This joint U.S.South Vietnamese program attempted to resettle the rural population into fortified villages. [85]:349351 The U.S. military had long been schooled in offensive warfare. [122] Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again. His presidency was short but it spanned a critical period, both in Vietnam and the formulation of US policy. [113] In May 1958, North Vietnamese forces seized the transportation hub at Tchepone in Southern Laos near the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. [203] Between 1969 and 1971 the Viet Cong and some PAVN units had reverted to small unit tactics typical of 1967 and prior instead of nationwide grand offensives. [332] And behind the scenes Secretary of Defense McNamara wrote in a memo to President Johnson his doubts about the war: "The picture of the world's greatest superpower killing or seriously injuring 1,000 noncombatants a week, while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission on an issue whose merits are hotly disputed, is not a pretty one. [335][336], Agent Orange and other similar chemical substances used by the U.S. have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries in the intervening years, including among the US Air Force crews that handled them. Guenter Lewy asserts that one-third of the reported "enemy" killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of PAVN/VC military forces was probably closer to 444,000. [150]:58 Tellingly, South Vietnamese forces were again defeated in June 1965 at the Battle of ng Xoi. [231], The Soviet Union supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment. The war exacted an enormous human cost: estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 966,000[33] to 3million. [16], Support for the VC was driven by resentment of Diem's reversal of Viet Minh land reforms in the countryside. [40]:486 Refusal to send more U.S. troops to Vietnam was also seen as Johnson's admission that the war was lost. Group 559 was tasked with expanding the Ho Chi Minh trail, in light of the near constant bombardment by US warplanes. [160]:153156 Despite the continual conductance of major operations, which the Viet Cong and PAVN would typically evade, the war was characterised by smaller-unit contacts or engagements. Massive aerial bombardment against the Pathet Lao and PAVN forces were carried out by the US to prevent the collapse of the Royal central government, and to deny the use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Young wrote that "The divisions within villages reproduced those that had existed against the French: 75 percent support for the NLF, 20 percent trying to remain neutral and 5 percent firmly pro-government". Before he left for the South, Dng was addressed by L Dun: "Never have we had military and political conditions so perfect or a strategic advantage as great as we have now. The 1970 deposing of the Cambodian monarch, Norodom Sihanouk, resulted in a PAVN invasion of the country (at the request of the Khmer Rouge), and then a U.S.-ARVN counter-invasion, escalating the Cambodian Civil War. How One Epic Document Exposed the Secrets of the Vietnam War - The New [97]:238 Dim staffed his government's key posts mostly with northern and central Catholics. [313], Failure of U.S. goals in the war is often placed at different institutions and levels. Fact check: Which U.S. presidents led the nation into new wars? [176] In a speech before the National Press Club he said a point in the war had been reached "where the end comes into view. Indochina had been a French colony from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. [40]:515[182], U.S. president Richard Nixon began troop withdrawals in 1969. 1973. The French-speaking Australian journalist Kate Webb was captured along with a photographer and others by the Viet Cong in Cambodia and travelled into Laos with them; they were released back into Cambodia after 23 days of captivity. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975. Although Eisenhower warned Kennedy about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights. Which president started Vietnam War? However, "their methodology was reviewed and criticized as invalid by authors. [40]:221 In the same month, Johnson pledged that he was not "committing American boys to fighting a war that I think ought to be fought by the boys of Asia to help protect their own land". Marine Corps general Victor H. Krulak heavily criticised Westmoreland's attrition strategy, calling it "wasteful of American lives with small likelihood of a successful outcome. [272], Women also played a prominent role as front-line reporters in the conflict, directly reporting on the conflict as it occurred. [85]:353354 The idea that the government of South Vietnam could manage its own affairs was shelved. The Vietnam War came to dominate Nixon's presidency. [34]:450453 Estimates of civilian deaths caused by American bombing of North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 30,000[24]:176,617 to 182,000. [40]:104 The last French soldiers left South Vietnam in April 1956. [338] Although a variety of birth defects have been observed, the most common deformity appears to be spina bifida. Kennedy's expansion stemmed in part from Cold War -era fears about the " domino theory ": if communism took hold in Vietnam, it would topple democracies throughout the whole of Southeast Asia, it was thought. American Huey helicopters insert South Vietnamese ARVN troops, 1970. [94][95][40]:9697 The exodus was coordinated by a U.S.-funded $93million relocation program, which included the use of the Seventh Fleet to ferry refugees. [40] Likewise, Ho Chi Minh and other communist officials always won at least 99% of the vote in North Vietnamese "elections". President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Dim's honor in New York City. [127], Following the coup, chaos ensued. Vietnam War - The Nixon administration and the Vietnam War A counter-offensive in 1971 as part of Operation Chenla II by the PAVN would recapture most of the border areas and decimate most of Lon Nol's forces. 