so so we we talked about the the kind of the lead up to the american intervention vietnam on on on tuesday we're going to look at the war today before we we we kind of jump into the the actual war appeared any any any questions concerning the stuff we covered on tuesday. no, everything i am that good, aren't i? right? i guess so. so. so do do i want you guys to to pay as a especially good attention today because it turns out this is the only thing i'm actually to teach. i didn't know. there was a war in korea until i read the textbook with you guys but but that the vietnam war

that's that's kind of my thing and so so i've tried to present relatively kind of concise history of of the war and hopefully it makes it makes some some sense to you so so on on tuesday we're talking how starting in 64 as a result of developments in hanoi north vietnam under under its new leader lays one starts to escalate the the insurgency in in southern vietnam and it escalates to point where where by 64 we effectively have a state of war in in in southern vietnam. we have we have big war. as i mentioned, in in in in southern vietnam. and then at that point, the position of the americans, what do we do about what's going on? do we do we just effectively allow the south to fall or do we do more than merely send advisors to, preclude a collapse

of this pro-american anti-communist regime in in saigon? and so so ultimately in response to the escalation in response to to this this this existence of a of a of a state of war in in southern vietnam, lyndon johnson decide, deploy, combat troops begins with 3000 marines and it keeps going up from there. he deploys these combat troops to two southern vietnam and at the same time he initiates a sustained and bombing campaign against against the north. the idea being that the north to be punished for all the troubles in the south as far as johnson and his advisers are concerned whatever difficulties the americans are facing in the south are all the result of this collusion by by by hanoi, of

this involvement hanoi. and as we established on on tuesday as it turns out. right, the insurgency in southern vietnam was actually begun by southerners against the wishes of of hanoi. so so so johnson's approach is to to fight the insurgents. the south with american military personnel and then to bomb the north for its support of of this state of war in in southern vietnam. and that's significant because for the people of northern, this is all lost on them as far they're concerned, the americans are bombing us for no reason that we can understand. and that's one of the reasons why the bombing will actually be counterproductive. if anything, it inspires northerners to fight more valiantly once they get deployed to to the south. they really eventually, by into the whole narrative presented to them by lee's one to the effect that that that the american war vietnam is effectively unproved

american aggression against against our poor innocent. now always keep this in mind right we talked about this on tuesday as far as johnson his team are concerned it's important to do something about vietnam at a minimum so as to prove the u.s. is not a quote unquote paper as mao has been has been saying about the u.s. and to demonstrate resilience in in cold war and, you know, if you don't dig anything else into this lecture, at least please remember this, right? the vietnam was never about etnam for the united states. it's about the larger cold war. it's about it's about the credibility of the presidency. it's out the credibility of of the united states. it's about the credibility of the entire american system. right. so so people always kind of try

to do rational how vietnam, which been so inconsequential before, suddenly becomes so important to to the united states. right. so so was it was it resources was a location. it's really a cold war context that accounts for why vietnam becomes so important. it's also that same cold war context that accounts for why johnson even though he really doesn't want war in vietnam, ends up intervening, escalating and effectively matching what what lays one in hanoi does so always keep this in mind right that yes vietnam is small and from the perspective of the big powers technically inconsequential, but in the context of the cold, just like these other little places, it assumes and importance that that that's tremendous. we talked about cuba earlier right tiny little cuba the world almost ends because of cuba. that's what the cold war does.

right? it gives this importance to, places which otherwise would completely inconsequential. right. we talked about kennedy in laos. and so it's in this context need to see vietnam. this is this is about about much more than vietnam itself. if you fail to to recognize that nothing about the vietnam war will make sense. you all right. so always always keep this in mind. so so so that's johnson's rationale for for intervene and then as far as the conduct of the war itself in vietnam is concern, that's the purview of an american by the name of westmoreland. william westmoreland. so so he's the one tasked with defeating the the insurgents the communist threat in in southern vietnam. and his entire approach is predicated on this on this search and destroy.

tactic. and and and and and body counts. so so basically wh what westmoreland seeks to do to achieve victory i as many enemy troops vietcong and north as he can so so whenever americans go into combat once combat is over, they have to count how many vietnamese bodies are left behind. and based on on on on the numbers provided westmoreland measured how successful the u.s. was in in the war beyond all of that in terms of finding the enemy's right because because the vietnamese early on that they're really no match american forces so if anything that the vietcong and the north vietnamese troops will to avoid as much as they can actually

engaging americans in combat, they'll go after troops of the south vietnamese regime feeling pretty confident their odds against them but try to avoid major combat with american troops and so so so that's why westmoreland develops this whole search and destroy effectively americans will be the ones to have to go out in the middle of nowhere to search for enemy troops find them and then destroy them right so so so for for for you were typical soldier in vietnam. the war is it's not easy essentially your walking around until you make contact and contact usually means until somebody starts shooting you. vietnam is very interesting because of that is that something like 90% of the cases is it's always the other guys opening fire first and that's enough how westmoreland wants it

american troops have to go out and effectively draw these guys out make them initiate at which point american troops can fire back and then and then for artillery support and support and and destroy communists units that way. right. enemy units that way. but but if you're the american soldiers involved in that enterprise or the marines in that enterprise, it's not fun. you're walking around effectively waiting to get shot. so so the last thing you want to be is the first guy walking through the jungle, right? the so-called point man. those are the guys who inevitably get it. so, so, so, right. whenever platoons go and embark on these search and destroy missions, we who's on point because you know if it's always you, it's a matter of time before you get shot. so that's why, you know, it's it's a really, really kind of traumatic experience for for

