In December 1960 the Viet Cong were formed in the south and there number grew from just 20,000 in 1961 to 1000,000 in 1964
Linden Bains Johnson became president in 1963 after JFK is assassinated. LBJ asked for advice on Vietnam but decided to continue with their current policy with the advisers. He soon realized that this was not working so he changed America’s direction in the war. But the war takes a dramatic turn in August 1964 in the gulf of Tonkin as two American destroyers open fire and sinks two North Vietnamese gunboats. After this incident the American senate agrees to send in Americans troops. There was another turning point at Pleiku Which the Viet Cong attacked a base destroying 10 aircraft killing 8 advisors and wounding over a hundred. This led to a massive escalation of the war and operation thunder, which saw U.S and ARVN warplanes destroy targets in North Vietnam. More U.S troops were moved into South Vietnam and America took over the running of the war.
In 1966 the Americans began search and destroy missions. This is where American troops would go into villages which they believed were protecting or sympathizers with the Vietcong. They would round up all Vietcong suspects an interrogate them. After this the village would be burned to the ground. Many innocent people were killed in these operations. The Americans realized they were loosing the trust of the people, so they decided to introduce the ‘pacification policy’. This policy meant that all refugees would be rehoused, the us would provide clinics and schools and build roads, bridges, canals and drainage ditches. But this was seen as too little too late and had very limited success.
The My Lai village was witness to the biggest massacre in the Vietnam War. American soldiers who were part of a search and destroy mission murdered 400 men women and children. It was believed that My Lai was full of Vietcong or Vietcong sympathizers. This is how they justified their actions but they did not find any Vietcong or weapons.
The Americans started using chemical weapons in 1968. They saw it as a justified way to defeat the enemy. The worst of these chemical weapons was Napalm. It was jellied petrol that stuck to its victims, causing severe burns. Agent orange was another chemical used by the Americans to strip away leaves and undergrowth, so they could see the enemy. But Agent Orange contained a highly toxic chemical called dioxin. It poisoned the environment and contaminated the Vietnamese and the Americans who handled it. Agent orange was also to blame for birth defects and cancer. In December 1970 America stopped using chemical weapons because it was not helping the U.S. to defeat the NVA.
The Tet offensive took place during the Tet festival. The Vietcong and the NVA launched a coordinated attack on over 100 towns, cites and military installations in the south they even attacked the capital Saigon. This put the Americans on the back foot again because it was a complete change of tactics. Over 100,000 Vietcong and NVA were killed during the Tet offensive. North Vietnamese leaders thought this to be a failure but the west saw it as a victory. Many politicians and civilians began to change their mind about Vietnam and now wanted a quick end to the war.
In November LBJ was replaced by Richard Nixon as president. He wanted a quick end to the war and persuaded North Vietnam to come to peace talks, which lasted for five years. Richard Nixon adopted a new policy called Vietnamization. 25,000 American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. The rest of the American troops would be withdrawn as soon as the ARVN forces could replace them. In April 1970 a further 150,000 troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. By 1971 there was only 140,000 American troops left in Vietnam and these were to be withdrawn in 1972 but by now there were many American deserters because they knew they were going home and did not want to die.
In March 1972 the NVA invaded the south, America could not launch a counter ground attack so Nixon ordered air attacks. They destroyed many North Vietnamese targets. Over Christmas a huge bombing campaign took place by the Americans against the North Vietnamese. In January 1973peace talks were renewed in Paris. Nixon believed that the war was now over and withdrew all American troops. North Vietnam took advantage of this and invaded South Vietnam.
American involvement in Vietnam was initially to train the ARVN by sending in advisors and had no intention of going to fight a war. However when American soldiers came under fire from the NVA so they had to protect the South Vietnamese. This Justified America going in to Vietnam. The tactics used by the Americans like the search and destroy missions were said to be very brutal however the Vietcong and the NVA used similar brutality if not worse when they captured American troops. So the tactics used by the Americans could be seen as a acceptable response. The chemical weapons used by the Americans caused people to have birth defects and contaminated the environment however the Americans were trying to win a war and without the use of chemical weapons they could not see their enemy. So the Americans can be justified in using chemical weapons because they were in a war and they were trying to win it.
