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America Aids the French
Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, it gave up control of Indochina. Ho Chi Minh quickly declared Vietnam’s independence. France had no intention of losing its former colony, however. French troops returned to Vietnam in 1946 and drove the Vietminh into hiding. -
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
Vietcong included many South Vietnamese, North Vietnam provided arms, advisers, and leadership. North Vietnam began sending North Vietnamese Army units to fight. Johnson feared that directly attacking North Vietnam would bring China into the war, Instead of conquering territory. American troops had to fight a war defeating enemy forces by wearing them down. This strategy led troops to conduct grisly body counts after battles to determine how many enemy soldiers had been killed. -
Defeat at Dien Bien Phu
The turning point came in the mountain town of Dien Bien Phu. By seizing the town the French planned to cut supply lines from vietnam and force them into open battle. Soon after a big Vietminh force surrounded Dien Bien Phu and began bombarding the town. -
The Geneva Accords
A division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. French troops left and the United States became the principal protector of the new government in South Vietnam. Diem refused to permit the elections because he feared Ho Chi Minh would beat him. Eisenhower approved of Diems actions and increased American aid to South Vietnam. -
Kennedy Takes Over
Kennedy took office in 1961 and he continued to support South Vietnam thinking the country was vital in the battle against communism. The number of U.S. military troops in South Vietnam went from about 2,000 to around 15,000 in 2 years. The South Vietnamese made special villages known as strategic hamlets. They moved people to these hamlets despite the peasants resentment at being uprooted from there towns. -
The Overthrow of Diem
American officials blamed Diem and he made himself more unpopular by discriminating against Buddhism. He banned the traditional religious flags for the Buddha’s birthday. Diem’s police killed 9 people after that a Buddhist monk poured gasoline over his self and set himself on fire. news of their self destruction scared and terrorized Americans as they watched the footage on television news reports. -
Kennedy was assassinate
Kennedy was shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas. The presidency now belonged to President Lyndon Johnson. He approached Vietnam cautiously in the beginning, Johnson wanted to keep the country from falling to the Communists. -
Johnson got authority to defend forces in Asia
Johnson asked Congress for the authority to defend American forces and allies in Southeast Asia. Congress agreed and it passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. it let the president “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” -
Napalm and Agent Orange
American troops tried to find enemy troops, bomb their positions, destroy their supply lines, and force them out into the open for combat. American planes dropped napalm, a jellied gasoline that explodes on contact. They also used Agent Orange, a chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs, turning farmland and forest into wasteland. -
expanded American involvement
Johnson expanded American involvement by ordering a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam. That same month he sent the first U.S. combat troops into Vietnam.