people your age. right. the average age of the combat soldier in vietnam is 19 years old. they're kids. and then and then and then you're in vietnam and this is your job, right? to walk around. somebody shoots at, show you some images in a moment. so, so this is a situation we by mid late 1965, right. so so so laz one the hard liner is is firmly in charge in hanoi right then we have a general a guy by the name of thieu running things in saigon, right. this is is to who's picture is on on this slide is lays one's counterpart in in the south and then then and then as before the war began, the north vietnamese are obtaining support from the chinese and the soviets. i mean, there's there's

countless other country that offer material, moral support. but ultimately what really allows hanoi to wage that war is is the material support they get from the chinese and and the soviets and then in saigon, we've got the americans right who provide significant military and economic assistance. but then, unbeknownst to many people, there's other countries that actually contribute assistance, including troops to the anti-communist struggle. right. and some of the flags you see here, which you probably can't recognize, but so so we've got we've got beyond the us was what's the white flag with a little circle south korea very good. very good. south korea, the one next to it was the one next to it, australia. and then the one above it. excellent. very, very. the ties are one of the rare asian countries with our red white and blue flag. right. so, so those they'll actually be

australian troops in vietnam. they'll also be tied troops in vietnam. the filipinos will be in vietnam. there'll be some new zealanders, vietnam and there'll be south koreans also fighting in vietnam. i talked to some veterans from, from the north vietnamese side and they told me that they were absolutely terrified of the south korean troops they were really really scary the south koreans were really ferocious troops and eventually the communists north creates a special unit to deal with the south koreans because because they're to be so intimidating from the perspective of of communist forces. also little known fact, 35,000 canadians will volunteer to serve in vietnam. so candidates doesn't fight in vietnam, but 35,000 canadians volunteer because they think that's the good fight, which is probably why you lost the vietnam war, we're great fighters. great fighters. so so here's slide's here's 65,

right. so so marines initially 3000 of them land ing in in in in in southern vietnam. they're expecting action and what they get is, is young vietname wen with leis you that in that upper left hand corner and then there's e bombing of the north right so so so so spring of 65 the war effectively americanized through the deployment of this first continue joint of u.s. troops in the form of marines and then the beginning of sustained bombing runs against against northern vietnam. kind of cool picture, right? i got this from the vietnamese archives. so so so the americans and and and of course the north vietnamese population rally mobilize to to defend the the homela. what areou notice about the picture who's featured

prominently in this picture? kids right kids and that's and that's you know, when you try to understand they win and the u.s. loses for vietnamese specifically for the north. this is a total war situation asian. right. so so for america and vietnam is their only if you have to fight in vietnam for for everyone else is pretty much as it was before for the people of north vietnam, because of the state of war. and because of the bombing, every man, woman and child effectively starts to the war effort in one way or another, right. so, so so a lot of the guys end up drafted and sent south to fight. a lot of the women are being employed to try to in bomb craters or else to go to the south, not to fight, but to serve as nurses as medics and so on and so forth. and then kids end up being co-opted right? so as part of your school curriculum, right, you study math and history and all that

great stuff in the morning and then in the afternoon you put out fires. well, that's usually more an impromptu thing, but you fill in bomb, you contribute to the rebuilding of bridges and so on and so forth. so, so, so everyone in the north is effectively mobilized for the purposes of the war effort, which really kind of helps the cause of lee's one also got this from the vietnamese archives recognize him john john mccain so so so the archives in vietnam they this this this this this photo collection and i'm going through stuff and there's a picture of of mccain got shot down 67 his plane crashed in lake in hanoi. if you go to hanoi actually a plaque where mccain was it's a big deal for the vietnamese right. we captured john mccain and we tortured him. but that's that's on the flag. but but this is this is mccain moments after he was shot down. it's it's i guess one of the

first photos that was taken of of mccain. i send out to his office. and i got a response back. i say, by the way, in case you care, here's a picture. the senator after he was he was captured this is what the war was like for american marines and soldiers. you're just'reasically you're just w around through through through jungle. right. it's again, vietnmmist forces. they know how vuln can be if they're expos so, so, so they go in the deepest areas of the country, usually mountainous jungles, regions, and they just wait for the americans to come to them now. now something like 3 million americans serve in vietnam. like you often see these guys vietnam, their license plates as. it turns out only 20% of americans who served in vietnam were actually in combat. but the overwhelming majority of americans who served in vietnam were not combat. and of the 20% in combat, 10%

only ever experienced combat. so only a minority of americans are serving in vietnam. actually, the stuff that you see in these pictures and you see in movies and those are the guys who sometimes suffer various from from various ailments. again, because the nature of the war was such that it was really hard for for a 19 year old to cope with. for a lot of americans, the war was actually the best time of their lives. if you were 19 years old, stuck in an air conditioned office in saigon, these could be pretty darn good. that was the reality for as it turns out, most americans who war in vietnam. so, so know people always ask well at one point is almost 600,000 americans in vietnam. how could the us have lost again? most of these guys are effectively support personnel. they're not actual ground forces. they're not soldiers, not marines who are out there

searching for communist forces. so so that partially explains the outcome was not what what what american policy makers intended. so i told you about this search destroy tactic developed by westmoreland. right. so american troops deep in the jungle search for the enemy and destroy the enemy. but then these kinds of pictures start coming out and then people start thinking search and destroy as what you search people's homes. d then you dee homes. exactly. so so, you know, among the things that end up playingagnstd that account for its unpopularity is, ironically enough, the very of that tactic that westmoreland used for most american and for many americans, not most, but many search and destroy came to mean american troops going in to vietnamese people's homes, searching those homes, and then setting them on fire.

so so, of course, that kind of explains why quickly many people turn against the war that we don't want our country to be involved in searching people's homes and then just destroying. but as it turns out, search and destroy meant searching for the enemy in the jungle. and then destroying the enemy not not going after innocent people's homes. that's westmoreland. he's a really interesting character. some people consider him hero who, given that chance, could have won the vietnam war. right. so people think that it was the way civilian policymakers ran the whole thing that accounted the tragic outcome. others will tell you that the u.s. effectively lost the vietnam more because of westmoreland, beuse of the way he chose to deal with the communist presence in in vietnam. so, so is a great guy to some he's is reviled by others.

