the Buddhists came to a head in 1963 when, after government forces killed several people at a May rally celebrating the Buddha's birthday, Buddhists began staging large protest rallies, and three monks and a nun set themselves on fire. Those actions finally persuaded the United States to withdraw its support from Diem, and his generals assassinated him during a coup.

Background: General William Westmoreland was born on March 26, 1914 in Saxon, South Carolina, and died on July 18, 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina. He came from an upper middle class family that was involved in the local banking and textile industries. After spending a year at The Citadel in 1932 he was appointed to attend the United States Military Academy. Following graduation in 1936, he became an artillery officer and served in several with the 18th Field Artillery at Fort Sill. In 1939 he was promoted to first lieutenant, after which he was a battery commander and battalion staff officer with the 8th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Involvement in Politics: Westmoreland was involved in both WWII and the Korean War. He immediately advocated increasing the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam, arguing that escalation was vital to preventing the unstable Saigon government from collapse under the threat from Communist North Vietnamese upon arriving in Vietnam in 1964. In 1965, Westmoreland began to send large numbers of soldiers on "search and destroy" operations using helicopters and high-tech weapons. Westmoreland's goal of inflicting major losses to the communists. His "war of attrition" overlooked the enemy's skill in guerrilla warfare and drastically underestimated the nationalism and will to fight that motivated North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces.

Westmoreland saw the Tet Offensive as positive in the engagement of the enemy, and saw the end of the war to be near. After losses near 100,000 of US forces, the Johnson administration lost confidence in Westmoreland's strategy of attrition and victory in Vietnam. Johnson turned down Westmoreland's request for 200,000 more troops and recalled him to Washington to serve as the U.S. Army's chief of staff.

Results of Actions: Westmoreland was key in having Johnson increase the number of troops dedicated to the war cause. Furthermore, he is credited with the highly aggressive and dangerous search and destroy missions that he saw as a method of weakening the communist resolve.

The Tet Offensive, named after the Tet holiday, was a series of attacks coordinated by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in 1968. The Tet Offensive greatly reduced morale of the South Vietnamese and Americans, making support for the war decrease, and thus marking the turning point of the Vietnam War.

In the background of the event, the holiday of Tet was meant to be a time of an informal truce between North and South Vietnam. However, in 1968 General Giap chose the Tet holiday to have coordinated surprise attacks to break the stalemate in Vietnam. His aim was to have the ARVN forces collapse and create discontent and rebellion amongst the Southern Vietnamese, leading them to join with the North. The intention was also to demolish the American alliance with South Vietnam. Bombardments and surprise attacks to American garrisons led the way to the Tet Offensive beginning.

On January 30, 1968 the Viet Cong attacked 13 cities in central South Vietnam, and later the Viet Cong struck more areas in over 100 attacks. Theere was an attack on the US embassy in Saigon as well. Giap was defeated by the US and ARVN forces. One of the greatest battles during the Tet Offensive was the Battle of Hue where the Viet Cong soldiers occupied Hue, arresting and killing any suspected of being counter revolutionaries. The ARVN fought with Hue with many casualties on both sides.

The Tet Offensive failed in inspiring rebellion amongst the South Vietnamese, but held many casualties for the Viet Cong. Despite these casualties, the Tet Offensive was successful in dramatically increasing anti-war sentiment and the fear that the war was to continue longer than expected. Thus the US began its withdraw from Vietnam, with President Johnson deciding to hald escalation of the war. Thus the Tet Offensive marked a turning point in the Vietnam War, harming US involvement and ultimately causing the South to lose the war.

A conscientious objector is a person who, due to their personal beliefs, and during Vietnam often their religion, objects to serving as a part of the military. For greater insight to an individual's life as a CO, see the Brown essay.

CO's gained their status as being able to avoid serving in war if the war went against their deep moral or religious beliefs. During the draft, men were allowed to be assigned to alternative military posts if they were against the war and had been approved. However, the classification and application process to be classified as a CO was long and arduous, without specificity on the Vietnam War but war in general being the man's moral issue.

The CO's, as described by Brown, faced many trials of those who tried to force them into service, and also in trying to gain the CO status. For COs that refused to take part in any military action, even non-combat, prison was the likely destination.