11719. "[171][172], During the first month of the offensive, 1,100 Americans and other allied troops, 2,100 ARVN and 14,000 civilians were killed. [183][184] Nixon had also sought dtente with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with China, which decreased global tensions and led to nuclear arms reduction by both superpowers; however, the Soviets continued to supply the North Vietnamese with aid. The presidents of the United States during the Vietnam War were Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 . The Wall), Center for Electronic Records, National Archives, Washington, DC, Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam, Arrest and assassination of Ng nh Dim, Reaction to the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, Role of the United States in the Vietnam War John F. Kennedy (19611963), 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing, commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group, Joint warfare in South Vietnam, 19631969, United States in the Vietnam War Americanization, September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, United States news media and the Vietnam War, United States presidential election in 1968, Four students were killed by National Guardsmen, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, fatal shooting of four students at Kent State University, International participation in the Vietnam War, Bibliography of the post-Stalinist Soviet Union, United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races, List of war crimes 19551975: Vietnam War, Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam use of terror in the Vietnam War, torture was employed to extract confessions, Timeline of American women in war and the U.S. military from 1945 to 1999 1965, Military history of African Americans in the Vietnam War, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Republic of Vietnam National Military Cemetery, The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, League of Wives of American Prisoners in Vietnam, National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, proclamation commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indochina, Third Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, "The Swedish-American Conflict over Vietnam", "Chapter Three: 19571969 Early Relations between Malaysia and Vietnam", "Canada is making the same mistakes in Yemen that it did in Vietnam", "Britain and US Involvement in the Vietnam War during the Kennedy Administration, 1961-63", "A Reappraisal of Germany's Vietnam Policy, 1963-1966: Ludwig Erhard's Response to America's War in Vietnam", "Name of Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon to be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial", "Chapter 5, Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 19541960", The Paris Agreement on Vietnam: Twenty-five Years Later, Military History Institute of Vietnam 2002, "China admits 320,000 troops fought in Vietnam", "The colorful history of North Korea-Vietnam relations", "Vietnam War Allied Troop Levels 196073", "Australia's Vietnam War A Select Chronology of Australian Involvement in the Vietnam War", "Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate", "Chuyn 4 CNG TC TM KIM, QUY TP HI CT LIT S T NAY N NM 2020 V NHNG NM TIP THEO", "Cng tc tm kim, quy tp hi ct lit s t nay n nm 2020 v nhng nn tip theo", "Lost Souls: The Search for Vietnam's 300,000 or More MIAs", "North Korean Pilots in the Skies over Vietnam", Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, "Table 6.1A. "[119][120], Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam assumed that Dim and his forces had to ultimately defeat the guerrillas on their own. Tra calculated that this date would be Hanoi's last opportunity to strike before Saigon's army could be fully trained. The United States Department of State wanted to encourage a coup, while the Defense Department favored Dim. [40]:708 Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975. [97]:18 Despite Johnson and Westmoreland publicly proclaiming victory and Westmoreland stating that the "end is coming into view",[162] internal reports in the Pentagon Papers indicate that Viet Cong forces retained strategic initiative and controlled their losses. The Vietnam War has been featured extensively in television, film, video games, music and literature in the participant countries. In 1955, however, the strongly anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem pushed Emperor Bao aside to become president of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN), often referred to during. The past and future of a right-wing myth (Harper's Magazine)", "CJO Abstract China's 1979 War with Vietnam: A Reassessment", Documents Relating to American Foreign PolicyVietnam, Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives, Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War, Impressions of Vietnam and descriptions of the daily life of a soldier from the oral history of Elliott Gardner, U.S. Army, Stephen H. Warner Southeast Asia Photograph Collection at Gettysburg College, UC Berkeley Library Social Activism Sound Recording Project: Anti-Vietnam War Protests, 19651975 Another Vietnam; Unseen images of the war from the winning side, Archival collections about the Vietnam War, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vietnam_War&oldid=1152595104, Hot Landing Zone. This figure includes battle deaths of Vietnamese soldiers in the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, in which the PAVN was a major participant. [317], Between 1953 and 1975, the United States was estimated to have spent $168billion on the war (equivalent to $1.47 trillion in 2021). On the collapse of U.S. morale, historian Shelby Stanton wrote: In the last years of the Army's retreat, its remaining forces were relegated to static security. March 8, 1965 [89] The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 PAVN/VC forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. [23], The PRC also began financing the Khmer Rouge as a counterweight to North Vietnam at this time. By 1960, the land reform process had stalled because many of Diem's biggest supporters