and just like so many issues, when comes to vietnam, there's no there's no consensus on westmoreland. but again, like so many issues having to do with vietnam, he was either great or he was really, really bad. remember, people are never particularly when it comes to vietnam, it's either good or it's all bad. when comes to to policies to policymakers, or in this particular case to the american commander responsible for for military affairs. cover of life magazine. so, so, again, it's that you the war will will be extensive covered by by by the world media, including the american media. and so, so, so the war effectively becomes inescapable. if you're if you're an american, if it's not on the magazines, you're reading, it's on the tv news.

you watching or the radio programs that that you're listening to. right. people still listen to the radio during that that that period and initially it's fine. right? it's like, okay, these are brave. and of course, they're going to suffer casualties. but but as casualties mount and as tse imas art coming into people's living night after night, month after month, ar after year, people become disillusioned. right. relatively speaking american casualties in vietnam were low at least if you compare to the casualties suffered byhe enie but but for americans to see american kids dead american kids wounded really had an impact and so so so. the american people generally will kind of accept the cost of the war through 65, 60, 60, 67, starting in 68, we start to witnessing a much more vocal movement opposing the war in

vietnam. these kinds of images, which were relatively well received initially, which in time start really kind of affecting the american vis a vis the the war in vietnam. these are the kind of the big three on the american side right. you recognize johnson in the middle, flanked on his left by mcnamara to right the secretary of defense, and then on his right, dean rusis secretary of state. right. so so are kind of the architects of of of the war in vietnam. d those are the individual roles who will effectively be be be blamed. we should for for for for getting the u.s. involved in in the vietnam war. but again, as talked about on tuesday, right. it's it's unfair to pin all of this on johnson. right. his predecessors, kennedy, eisenhower before before him

really made consequential decisions which which i would argue made it almost impossible for johnson to just avoid a an increased american commitment in in vietnam. so so yeah technically american combat troops enter vietnam under john's sins. watch. but in a way that's kind of the logical culmination to, a process set in motion, starting 48, 49, 50, right, when the u.s. starts helping the french fighting own war against against against ho chi minh and his armies during during the so-called first indochina war. and, you know, speaking of the motivations right, this whole domino theory, this whole issue of credibility, this whole idea that if we don't hold forth in vietnam, then laos will fall. cambodia war will fall, thailand will fall, and we'll have this kind of domino effect right. there's all these great quotes about about what would happen if

if if we didn't do anything about vietnam. and my favorite, having lived in hawaii for long time, was was that was johnson at one point saying if we don't stop them in vietnam, we'll be fighting them on the beaches of waikiki. right. that's that's how that that that's the thinking was. and and from from the evidence it seems to be legitimate. that thing they truly, genuinely believe that these a period that unless they acted in vietnam, unless they something about about vietnam long term the u.s. would face a much bigger threat by from the communist bloc. so so so so again it's not it's not itself informing american decision making it's the whole cold war context. this is this interesting chart, right? so u.s. strength in vietnam, right. so you see under johnson, it's a

gradual process of escalation. right. so so it peaks 68. we have close to 600,000 soldiers and marines in in vietnam. and the becomes president promises peace with honor. and then the number starts to to decline. so so it's a gradual which by the way also, some people have have have used to explain the u.s. lost by being so gradual johnson effectively gave the other chance the other side a chance to adapt. right. the idea being that johnson had gone all out from the beginning, the could have won. but by effecting a gradual escalation. johnson basically allowed his enemies to to circumstances and eventually to to to prevail. but everybody gets blamed for the outcome of the war in vietnam. and as i've argued, you know, no one really looks at what the other side did right, which is

which is really unfortunate and which to me is, how you can understand the outcome of of of the vietnam war. we'll touch upon that a bit next. actually, any questions at this point point? no call. so in 65, they're already this seeking destroy strategy to try and win the war. but no war that spring, to my mind, had been fought way. there were no objectives there were no changing lines between and the enemy. so did they picture as victory? is this going to end with this is strategy so so the idea was that you would get to a point where you would be so many enemy troops that they wouldn't have enough new to fill the ranks of these depleted units. right. you'd reach this.

i think it's like the threshold of pain or something that. right, right where we're at. so you if i kill two people, they just bring in two more. but if i kill at one point, they'll only be able to bring more, right? and then and then after a while, they'll have to surrender. that's the rationale. that's approach. so. so we this kind of a war of attrition, where small and other around them, thought that was a sensible as it turned hanoi and the viet cong of managed to constantly bring more than enough people to fill the ranks of depleted units and if in instances the units were hurting then they just changed a way they would deal with the american presence in vietnam. they might less and do more diplomatically on the international level. cody connection between westmoreland's affinity for the kill count and robert mcnamara's

yeah, he's always obsessed with numbers and is there a big connection with that? yeah, yeah and that's one of the ways that's one of the reasons why westmoreland kind gets the job right. he's a numbers mcnamara is a numbers guy. so so the whole body count thing. right. so so we feed the body count and then mcnamara in d.c. can look at all of this and then look at the numbers from, that side and that side. and then american numbers. and then you can reach like a magic formula at one point where you'll be able to declare to declare victory. and that's also, by the way, the problem with body counts, right? so so african american combat unit, you get steak one night if you have a good body, right? so so maybe you'll be tempted to inflate the body count. right. or else you happen to have killed accidentally someone who was a civilian to avoid the repercussions might say, well,

