Vietnam War History Quizlet

Roy Benavidez (1935-1998); Part 3

- After the battle, he was evacuated to the base camp, examined, and thought to be dead. - As he was placed in a body bag, he was suddenly recognized by a friend who called for help. - A doctor came and examined him but believed Benavidez was dead. - The doctor was about to zip up the body bag when Benavidez managed to spit in his face, alerting the doctor that he was alive. -Benavidez had a total of 37 separate bullet, bayonet, and shrapnel wounds from the six-hour fight with the enemy battalion. - he eventually recovered. - He received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism and four Purple Hearts. - Feb. 24, 1981 Pres. Ronald Reagan presented him with the medal of honor - Pres. Reagan said " If the story of his heroism was a movie script, you would not believe it

Roy Benavidez (1935-1998); Part 1

- In 1965 he was sent to South Vietnam as an advisor to an Army of the Republic of Vietnam infantry regiment. He stepped on a land mine. - Doctors at Fort Sam Houston concluded he would never walk again and began preparing his medical discharge papers. - although severely injured by the land mine he taught himself to walk, and in little over a year he walked out of the hospital -he returned to South Vietnam in January 1968.

Roy Benavidez (1935-1998); Part 2

-On May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces patrol was surrounded by a NVA infantry battalion of about 1,000 men. -Benavidez heard the radio appeal for help and boarded a helicopter to respond. Armed only with a knife, he jumped from the helicopter carrying his medical bag and ran to help the trapped patrol. - Benavidez "distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions which exposed him to constantly withering enemy fire - he refused to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, and saved the lives of at least eight men." - After the battle, he was evacuated to the base camp, examined, and thought to be dead. - As he was placed in a body bag, he was suddenly recognized by a friend who called for help. - A doctor came and examined him but believed Benavidez was dead. - The doctor was about to zip up the body bag when Benavidez managed to spit in his face, alerting the doctor that he was alive. -Benavidez had a total of 37 separate bullet, bayonet, and shrapnel wounds from the six-hour fight with the enemy battalion. - he eventually recovered. - He received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism and four Purple Hearts. - Feb. 24, 1981 Pres. Ronald Reagan presented him with the medal of honor - Pres. Reagan said " If the story of his heroism was a movie script, you would not believe it

Richard Nixon

1968 and 1972; Republican; Vietnam: advocated "Vietnamization" (replace US troops with Vietnamese), but also bombed Cambodia/Laos, created a "credibility gap," Paris Peace Accords ended direct US involvement; economy-took US off gold standard (currency valued by strength of economy); created the Environmental Protection Agency, was president during first moon landing; SALT I and new policy of detente between US and Soviet Union; Watergate scandal: became first and only president to resign

Tet Offensive

1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

Dien Bien Phu (1954)

Disastrous defeat of a French army by Vietnamese Communists led by Ho Chi Minh. The U.S. was already involved in Indochina even before the defeat — giving U.S. military aid to the French. - When the French then tried to convince the U.S. to send troops to Vietnam, Eisenhower refused. - After the defeat, the French agreed to give up Indochina at the Geneva Conference of 1954.

Battle of La Drang

In 1965, it was the first major engagement between regular American and North Vietnamese forces. lots of N. Viet dead. 1:3 ratio

Viet Cong Tunnels

In order to combat better-supplied American and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, Communist guerrilla troops known as Viet Cong (VC) dug tens of thousands of miles of tunnels, including an extensive network running underneath the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon. Soldiers used these underground routes to house troops, transport communications and supplies, lay booby traps and mount surprise attacks, after which they could disappear underground to safety.

Bombing of Laos and Cambodia

March, 1969 - U.S. bombed North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia and Laos. Technically illegal because Cambodia and Laos were neutral, but done because North Vietnam was itself illegally moving its troops through those areas. Not learned of by the American public until July, 1973.

Ho Chi Minh

North Vietnamese leader (1945-1965)

Lê Duẩn

North Vietnamese leader (1965-1986)

The end on the Vietnam war

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, who reunited the country under Communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War.

Battle of Khe Sanh

On January 21, 1968 Hanoi's General Giap launched a surprise attack on this American base. Like the French at Dien Bien Phu, the Americans were outnumbered, but the US Air Force delivered a victory for the US.

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG)

The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was activated, January 24, 1964, to function as a joint special operations task force. Commanded by a U.S. Army Special Forces colonel, MACV-SOG was a subcomponent of MACV. Born from a need to conduct more effective special operations against North Vietnam, many Central Intelligence Agency programs were transferred to SOG, which eventually consisted of personnel from U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S. Navy Sea-Air-Land (SEALs), U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, Force Reconnaissance and CIA personnel. Special operations were conducted in North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam.

Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos

The conflict expanded into neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia, where North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong soldiers moved and operated. As a consequence, the Vietnam War had a profound impact on these countries, facilitating the rise of nationalist-communist groups there.

Vietnam and the Media

The main focus of the media was high morale and support for the war effort. In contrast, the television news networks had a bleaker view of the war in Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive in 1968—which the public saw as a defeat—reports turned unfavorable toward the war effort.

November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975

The start and end dates of the Vietnam war

Viet Cong (VC)

Viet Cong (VC), in full Viet Nam Cong San, English Vietnamese Communists, the guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army, fought against South Vietnam (late 1950s-1975) and the United States (early 1960s-1973). The name is said to have first been used by South Vietnamese Pres. Ngo Dinh Diem to belittle the rebels.

Linden B. Johnson (1963-1969)

became president after death of JFK; got the U.S involved in the Vietnam War;

Tunnel Rats

usually the smallest soldiers in their unit; they went into the tunnel systems to flush out the Viet Cong that might be hiding there