-
Setting of We Were Soldiers
Ia Drang Valley, Nov. 14-16
-
Site of French defeat in 1954
Dien Bien Phu
-
U.S.-backed leader of South Vietnam until 1963
Ngo Dinh Diem
-
International agreement that split North Vietnam and South Vietnam in 1954
The Geneva Accords
-
Dividing line between North Vietnam and South Vietnam lay along the
17th parallel
-
Religious group that Diem severely cracked down on
Buddhists
-
Body of water where two U.S. destroyers were allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces in August 1964
The Gulf of Tonkin
-
Nixon’s secret bombing of Cambodia prompted Congress to pass the
War Powers Resolution
-
The Viet Cong raid at Pleiku gave Johnson justification to begin
Operation Rolling Thunder
-
Jan 31, 1968
Tet Offensive
-
My Lai Massacre
- Occured: 1968
- Revealed: 1969
-
NVA vs. Viet Cong
The NVA were professional soldiers, whereas the Viet Cong were civilian guerrillas
-
Saigon finally fell to North Vietnamese forces in
1975
-
Ho Chi Minh
- Head of the Vietnamese Communist Party
- Associated with both communism and nationalism
-
Buddhist monk set himself on fire in protest of Diem's regime
1963
-
Nixon initiates warmer relations with China in order to gain leverage in Vietnam
1972
-
Lt. Col. Hal Moore
- 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment
- Catholic
- Felt guilty his men had died and he had not
-
Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley
- E-9
- Highest enlisted rank
- Answers to Moore
- Served in WWII & Korea
- 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment
-
2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan
- Leader
- Took care of other soldiers
- Married to Barbara
- Father of newborn Camile
- Catholic
- Shot carrying a wounded soldier
-
2nd Lt. Henry Herrick
- Shot
- "Glad he could die for his country"
- The cut-off platoon?
-
Sgt. Ernie Savage
- Became platoon sergeant when previous two were killed
- The cut-off platoon
- Weeps when he comes back from being separated & Plumly say that was normal
- Asked to rejoin the lines
-
Joe Galloway
- Voluntarily got on the helicopter
- Reporter
- Wanted to try to understand the war & help others understand it
- Ancestors were in every way
- Didn't know how to report it
-
Maj. Bruce "Snake" Crandall
- Pilot
- Threw up when they washed the blood off his helicopter
- MOH recipient
- Pulled out a gun at a guy who criticized his decision
-
Capt. Ed "Too Tall" Freeman
- Pilot
- Wingman to Crandall
- MOH recipient
- Fought in WWI & Korea
- Flew supplies to trapped American battalion & flew out the wounded
-
Badass
Distinctively tough or powerful; so exceptional as to be intimidating
-
Tom Cruise
- Ron Kovic
- Enlisted in the Marines
-
Truman grants aid to France to fight communist rebels in Indochina
1950
-
Siege at Dienbienphu - Eisenhower refuses direct military aid for France
French are overran and surrender
1954
-
Geneva conference-Vietnam partitioned at 17th par.
1954
-
Free elections promised at 154 Geneva convention are not held
1956
-
ARVN defeated by smaller force at Battle of Ap Bac
Jan 1963
-
Buddhist monks lead anti-government demonstrations
May-Aug 1963
-
Gen. Duong Van Minh leads coup with U.S. knowledge and CIA assistance, Diem and his brother are murdered
Nov. 1963
-
Gulf of Tonkin
Aug 2-7 1964
-
Vietcong attack U.S. base at Pleiku
Feb. 7 1965
-
Operation Rolling Thunder
Feb 24 1965
-
First American Combat troops: marines land at Danang airbase
Mar. 8 1965
-
SDS organize protest march in front of White House 15,000
April 15 1965
-
Buddhist monks demonstrate against Saigon regime
Mar 10 1966
-
Ia Drang Valley
Nov 14-16 1965
-
Use of chemical defoliants to destroy cover - Agent Orange
Sept. 23 1966
-
SEATO peace plan calls for an end to N.V. aggression
Oct. 25 1966
-
More anti-war protests, New York 585 arrested, including Dr. Benjamin Spock and poet Allen Ginsburg
Dec 8 1967
-
Troop strength nearly 500 thousand
Dec 8 1967
-
Battle of Khe Sanh. Johnson and Westmoreland committed to avoiding another Dienbienphu (conquered then abandoned)
Jan 21 1968
-
Tet Offensive. Truce for Vietnamese New Year Holiday - Vietcong launch a major offensive striking 41 cities including Saigon.