that was actually enemy combatant. so so that's the problem with with with all this, right. when you rely on numbers, they can be easily manipulated, whatever reasons and give you a completely distorted picture of what's actually going on jake. but basically the tactic was analogous to sort of what were once war of attrition, then kind of. yeah, except as cole was mentioning, there's no front there's no it's just you just kill and then you kill. it's about territory. you just kill people. and then you go wherever you stand to kill more people. right. so that's that's basically but yeah, it's a war of attrition. yeah. and in the way that you're if you just look at numbers, which is it. there is that parallel to two world war one. now let's look at hanoi is doing right so so so effectively the war in southern vietnam becomes at least partially americanized

starting in 1965 and and upon seeing this lays one decides to respond in kind as the americans bring in more troops and more supplies into the south lays, one will increase number of people from the north being deployed to fight in in the south. so so it is this response in kind it's a matching of resources both human and and and material. the north vietnamese strategy know yes were u.s. diplomatic history but it's to understand what the other guys were thinking to make sense the outcome that the lays one's thinking it's it's really really clever under the circumstance is again right these guys are very much aware of their own limitations they're much aware of how powerful the u.s. and its

allies are. so so their whole strategy is to with respect to the u.s., isolate the united states. right. militarily in the try to draw them in the most remote areas, try to isolate their units and try to minimize their ability, reduce ability to bring the full bear, the american military might, to bear on noncommunist forces. right. so so you can isolate american forces that way that and then diplomatically, internationally thing try to to to make the americans look like criminals in vietnam try to get the world turn on the u.s. so that the u.s. ends up with no friends in the world, or at least one willing to support its military enterprise in vietnam. so, so, so with respect to the u.s., it's all isolating the americans militarily and

diplomatically with respect to the regime in saigon and its armed forces. the strategy there is to crush that army, that's the army that communist forces really want to defeat. they know they're match for the americans, but they do a chance against against against the army of the rival regime in in saigon. and that's their main target. the bulk of their military operations will be directed at other vietnamese units fighting for the regime in saigon and so on as they try to crush those units these similarly into nationally diplomatically do what they can to discredit regime in saigon. so the they keep calling to puppet of the americans a lackey of the americans with no legitimacy whatsoever and it partially works and then and

then this is this is this is key to to to to everything that they do their best to take advantage of of the sino-soviet dispute. remember i told you right this this if you want to make sense of of the cold war if you want to make sense of your own lives. also i would argue understand that sino-soviet split. it's so darn important and and what what hanoi decides do is basically play the chinese against the soviets. right. so so hanoi kind of puts itself the middle of this kind of metaphorical triangle, right? and plays with both and and will go to the chinese and ask for this much in terms of military equipment and get it and then go to the soviets and tell the soviets this. the chinese gave us this much. you should be matching our, surpassing and back and forth that way. and sure enough through this

manipulate of the dispute between beijing and moscow, hanoi gets maximal support from from from from its allies. and that support is absolutely invaluable to allow hanoi to stay in the fight and ultimately prevail there's no question the vietnamese who fought the american us and their allies were very courageous people. but but but none of the victories they they secure would have been possible wiouthe guns, the hardware provided by the soviet union and that's 'really key toll othis lays. one knows it an' why ally engaging the soviets andt up as as so here's an imagee of ntnese forces in atp that a lot of the vietcong soldiers were peasants ar as the north

vietnamese soldiers were concerned those guys were as well-equipped, as disciplined as as as other soldiers in any other regular army, including us armed forces. i mean, i would argue that that, that you get to a point where north vietnam means troops are even more disciplined american troops, which which which says a lot, because americans have always had been good, maintaining discipline within their armed. but we're talking about a north vietnamese army that's that's again as as any in the world. right. there's always this idea that, oh, u.s. lost against a bunch of peasants. right. there were peasants who fought the u.s. and technically a lot of the north vietnamese soldiers were from peasant families. but by the time guys entered the south, they'd been really well trained. they'd been given good guns and they knew what they were doing as much as the americans

themselves knew, what they were they were doing up. you might have heard of the homecoming trail, right? so so this is basically a network of roads running through neighboring laos and that was used north vietnam to bring troops and supplies into into the south. and and, you know, talk about duplicity, right. leis one and hanoi are using laos and cambodia because technically those are neutral states and the us is not supposed to be doing anything in those countries. so so the u.s. would eventually start the ho chi minh trail, but but be condemned for violating the sovereignty neutral states. the thing is they weren't neutral at all because both cambodia and laos allow north vietnam to use their territory for the sake of infiltrating troops and supplies into into the south. so you've got images, right? like trucks carrying supplies

and then troops slowly. but walking down the ho chi minh trail typically takes two months to go from the north down to to the south. but depending on how intense the u.s. bombing is, it could take longer. so we had these guys from vietnam war year semester. i actually came and heard them one of the individuals had down the ho chi minh trail at at a very, very high point in the war. took him six months to go from hanoi, from the north to the south, six months because the bombing was so that to zigzag their way through laos and cambodia and, even at times go into vietnam because it was safer vietnam than it was a neutral. up. when you fight the and their allies, you have to be resourceful and sure enough america's enemies proved incredibly resourceful. another why they prevail in end they they they start digging

tunnels really complex tunnels systems sometimes right under american and allied bases. if you ever go to vietnam one of the more popular tourist attractions outside saigon is called coochie, and it's the photo is is that color photo the bottom right. that's from coochie. i know it's a g out of a hole in the ground. so so they build these really narrow tto kind of pop up whenever they needed tt and hide whee ericans would start shooting back. so so that, you know, that's one t reasons why the war was so frustrating for forcan troops, you would shot at. and then when it's time to sh back, there's nothing or no one ght?hoot at. so 've got a couple these slides here and mean they're veritable underground es right so you got places to eat places to sleep, places to do whatever human being you do on a