Background: Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr. was born on June 8, 1943 in Miami, Florida. He served as a part of the US Army in Vietnam, but was convicted by court-martial in the My Lai Massacre (see above).

In his early life, Calley had been exposed to the US Army through his father being a US Navy veteran of WWII. He was educated at high school and Palm Beach Junior College in 1963, however he dropped college after a year due to his poor grades. He worked a few odd jobs before his military career. After weeks of training, he was assigned to the 11th Infantry Brigade in preparation for deployment to South Vietnam.

He was described as average, and then a negative person. He was described as not being incredibly bright and very highly disliked by the men beneath him.

Involvement in Politics: Upon Calley's deployment to Vietnam, he was assigned with the 11h Brigade, and took part in the subsequent My Lai Massacre as a platoon leader. The My Lai Massacre in March 16, 1968 was a period where the search and destroy mission turned violent, with a massacre of civilians and the execution of all including women, children, and the elderly.

The My Lai Massacre had been covered up by the US Army, though in April of 1969 the events were released. It was after this exposure on September 5, 1969 when Calley was charged with premeditated murder for 109 civilians. Investigations and subsequent breakings of the story led to his trial and eventual prosecution for the death of 22 civilians.

He was given a life sentence, though that sentence was continually reduced until he was given parole by President Nixon after 3 years. he was seen by much of the public as a "scapegoat" for the My Lai Massacres and eventual coverup.

Results of Actions: Calley's actions in Vietnam and the death of hundreds of civilians cannot be ignored, even if he was only one of many officers and in some regards a scapegoat for the US. His actions resulted in many innocent deaths, and later the impact of the My Lai Massacre on the anti-war sentiment rising with distrust in the US Army.

Background: Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. He was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California and died on April 22, 1994 in Manhattan, New York. In his youth, his parents came from Quakers, and thus was influenced by the more conservative practices and observances. his father was incredibly poor, and lost his brother Arthur at a young age. He attended public school and Fullerton Union High School with excellent grades and high level of involvement in debate and public speaking. Despite an offer from Harvard, Nixon stayed at Whittier College to care for his family. He then attended the Duke School of Law with a high level of success.

Him and his new wife moved to DC to begin political campaigns, and thus later joined the US Navy. He was given commendations for his naval work in WWII.

Involvement in Politics: After the war, he began his political career by becoming a member of the US House of Representatives for California in 1946. Nixon led the controversial Alger Hiss investigation, and was reelected in 1948 before winning a seat in the Senate.

He was made the VP to Eisenhower, though was brought under scrutiny for which he gave his famous "Checkers" speech, thus allowing him and Eisenhower to win and be re-elected. He lost to Kennedy during the televised debates, but then ran again and won over Democrat Humphrey.

Nixon introduced a strategy known as Vietnamization, which called for gradually withdrawing American troops from the war while training South Vietnamese army forces to take over their own defense. The peace agreement he reached with the North Vietnamese in 1973 marked the withdrawal of troops to be official. Despite the many later allegations against him in the Watergate scandal and eventual resignation, Nixon made important bridges and reduced tensions with China and the Soviet Union following the Vietnam War.

Results of Actions:
After the Watergate scandal involving the burglary of the Democratic National Committee was revealed, Nixon resigned from the White House. His image from Watergate was tarnished, and he went down as one of the most controversial presidents. His role in Vietnam, however, and his ideas of Vietnamization allowed for the North Vietnamese takeover of South Vietnam. Furthermore, his actions later allowed for some measure of peace with Vietnam and with other communist nations, despite his failings in Vietnam itself.

The Paris Peace Talks/Accords were the talks to end the Vietnam War with the US, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, North Vietnam all in attendance in 1973. The agreement to end the war and restore peace was signed in Paris. However, because South Vietnam was unwilling to recognize the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government, two versions of the document were signed by the North Vietnamese and US.

The Paris Peace Accords included the 1973 Peace Treaty in specific. For a long time, the Vietnamization and withdrawal of troops in Vietnam led to a deadlock in the Paris negotiations with bombing still continuing on North Vietnam. Kissinger continually met with North Vietnamese officials to create peace, make changes to the accords, and end the war. His efforts were only realized with the bombing by Nixon of Hanoi, which influenced the signing of the Paris Accords.

