"Before closing my eyes to Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngo Dinh Diem, asking him to be kind and tolerant toward his people and to enforce a policy of religious equality."
- The last written words of Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death to protest the regime in South Vietnam, 1963
- The last written words of Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death to protest the regime in South Vietnam, 1963
Background to Vietnam War
•Originally a French colony (Indochina)
•Ho Chi Minh and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
•After WWII the French reoccupied
•Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
•Laos, Cambodia granted independence
•Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
•Ho Chi Minh and his communist supporters resisted Japanese occupation during WWII
•After WWII the French reoccupied
•Ho Chi Minh fought the French and defeated them in 1954 (Dien Bien Phu)
•Laos, Cambodia granted independence
•Vietnam divided along the 17th parallel
A Divided Country
•South Vietnam was led by a Catholic named Ngo Dinh Diem
•The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
•The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
•The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
•The mainly Buddhist south had opposition in the form of the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Viet Cong (a guerrilla force)
•The North (Ho Chi Minh) supported both of these groups
•The north never accepted the Geneva agreement of 1954
American Involvement in Vietnam
•U.S. saw this as another situation in which containment was necessary (SEATO)
•The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors) •Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000 •CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
•The U.S. had supported the French (military advisors) •Kennedy increased troops in 1962 from 500-10,000 •CIA overthrows Diem in 1963 (corruptness)
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1964
•A fabricated incident was set up; an American destroyer (USS Maddox) was torpedoed
•Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
•Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
•200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
•Led President Johnson to install the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
•Lead to the commitment of regular ground troops and air support
•200,000 troops in 1965 - 600,000 in 1968
Summary
The Vietnam war was started based on a fabricated problem. The Americans thought that the Vietnamese people were in need of their help so they started this war based on that fact alone, along with their still constant fear of Communism.