regular basis are places where you can look after the where you can where you can look store the dead. and so on and so forth. so and eventually the americans realized that we have to do something about this. and they developed special units and individuals to go in through those tunnels. they call them tunnel rats up. if you were short that quite possibly become your assignment. so so, yeah, a lot of shorter would try as much as they could to avoid serving in the army or the because well you're short you're perfect for that job and it's as you can imagine. right. it's it's a it's an absolute hugely terrifying thing to go those tunnels and the way they were built was just so a vietnamese person could go through. but the average american couldn't write. a lot of the vietnamese are well le tively small compared to two americans, so only americans could go in and navigating

through these tunnels and again, if you go to a cushy, you can experience a white guy tunnel, right? i guess i guess like it's big enough that i could go in and i'm fine. but you can also try the real thing, which i got stuck and then i freaked out. i don't want to it but well you can you can actually try and it's if you're claustrophobic you'll you'll die before you make it to the other end of the tunnel. it's really, it's but it's the real thing. and there's boxes there's like whatever was in there except landmines. so i'm told anyway but yeah i took students there once and some of them actually did did tunnel then and next thing i know i hear like yelling and screaming and sure if i, if one person panics and everybody and that was that highlight of my trip that was fun. there's the guy there's there's one, right. it's always hold shimmying so charming that as i explained to you on tuesday after 64 after 63, les one is in charge.

right. so so here's one with with with the troops. he's not as charismatic as what you mean. so he keeps on coming around cae auditioning is like the kind of the communist effort. right but but but he does get out there once in a while. there's lesneoasting with mao and there's les, one with mao. and other high ranking people from china. the chinese would again provide the bulk of the small arms used by communist forces to to go after american troops in in southern vietnam. yeah the bottom two photos i got from the vietnamese archives and i'll well, you can see, but the rectangular one with all the guys lays one in mao a holding hands. yeah it's it's you know it's it's like whenever people get friendly in parts of asia it's it's never boy holding hands with girl unless you're it's but guy if you're good friends you hold hands and it's that's so

the whole idea is to show the solidarity between the vietnamese and the chinese. right. they were as close as lips to teeth. that was the big thing they would always say. right as lips to teeth up. by most accounts. and i kind of agree with that the turning point of the vietnam war is the 1968 tet offensive up up. for four reasons we touched up on earlier right hanoi matching the americans man for man and gun for gun buy by by late 67 early 68. the war is basically at an impasse. there's no progress. no one can claim that they're close to victory and lays one is not the most patient guy. he is losing patience. so to break the stalemate, he

decides order this huge coordinated offense of against of all place is towns and cities across south. right up to this point communist forces have operated primarily in remote jungle areas. cities have been spared the horrors war lays one figures that that by now the americans probably don't expect attacks on cities so so so he orders an attack on pretty much every major town and city in southern vietnam. and he decides to to enhance the element of surprise. he decides to order the launching of the attack for tet, which is which is the lunar the coming of the lunar new year for for the vietnamese or the chinese for for east asians traditionally at that time, the in vietnam, there had been no

fighting and wasn't it wasn't official, but it was informally a truce observed there was no fighting around tet and that is basically christmas new year easter take all the holidays together that doesn't come close to what tet represents the vietnamese it's it's it's people take off four weeks and they go to see their families. it's huge. and so there's one figures that the americans will never expect. the south vietnamese rivals will never it. and when we strike south vietnamese army units in particular, will be completely depleted at death, people go back to their relatives in the countryside and the calculation was was was reasonable lee's one things that once the attack is launched and and with the inevitable success that forces will enjoy the people will recognize that that the

americans will be defeated. saigon will collapse and they would rise or there would be a kind of this massive in the south that eventually convince the americans there's no point staying here because. nobody wants us in vietnam. and on all these counts lays, one miscalculated. there was no upheaval. and despite some very quick and initial successes. eventually, the americans in the south counterattack and whole campaign ends up a militarily. the tet offensive is an abject disaster for lee's one something like 40,000 troops nor vietnamese in viet cong are killed by the whole war. the us 50,000 soldiers and marines in one campaign, hanoi loses 40,000 north vietnamese and viet cong soldiers that's killed right? tens of thousands more are are

wounded. so, so, so. total military disaster. by then two lays one's great surprise psychologically. it's a huge victory over the united states because of the way the american people will respond to the tet offensive this this this this dramatic military defeat becomes a critical victory for for hanoi. what's interesting is that lee's never thought that would happen. it's simply an accident that the americans responded the way did and they and they respond the way they did, mostly because of certain images. i'll share with you in a moment. so. so so america gets hit really hard psychologically. that's not lost on johnson and within within a few weeks after the tet offensive johnson goes on tv and tells american people that that from now on the u.s. will commit itself to resolving

the war diplomatically. and also, johnson announces he won't be running for a second term as president. that rarely, if ever, happens. so, so, so from what we understand now, johnson wasn't going to run anyway, even before it started, made up his mind. whatever the reality is for most americans. johnson's decision to not for a second term was interpreted as an admission of defeat in vietnam, and that that kind of amplify the effects of the tet offensive right. there's this idea that the president has been defeated by tet, which can only mean that the country will be defeated by tet and by by by the vietnamese communist opposition. and sure enough, because of tet and it's different ramifications. the anti-war movement in u.s. and internationally is dramatically energizes, dramatically emboldened, and just as one wanted, the united

states finds itself in lee increasingly isolated isolated, and not just from the international community, but from its own. more and more americans turn against the war in the aftermath of tet. it's not a majority americans, but it's still a number significant enough to create major headaches. the policymaking elite in in in washington washington. within a year or so after tet major revelation a massacre conducted by american troops against vietnamese civilians which kind of further undercuts the american position in vietnam and international. finally, i'll show you pictures in a moment. yeah, there was this this an american unit massacred a bunch