The Paris Peace Accords were wholly insignificant in many of its goals. For one, the cease-fire did not hold by North and South Vietnam, and furthermore some debate over the secret keeping of American POWs after the accords is still up for talks.

However, the talks had some provisions that were upheld. For example, the independence of Vietnam, no longer as a French colony or any dependent nation, was identified. The provision of dividing Vietnam was also followed, though it was meant to be later ended.

The 1973 Peace Treaty was the formal treaty that ended the Vietnam War, being signed by the US, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam. What is notable about the peace treaty is that two documents were created due to South Vietnam being unwilling to recognize the Viet Cong as a legitimate participant in the peace talks.

Some provisions of the peace treaty were the cease-fire throughout all of Vietnam and a US withdrawal of all US troops and advisors, as well as a dismantling of all US bases, within 60 days. The North Vietnamese agreed to release all POWs. All foreign troops and bases were to be withdrawn from Laos and Cambodia, and the 17th parallel would be the dividing line to later create reunification through peaceful means and elections.

This 1973 peace treaty is significant in many ways. First, it failed ratification by the US Senate. Secondly, the peace treaty was often not followed by North and South Vietnam, with President Nixon wanting to engage again in fighting the North. The peace treaty, halting US involvement, also allowed North Vietnam to expand its area and build up its military to overcome South Vietnam.

The Fall of Saigon, the fall of the capital city of South Vietnam to North Vietnamese forces and the Viet Cong, took place on April 30, 1975. The Fall of Saigon was significant in marking the victory of the North Vietnamese and the end of the war.

By this point in the war, the US had formalized its withdraw from Vietnam, allowing the North Vietnamese to advance towards Saigon while capturing other cities along the way. The ARVN front began to fall into disorganization and anarchy. After reports of mass graves, the deaths of businessmen and counterrevolutionaries, and even more propaganda, the people of Saigon and other nations wanted to evacuate the city. Americans began to evacuate Saigon with their families, as well as some Vietnamese. The DAO (Defense Attache's Office) began the illegal evacuation of Vietnamese to the Philippines. Under President Ford, evacuations of orphans, refugees, and more were evacuated from Saigon. Evacuations for Americans in Saigon were approved, as well as the negotiated and bribed evacuations of many Vietnamese refugees.

On April 29, the attacks of Saigon began, with the airport as one of the attacked areas. General Martin was forced to begin helicopter evacuations, and the "Frequent Wind" evacuation plan began using helicopters to evacuate Americans. For the next day, Americans and Vietnamese refugees combined were evacuated from Saigon and the US embassy. However, by April 30 the order arrived to stop the evacuation of the South Vietnamese. Several hundred Vietnamese were left in Saigon, and the Americans were all evacuated, marking the end of US presence in Vietnam.

On April 28, PAVN troops engaged with the South Vietnamese, bombing airports and claiming Saigon for its own. The PAVN, under Dung, attacked key parts of Saigon on April 30. The North Vietnamese took the city with much bloodshed and violence, and the city fell that day to Ho Chi Minh. The government under Minh began its work in reconstruction and reunification under Communist control.

The Chu Chi tunnels were created as a part of the Vietnam War Communist guerrilla forces to combat the American and South Vietnamese forces. The Cu Chi tunnels were created by the Vietcong in order to combat the opposing troops through traps, "house troops, transport communications and supplies, lay booby traps and mount surprise attacks, after which they could disappear underground to safety" (History Channel). These tunnels were elemental in gaining victories over the formally-trained armies of the Americans, and allowed the Northern Vietnamese to take advantage of the terrain. They were dug beginning in the 1940's against France, and their construction of thousands of miles continued in the fight against the Americans and South Vietnamese. The Cu Chi tunnels ran thousands of miles, and at one point even housed entire villages that lived in areas of high bombings. The shelter provided, as well as the use of the tunnels for a base of Communist attacks against Saigon allowed for the advancement of Communists. After becoming more familiar with the attacks, Americans began training "tunnel rats" to infiltrate and scout the tunnels. The tunnels were swept by US and Australian troops in 1966 via Operation Crimp, but by 1968 were in use once again for the Tet Offensive against Saigon. While conditions in the tunnels were difficult and riddled with disease for prolonged periods of time, they still were one of the most effective Vietcong tactics against the foreign troops and Southern Vietnamese.