Important Terms, People and Events during the Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh
1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used guerrilla warfare to fight anti-communist, American-funded attacks under the Truman Doctrine; brilliant strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable.

Geneva Accords 1954
a 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into communist-controlled north Vietnam and non-communist south Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956

Vietminh
an organization of Vietnamese Communists and other nationalist groups that between 1946 and 1954 fought for Vietnamese independence from the French

Dien Bien Phu
In 1954, Vietminh rebels besieged a French garrison at______, deep in the interior of northern Vietnam. In May, after the United States refused to intervene, ______ fell to the communists.

Ho Chi Minh Trail
A network of jungle paths winding from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, used as a military route by North Vietnam to supply the Vietcong during the Vietnam War.

Vietcong
In 1960 the southern Vietnam formed the National Liberation Front. It's main goal was to overthrow of Diem's government., A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War., Vietnamese guerrillas who opposed the non-communist government of South Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnamese president that was catholic and strongly opposed communism. His poor leadership and corrupt government spelled doom

Gulf of Tonkin Incident
an alleged attack by N. Vietnamese Navy on US destroyers which led Pres. Johnson to order a direct bombing attack on North Vietnam(most historians now believe there was no attack)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
It was a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.

Rolling Thunder
beginning of major bombing raids on North Vietnam, us aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam1965-1968

General Westmoreland
was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968 and who served as US Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972.

Hawks vs. doves
Hawks supported the Vietnam war, where doves opposed it. Most doves were college students who were afraid of being drafted

Domino theory
the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

NLF
it was in South Vietnam, it was the with the Vietcong, it is made up of political and religious groups. During Vietnam. It had both guerrilla and regular army in it. It was established in 1960. It encouraged non-communists in the insurgency. there best know action was the tet offensive. Finally the it ended in 1976.

17th parallel
line of latitude that separated North and South Vietnam

DMZ
Demilitarized zone. The dividing line between North and South Vietnam established in 1954 at the Geneva Convention.

Search and Destroy Missions
US patrols searched for hidden enemy camps the destroyed them with massive fire power and air raids

Tet offensive
-1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year, which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment.,
- a massive surprise attack by the Vietcong on South Vietnamese towns and cities in early 1968.

Robert McNamara
The US Secretary of Defense during the battles in Vietnam. He was the architech for the Vietnam war and promptly resigned after the US lost badly.

Clark Clifford
supportor of LBJ's Vietnam policy, chosen to fill the sec. of defense position after McNamara's resignation in 1968

Khe Sanh
This is a military base in northwestern South Vietnam that was attacked by communist troops. There was an increased traffic on the Ho Chi Minh Trail right before the assault.

Kent State
an Ohio University where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4,1970, wounding nine and killing four

Cambodian Invasion
Nixon ordered this without consulting congress on April 29, 1970. American forces then joined South Vietnamese forces to attack enemy sanctuaries in neutral (country). American troops withdrew from (country) in June 29, 1970. As a result, rivalry increased between the "doves" and "hawks" and the idea that Vietnam was a "whitey's war".

My Lai Massacre
In 1968 American troops brutally massacred women and children in the Vietnamese village of ______; this deepened American people's disgust for the Vietnam War.

William Calley
a lieutenant who's unit began shooting and killing unarmed civilians at My Lai. he later maintained that he was following orders, but many of the soldiers present did not participate in the massacre.

Robert F. Kenndy
he began gaining on Humphrey in the polls. He wanted to negotiate a peaceful end to the war ASAP. He also believed in Civil Rights Reform and assistance to the poor. On June 5, 1968, he won the CA primary and then was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.

Senator McCarthy
1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American gov't, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists

Vietnamization
President Richard Nixon's strategy for ending U.S involvement in the Vietnam war, involving a gradual withdraw of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

Henry Kissinger
-The main negotiator of the peace treaty with the North Vietnamese; secretary of state during Nixon's presidency (1970s).
- Awarded 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end Vietnam War and withdrawing American forces. Heavily involved in South American politics as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Condoned covert tactics to prevent communism and facism from spreading throughout South America.

Paris Peace Accords 1973
Were the peace agreements between Vietnam and the US. It called for the removal for all US troops and the return of all US POW's. It also established a demilitarized buffer zone in the South to separate N and S Vietnamese troops. Under this agreement, Communists in SV could take part in politics.

War Powers Act
Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.

Delayed Stress Syndrome
A post-traumatic stress disorder occurring more than six months after the experience of a traumatic event

Pentagon Papers
A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War.

strategic hamlet program
This Southern Vietnamese policy was intended to combat the growing popularity and presence of an anti-government group in the South's countryside.

The Kent State Massacre

The Kent State Massacre occured on May 4, 1970. During a protest against the bombing of Cambodia and the Vietnam was as a whole, the Ohio National Guard fires into a group of unarmed college students. Twenty-eight guardsmen fired approximately 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of 4 million students, and the event further affected public opinion, at an already socially contentious time, over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.

In response to the shooting, Neil Young wrote the song Ohio in protest and tribute to the fallen protesters.

Full Metal Jacket - TET Offensive Scene

In this scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 picture Full Metal Jacket, we see U.S. soldiers enjoying a break from fighting as the Vietnamese celebrate their holiday of Tet. Believing that there would be no fighting, soldiers had their guard down which made it an opportune time for Vietcong forces to mount an offensive. Although largely unsuccessful for the Vietcong, the Tet Offensive showed that despite being told that American forces were demolishing the Vietcong, they were able to mount an impressive attack which if news back home was to be believed should not have been possible as it had been reported that the Vietcong were almost finished and the war was almost over.
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Although the language in this scene is particularly vulgar, it is a great example of how soldiers reacted to being surprise attacked during what was supposed to be a quiet night.