of of innocent civilians in 68 and 69. photos are released. the news of the massacre gets publicized and that that just contributes to growing the anti-war movement and turning more people against against the war. essentially, things go from bad to for four for the americans for american policymakers in that 6869 period. so so here's here's map showing some of the cities that were hit in that communal offensive. so so pretty much every town and city in the south andere's a photo of of vietcong. so remember flag right. that's the vietcong vietcong troops going into action in tet where you guys notice about the person holdi the rpg. it's a woman. it's a woman. so this is really interesting, right? americs always think that all

these men were fighting for the vietcong. and that's that that's that's staged. again, women rarely, if ever, actually fought in in in the war they served and some of them were soldiers. some of them wore sniper shows, and some of them did die in combat. but but it was rare for women to be involved in in regular combat activities. usually when women involved, it's as nurses, as medics, as intelligence personnel. but but hanoi always tried to put women in its photos because it looked good. beyond that, it's reflected in a sense. right. women invariably are innocent. so you kind of add it to the whole kind of nobility of what the vietnamese were trying to do. listen, you know, we're just trying to liberate ourselves. are women just want freedom? but these bad evil americans are precluding all of this. so you always see females in

these images. when americans got get shot down over over north vietnam, it's always somehow a female that captures them. that's all stage photos. but again it makes you look favorably upon the vietnamese and they're always young females. and so and it's all calculated is all part of this effort to to enhance to kind of improve the image of their effort while at the same discrediting the americans, bringing about their their isolation. these are some of the more iconic images of the tet offensive. that's the embassy in the upper right hand corner. oh, the vietcong will try to take over the embassy. they getoughne wall and then they all get killed. but still, the idea that the ght.ssy attacked. what's an embassy. it's sovereign territory. an embassy? a sovereign territory. and it comes under attack during tet offensive. and yeah, so. so nine viet cong go in.

they get killed very quickly. right but but so and this is really symbolic of the whole thing. so they technically right. they make it into the embassy, but then they all die. that's how the whole tet offensive played out. but then psychologically, we've been in vietnam for three years, even our embassy isn't safe. how can we even hope to pacify the rest of the country when we can't even keep our embassy which is safer and american territory safe? that's one of the elements that really kind of undermines american morale. and then and then, yeah, this this house to house fighting, street fighting bodies of civil is drenched in blood and is very, very famous photo of of marines coming back from from from in northern vietnam in northern northern south vietnam. you've all seen this, right? this is this happened in the context of the tet offensive. this is one of the most iconic images of of the war. ght.

so guy looe a civilian hands tied behind his back. execedy it turns out that chief of police. right. so americans are looking at this working with?d of ales are what kind of monsters are these guys, i mean, the guy's got a short he lookli a civilian who shot intblank in in in t head. so there's a whole story. so the guy was actually viet cong and hadonsome really bad ananit was kind of a spur of the moment thing and you know it's very chaotic time and anso the chief police just shoots the guy. but but it's interpreting united states as as as you know or, our own allies are cold blooded murderers. right. as turns out, the photographer who took the picture would ride to the chief of police and apologize for for for for taking that picture, which was from photographer's own perspective eventually take an ally context by but by many americans not to excuse again the kind of random

use of violence. but, you know, the image really went a long way toward helping the communist cause in vietnam. and really, really hurting the american the american venture in that same country country. you know, that is johnson johnson, right presumably. so his i think it was his son in law was was was in vietnam doing the tet offensive. and apparently he's listening to a recording of his son in law and he broke down and that picture was taken and of course it started circulating and i mean, it doesn't good. right. it's like a president that's been kind of broken by by by vietnam. and again, like johnson never vietnam. johnson wanted the great society was going to be a domestic savior. and instead he had to deal with what he called that -- of the war. right. he had this called it this great lee. this great lady, the love of his life, the society. right. changing america. but he had to give it all up for what he called that -- of a war. and here's a dejected johnson who decides to just call the whole thing.

in march of 68. that's my. that's the massacre. so somewhere between 205 hundred civilians are are are are killed. there's a there's army photographer there and he has he's got two cameras he's got a u.s. military is me. he's got his own camera. right. so t u.s. issued you took a bunch of ps with. t at went to the military afterwards, which, of course, tried to bury the whing. but then he had his own camera with them a. and then he took that home and did a slideshow, his friends. and he oh, this is the stufw inietnam. and hisen of freaked out when they saw this and eventually reporting that's thats th's the the newspaper that first broke the story in november 69 and you kind of validated the worst assumptions about what americans were doing vietnam. most american soldiers and marines in vietnam behaved well but but my lai will suggest to many that that that every

soldier every marine is is a baby killer and it really, really hurts the american in in india of nam anywhere and to this point. we see how u.s. and the south vietnamese were psychologically affected, how where the north vietnamese affected because of the tet offensive. were they in shock? were they more supportive of it? that's a really, really great question, carlos. so the north, right? it's a communist dictatorship, communist dictatorships. how do they treat information secret and they control everything, right? they control everything. so as far as the people in the north concerned, when they read newspapers, we just scored a huge victory. we lost three soldiers. we killed 40,000 americans. they're always inflating the numbers they're never reporting

their own casualties. whenever they report somebody died, it's easy to say, well, he died killing 20 americans and protect with his body, 50 of his comrades people in the north because the information is controlled by never get a clear sense of exactly what's happening in the south it's only when the war is that the government will notify people. by the way, your son died in vietnam years ago. this is get right. so, you know, if if your son gets drafted, get sent to vietnam, you know, right in north vietnam, if your son gets drafted, he gets trained. if he goes to the south, he can't tell you is going to the. sons could only tell their parents they're going on a special somewhere. and the idea was to make your parents think you were going overseas this way they don't worry about you because if they know you're going down south.

