REVIEW SHEET FOR VIETNAM, 1960S, 1970S I.D.S Geneva Accords/Vietnam: basically said that the U.S.

and Soviet Union would take over their respective halves of Vietnam, and then in 1956 an election would be held to unify the two states. U.S. didnt want that to happen because we knew they would go Commie Ngo Dinh Diem: installed by US as ruler of South Vietnam, however he was corrupt and out of tune with the people. He was a Catholic in a nation of Buddhists, and thus the people did not believe he had their best interests in sight. (he didnt). the military was corrupt under him, and he killed many of his own people National Liberation Front: (NLF) South Vietnamese citizens who lead a rebellion against Diem Ho Chi Minh: leader of North Vietnam, was not originally communist, but turned to USSR as a quick way to get support for his new country, basically just wanted what was best for his country. Viet Cong: south Vietnamese guerilla forces who fought against Diem. They were communist Strategic Hamlet Program: (1961) Idea to build fake villages that the government would stock with all the faithful south Vietnamese so that the U.S. and the army could tell who was who when they were fighting. Was a big failure because the VC infiltrated them. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: gave the president a blank check to defend against all aggressive actions taken against the South. Pleiku: North Vietnamese bomb an American base and kill 8 American servicemen, was the fork in the road. Last straw for American government Operation Rolling Thunder: extensive bombing of North Vietnamese supply lines and bases by American planes in the hope of scaring the shit out of them until they gave up Search and Destroy: Draft Deferments: at beginning of war, students could get a deferment, but that ended. Fathers and husbands could get deferments, but that ended too. Lots of people ran away to Canada and pussied out

Tet Offensive: (1968) Large scale invasion of South Vietnam by NVA and VC troops. Was not a great tactical victory, but was a huge psychological victory. Americans thought that NVA and VC were close to being beaten and that they were unorganized and ill-equipped. Made many realize that we were not close to winning war. 1968 Election: LBJ did not run for reelection because the Vietnam War had destroyed his credibility. Nixon wins the election with his secret plan Vietnamization: Nixons secret plan to end American involvement in Vietnam. He planned to slowly ease down the number of American troops there, and slowly get the South Vietnamese Army to do more of the fighting. As soon as USA left, South Vietnam collapsed and went Commie Bombing of Cambodia: (1968) deemed necessary as part of the war effort, because NVA and VC supply lines went through there My Lai Massacre: (discovered in 1969) killing of 350-500 South Vietnamese civilians by American troops. One guy was convicted and then pardoned by Nixon. Kent State: (1970) huge antiwar demonstrations by students at the university, National Guard were called in and killed 4 students. This was a nightmare, and also showed that antiwar sentiment was not only restricted to upper class universities. Pentagon Papers: (1971) secret documents that outlined the American govts involvement in Vietnam starting immediately after WWII, and showed that the government had straight up lied to American citizens about what we were doing Easter Offensive: (1972) enormous offensive by North Vietnamese army against south Vietnam with the hope of weakening the ARVN to a point where the NVA would have the edge in negotiations. Election of 1960: JFK wins, but is assassinated 3 years later by Lee Harvey Oswald Bay of Pigs: (1961) attempt by CIA to train and send in an army of Cuban exiles to take over Cuba and kill Fidel Castro. Utter failure because Kennedy refused to give it full military backing. Big embarrassment for the US, and that caused Cuba to go communist and never trust us again Cuban Missile Crisis: (1962) Soviets were transporting ICBMs loaded with nukes into Cuba, and we didnt like that because of how close it was to America. Kennedy demanded that they stand down, and the Soviets agreed to after we instituted a blockade around Cuba Flexible response: Kennedys plan of action for war, gives us ability to respond across all spectrums of war, not just Nukes

Election of 1964: LBJ won, ran heavily on the legacy of JFK and the necessity to finish what he had started The Great Society: LBJs plan to get rid of poverty in America. Similar to New Deal, it created food stamps, workshops to teach people how to perform certain tasks, created HeadStart Program, Medicare, Medicaid, reduced poverty from 22% to 13% Medicare: health insurance for the elderly Medicaid: health insurance for poor people War on Poverty: the overarching theme of LBJs efforts Counterculture: sex, drugs, and rock n roll. Students and young people across the nation, most of whom were antiwar. Hippies The Silent Majority: the group of Americans that Nixon appealed to. Basically they didnt want too much progressive and radical change in society, and they just wanted life to go back to how it was in the 1950s. Election of 1972: Nixon won in a landslide against George McGovern Dtente: Nixons foreign policy. Means cooperation, peaceful coexistence during the Cold War, Nixon went and visited both China and USSR Watergate: robbers tried to break into Democratic Partys office, and were arrested. Not necessarily bad, but Nixon then covered it up like crazy and taped convos in the White House. He resigned after it came to light. Essay/Big Picture Questions 1. How does OBrien define courage? How do his actions fall short of his ideal? Why is it important to him to be courageous? OBrien 2. Which arguments were compelling about why or why not to fight? If you are an American, then you have an obligation to the country, whether you like it or not, to serve if your number is called. The reason that you have the freedom to say what you want is thanks to the armed forces who protect us on a daily basis 3. Are any of OBriens concerns about the war treated seriously?

 4.

The chaplain treats him semi-seriously, although he seems to ignore whatever points OBrien makes and just responds with what the U.S. army wants him to say The Battalion Commander did not treat him seriously in the least The drill sergeant just called him a pussy 100 times and then gave him latrine duty Captain Johansen