were large land owners. It was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war, and the U.S. raised the readiness level of Strategic Air Command (SAC) forces to DEFCON 2. [240] Rummel estimated that American forces committed around 5,500 democidal killings between 1960 and 1972, from a range of between 4,000 and 10,000 killed. They also had 1,400 aircraft and a two-to-one numerical superiority in combat troops over the PAVN/VC. Nixon was elected president in November 1968, at a time of great disillusionment with the White House and its handling of the conflict in Vietnam. Others, such as Stephen Spiro, opposed the war based on the theory of Just War. [151] The Marines' initial assignment was the defense of Da Nang Air Base. The failure to spark a general uprising and the lack of defections among the ARVN units meant both war goals of Hanoi had fallen flat at enormous costs. [84] The French colonial empire gradually retook control of Indochina. [24]:76 President Dwight D. Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but the British were opposed. Of the war crimes reported to military authorities, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports indicated that 320 incidents had a factual basis. However, the PAVN/VC insurgents remained elusive and demonstrated great tactical flexibility. The Pathet Lao overthrew the monarchy of Laos in December 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic under the leadership of a member of the royal family, Souphanouvong. Defoliation was also used to clear sensitive areas, including base perimeters and possible ambush sites along roads and canals. [224] Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam.[225][226]. [282], After the Tet Offensive, many PAVN units incorporated light tanks such as the Type 62, Type 59 tank., BTR-60, Type 60 artillery, amphibious tanks (such as the PT-76) and integrated into new war doctrines as a mobile combined-arms force. [160]:508513 This officially ended direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, created a ceasefire between North Vietnam/PRG and South Vietnam, guaranteed the territorial integrity of Vietnam under the Geneva Conference of 1954, called for elections or a political settlement between the PRG and South Vietnam, allowed 200,000 communist troops to remain in the south, and agreed to a POW exchange. The election was won by Republican party candidate Richard Nixon who claimed to have a secret plan to end the war. [330] In 1977, United States president Jimmy Carter granted a full and unconditional pardon to all Vietnam-era draft dodgers with Proclamation 4483. However, limitations of the units, including poor voice quality, reduced range, annoying time delays and logistical support issues, led to only one unit in ten being used. The American Army's decline was readily apparent in this final stage. In 1967, Thieu became president with Ky as his deputy, after rigged elections. In 1961, the U.S. had 50,000 troops based in South Korea, and Kennedy faced four crisis situations: the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion that he had approved on 4 April,[118] settlement negotiations between the pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement in May ("Kennedy sidestepped Laos, whose rugged terrain was no battleground for American soldiers. "Four US Presidents Involved with Vietnam War" Between the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the U.S. presidential election in November 1964, the situation in Vietnam had changed for the worse. [88][40]:75 According to then-Vice President Richard Nixon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up plans to use small tactical nuclear weapons to support the French. ICYMI: Philippines, US close 2023 Balikatan exercises | Philippines When did U.S. start sending troops to Vietnam? [40]:8890 Around one million northerners, mainly minority Catholics, fled south, fearing persecution by the Communists. [83], The primary military organizations involved in the war were the United States Armed Forces and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, pitted against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (commonly called the North Vietnamese Army, or NVA, in English-language sources) and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, more commonly known as the Viet Cong (VC) in English language sources), a South Vietnamese communist guerrilla force. 500 thousand tons were dropped on Cambodia, 1million tons were dropped on North Vietnam, and 4million tons were dropped on South Vietnam. [103]:119 The United States countered with what became known as the "American Plan", with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Learn why a country that had been barely known to most Americans came to define an era. [263][264] Some women also served for the PAVN and Viet Cong intelligence services. This offensive would also be the first time the PAVN would field-test its combined arms force. [92][40]:8788 Under the terms of the Geneva Accords, civilians were allowed to move freely between the two provisional states for a 300-day period. [24]:76 Eisenhower, wary of involving the United States in a land war in Asia, decided against military intervention. [40]:106[16] Violence between the insurgents and government forces increased drastically from 180 clashes in January 1960 to 545 clashes in September. In response, China invaded Vietnam, with subsequent border conflicts lasting until 1991. This proposal was conveyed to the U.S. embassy in Saigon in Cable 243. [107] According to Gabriel Kolko, 40,000 political prisoners had been jailed by the end of 1958. At Binh Gia, however, they had defeated a strong ARVN force in a conventional battle and remained in the field for four days. [163] Preparations were underway for the General Offensive, General Uprising, known as Tet Mau Than, or the Tet Offensive, with the intention of Vn Tin Dng for forces to launch "direct attacks on the American and puppet nerve centersSaigon, Hu, Danang, all the cities, towns and main bases"[164] Le Duan sought to placate critics of the ongoing stalemate by planning a decisive victory.