chances are you're not coming back, which most people didn't. so? so you won't even allowed to say if you're a northern soldier, you couldn't tell your family you were going to fight in the south. so americans, what did they do in their spare time? they write letters, right? no mail system, the north and so. so and you're not allowed to report on what's happening because it might go against what the propaganda is spewing right. so so as far as as late as one in hanoi is concerned, this is this disaster is on him. but because he controls the newspapers, the radio, all people hear is that, oh, there were lots of explosions in south and we're doing awesome. we kill all these americans. we kill all these puppet troops, and we've only lost a handful of individuals. so that's one of the reasons why they always stay in the fight. these guys that the northerners never give up because they think that long the war is. they're not losing many people,

only when it's all over. in 75 do families get notified that. oh, yeah, by the way, your father seven years ago, your son died three years ago. and that's only when people get to appreciate the real of the war. that's reason why. why i would argue. laz one wins in the end, this manipulation of information which americans couldn't do, right? you got reporters all over the place every time somebody gets that gets in this particular case, nothing ever gets reported. and what people read in the newspapers and hear on the radio, it's all good news. war is going awesome even though it's that makes sense. carlos a. so 68 november nixon elected president takes over in 69 and nixon's whole thing peace honor right nixon becomes president on this platform of peace with honor honor.

and whatever his flaws, nixon proved a good match. these one, nixon did a plan, did have a strategy, and it bore fruit. so so among the things he does, number one, nixon decides to vietnam is the war. meaning what exactly? so reduce the number of american troops and place more of the burden of fighting on the south vietnamese themselves. so essentially, under nixon, american troops gradually withdraw from vietnam and at the same time, the size the south vietnamese army is expanded vietnamization. so 65, the war is americanized starting in 69 it's the americanized and increasingly vietnam ized as this goes, nixon enters into secret with his enemies in hanoi, there are

secret talks. no one is aware of their existence only nixon is national security. henry kissinger and kissinger jr's most trusted advisers get this nixon's own secretary of state and his secretary of defense don't about these secret talks. imagine that you're the secretary state. you're the guy in charge of diplomacy, your own president doesn't tell you. we're actually talking to the north vietnamese. really, really interesting stuff. jesse. like. or some why he didn't tell his secretary of state, especially him. nixon doesn't trust state department, doesn't trust anyone. and he feels that that that is too sensitive an issue to let others know.

so only the people he trusts most will be apprized of what's going on. for nixon, secrecy was really the key to resolving all of this, if we're going to solve it diplomatically. so as these undertaking this secret and vietnamization, nixon also very boldly decides to go after communist sanctuaries and supply lines in laos in cambodia 1970, the u.s. and the south vietnamese army invade cambodia. so a year later the south vietnamese army with american air support invades laos. so for nixon, it makes. right, i'm going to go after the supply lines that feed the communist war effort in south. the thing is nixon's supposed to be the escalate the war and now he's invading other countries that didn't sit particularly well with a number of people in the u.s.. nixon decides to engage

aggressively. moscow and beijing. nixon recognizes that there hanoi guns allowing it to wage the war. so so as he's going after the supply lines, nixon also goes to soviets to the chinese asking their help in ending the war. and it will it will bear some dividends. and as he's doing of this he bombs on a scale that johnson never did when johnson announced that he wasn't going to run a second term he also the bombing of north vietnam and in 68 just before the election he all bombing of north vietnam. so life in northern vietnam kind goes back to normal 6970 71. people are really happy 72. nixon needs to the war. he's talking to the chinese he's talking to the soviets and he starts the heck out of north

vietnam really, really intense bombing campaigns. so diplomatic, political pressure, military pressure, many these initiatives are very unpopular. they're extremely unpopular. but i would argue they weren't. in 1973. nixon will a peace deal from the north something lays one. i never wanted to give the americans leis one never wanted any negotiate a deal with the americans you wanted to beat the americans militarily but because of the pressure put upon him his regime and the whole communist war effort generally by nixon. he has to concede and nixon this paris agreement early 73 providing for a cease fire, the withdrawal of all u.s. forces and the return of all p.o.w.s,

including john mccain, jeremy jeremy. what kind of pressure was being put on lee's one? because in north vietnam they're controlling all the information they weren't having of the the the press that was the president getting in the united states. so what kind of opposition, was he running into almost none domestically? so and whoever opposes war, there's a secret police going in north vietnam throwing in jail and intimidating people as far as the chinese, the soviets, nixon wants them to tell lies. one to ease off. but again, of the sino-soviet split, moscow feels, if i too much pressure on li's one, he'll

turn to the chinese and vice versa. so. so nothing much comes out of it, except psychologically. when the vietnamese see nixon being invited to china. big invited to moscow, they get nervous because they start thinking, what if moscow or beijing decide to cut off assistance? so psychologically it has a big impact it has a really, really big impact on how there's one in the whole hanoi leadership will look at this and it's one of the reasons why they dislike to sign this agreement because because they start questioning that that that the integrity of their own allies basically nixon plans that doubt their minds they never actually curtail their aid. in fact, they increase it when nixon visits country they actually give north vietnam even more aid. but that still makes liz one and the hanoi leaders very, very nervous. so so here's a chart, right?