Jan 31 1968
-
Sec. Of Defense Robert McNamara resigns - U.S. can't win the war
Feb 29 1968
-
Nixon orders secret bombing of Cambodia
Mar 18 1969
-
Nixon begins Vietnamization
June 8 1969
-
Ho Chi Minh dies
Sept 3 1969
-
"The Moratorium" (& second) nationwide protest against war - Coretta Scott King leads 250,000 in Washington D.C.
Oct 25 (Nov 15) 1969
-
My Lai massacre is revealed
Lt. William Calley is tried and convicted
Nov 16 1969
-
Henry Kissinger begins secret Paris negotiations with Le Duc Tho
Feb 20 1970
-
National Guard troops kill 4 and wounded 10 demonstators at Kent State University (college protests)
May 4 1970
-
New York Times begins publications of the "Pentagon Papers", history of American involvement in Vietnam
June 13 1971
-
Kissinger announced breakthrough at Paris peace talks and says, "peace is within reach"
(Peace talks break down)
-
Cease-fire agreement is signed and announced
Jan 27 1973
-
-
Last American ground troops leave Vietnam
March 29 1973
-
Congress passes the War Power Act, which restricts the President's power to commit troops to foreign countries without congressional approval.
Nov 7 1973
-
Nixon resigns and is replaced by Gerald Ford
Aug 9 1974
-
Six month offensive, Vietcong and North Vietnamese overran South Vietnam and Cambodia
1975
-
President Ford calls the war "finished"
April 23 1975
-
Last Americans evacuated from Saigon, last two American soldiers killed in Vietnam
April 29 1975
-
UN Trusteeship Council
Helping countries become independent "self-determination"
-
U.S. supported France because...
Europe was more important
-
Viet Ming
- Leader: Ho Chi Minh
- General: Gioup
-
Boh Dai
Leader of French Indochina, but didn't have any power
-
Viet Cong
Guerilla communists in South Vietnam who fought against the democratic government
-
Geneva Conference
In Switzerland
-
Kennedy said that Vietnam...
was created by the U.S. and therefore it was our responsibility
-
Viet Cong/Viet Minh
- Viet Cong: South Vietnamese Communists
- Viet Ming: North Vietnamese Communists
-
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The U.S. was spying on the North Vietnamese when the North Vietnamese torpedo fired at a U.S. destroyer. A second destroyer was called in. Radar sounded and people though the North Vietnamese torpedoed again, but it is unclear.
-
Flaming Dart/Rolling Thunder
Retaliation against North Vietnamese attack/Continuous air attack on North Vietnamese
-
Audie Murphey
The most decorated soldier
-
We Were Soldiers Ending
Vietnamese general said that the outcome would be the same as the French massacre at Dien Bien Phu, but the number of deaths along the way would be greater.
-
Ballad of the Green Beret
- Song of 1966
- Patriotism
- 1965: Battle of Ia Drang Valley
-
Pentagon papers
Revealed lies of the Truman-Nixon administrations
-
Fragging
Soldiers who had been in Vietnam longer than their officers killed them off because they refused to obey orders because they were dangerous
-
1966 Perspective
- Both America and North Vietnam saw a war that they could win
- More men, more money, more bombs
- As long as they didn't meet American head on, ambush and retreat, traps, guerilla warfare
|
|