the u.s. troop strength in vietnam under nixon, gradual decline. but nixon wants peace with honor. he doesn't want to just sleep because he knows that, again, for credibility reasons, nixon knows he's not going to the war. but but he has to do something so that it doesn't look like the americans surrender. he knows he's going to lose vietnam. and you can live with that. but what he cannot afford to loses the cold war. so the has to get into vietnam in a dignified manner. and that's why it takes four years. by the way, nixon strategy with respect to out of vietnam is the same one that charles de gaulle used to get of algeria. nixon basically copies de who took years to get france out of algeria. you these are the secret talks. so so this that upper left hand corner picture kissinger, his counterpart, led to tell who's

once before. this is les. numberneuy. he's the only that les won trust just like kissinger no way is the only one nixon trusts. they're the ones talking, talking secretly. so there's three pictures of em. and tn d then there's a picture of of me when i had promise and a life full of hope and dreams that have been getting crusd th this old and yeah, you tholguy is i the little guy with the glasses in all these pictures. you see that picture? the little guy with the glasses between kissinger let it all. that guy was a trance. later he was the interpreter so so in the secret talks each leader go and. kissinger had their interpreter, but at one point kissinger took a liking to the the north vietnamese interpreter, and he said, i trust you enough. we only need you. so whenever led to and kissinger, we just talked the two of them, there would be only interpreter. and it was this little guy

rending from an. and so i tracked him down in hanoi and we became really good friends and showed all these really, really interesting stories about the peace talks. but whenever we talked about talks, all he would say was, oh, so difficult, so very, very difficult, very difficult. and you talked about yeah, the time that that leader took a really, really angry the americans started bombing just as they were close to a deal and let it till in expanded his fist on the table and is yelling and screaming at kissinger and because it was a sitting there and then at one point because he says, okay, mr. special advisor, are you done? goes, yes. he goes, okay, try and end this war. and then he really respected kissinger's very despite all that the americans had done, he really respected kissinger. yeah. really, really interesting character. nixon right. so as of the strategy, we're going to engage the soviets. we're going to engage chinese. nixon actually goes to china in february 1972, and then he goes

to moscow in in may of 1972. and even though he's trying to get the chinese in the soviets to help, there's not much that they can do. but still freaks out, lays one and the rest of the leadership in in in hanoi. it freaks them enough that eventually decide to to kind of cuwar short and give nixon the agreement he so desperately wanted so these are b-52s, right? they can carry up to 500, is it? i think a hundred, £50bos, if memory serves me right. anyway, you carry a lot of bombs. and so typically they were used only in the south, but under nixon, they start flying more regurlagainst the north and b-52 it's we call it carpet bombin rht? it just everything gets destroyed in a two mile lo b half a mile wide box. and even you're hiding onhe ground. it's sh that that

psychologically it really screws with your mind. so it's it's also a psychological tool and nixon deploys b-52s against hanoi and the rest of north vietnam in 1972. and sure enough, r e u.s. to get out the war will. continue vietnam. but but the u.s. will manag to to extricate force. and for nixon gd enough. let the vietnamese figure it out themselves right. so all of this was wl and good. but as i mentioned earlier, some of these policies are very, very unpopular. so in 1970, american move into cambodia and that that that sparks massive protests across the us including on university campuses. university students at the time kind of led the the movement against against the war, right.

various organizations were established to to oppose war, the most prominent of which was the students, a democratic society right as the u.s. and so so in the aftermath of the invasion of cambodia, there's student there's a big student protest at at kent state university in ohio and the national guard is brought in and, you know, national guard just like in any outfit with with guns, you got people who are seasoned people who are not so season and then and national guardsmen opened fire and then a bunch of people opened fire. and at the end, the whole thing for students are are are are killed. and again kind of to give you an idea of just how polarizing it was. right four bombs killed at kent state. right. so so so for many, including nixon, the people who protested the war were hippies. they were bombs. they were and and almost deserved. what what happened to them?

as it turns out. one of the kids who got shot was rotc at kent state. very pro-war, but but would be condemned as an anti-war activist and his family would be threatened by. bye bye. bye. right wingers. because he was seen as part of the he just was standing by an a stray hit him i think right in the head. and so so yeah it's it's what's interesting is that is that just a few days later i think it was two or three more students got killed at jackson state college. but that didn't get any press because was a black college right so white kids die huge black kids die. yeah. so but same circumstances. right. same same circumstances up up. iconic images you've seen. i'm sure you've seen this picture. right. so, so little girl, she basically had close, but her village was bombed by napalm. napalm just burns. it's like jell-o fried gasoline

and it just it burns. and so so she's running and the clothes have burnt off her back. and for many americans, this kind of epitomize is is the savagery of the american war in vietnam as it turns out, we now know that that that the plane that dropped the napalm on the village by accident was flown by americans but by south vietnamese but the whole thing became that the responsible bility of of the u.s. and that's today by the way that's her at bottom right hand corner she she with survivor wounds and would dedicate herself to to helping other people who were victims. the vietnam war i got this in hanoi this is so you deploy these planes it's. it's you know, you do have an impact, but please get shot down and when planes get shot down, that produces more prisoners war which hanoi used to the bargaining chip. right so so so this is the wing of a b-52 aircraft that got shot

down over hanoi. and these guys just farming despite the presence of this massive wing. so. so, yeah, it's the north adjusted that this new normalcy was developed people it's surprising how resilient beings are and what what what normal can come to represent to to individuals. and there's an american being taken captive once again by a female that photo was staged the one with the guys with the weather buffalo. i don't see any reason for staging it, but so so so that was so so nixon's policies are are again i would argue effective overall but they come at a very very significant and you get to a point where basically in 73 the us needs the war to as much as hanoi that war to stop. and so the american phase of the vietnam war ends in 73, but but the vietnam war itself will eventually resume without the americans last for about two

years. you have two years of civil war between, 70 to 75, and it culminates with the fall of saigon, the victory of communist armies. and this humiliation many consider it of the u.s., which will embolden the communist camp and leftist worldwide. right. so what we'll stop here will resume after spring break. we have spring break next week. we see each other. i'm heartbroken as much as you are, but we'll well, we'll finish all that stuff and deal with other aspects of the cold war after spring. we still have really great spring break. guys, enjoy yourselves, relax and i'll see you refreshed. ready to talk about more conflict and violence and death and destruction after s