From Apocalypse Now to
Rambo..
Indochina, 1954
May: French Defeat at
Dien Bien Phu
Geneva Convention to
end conflict in Indochina
French and Vietminh
agree temporary division,
unifying elections 1956
Americans and S.Viet
leadership don’t agree…..
The Protagonists
Ho Chi Minh
Ngo Dinh
Diem
Buddhist Protest
11 June 1963, Thich Quang
Due burned himself to death
Vietnam,1964
Air Power
Bombing into submission ?
Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, 7 Aug
1964
Operation ‘Rolling
Thunder’, Feb 1965
3 x tonnage used in
WWII
March 1965 – Ground Troops
Rice paddy
Counting the days!
Religion in a strange
environment
The Tet Offensive
31 Jan 1968
1 Feb 1968, Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan
US casualty during Tet
Fleeing the Tet
Offensive at Hue
The aftermath
of Tet
Endgame in Vietnam…
Mar 1969 Bombing of
supply routes in
Cambodia (secret)
Late 1969 My Lai
becomes public
(occurred Mar 1968)
Apr 1970 Invasion of
Cambodia
May 1970 Kent State
massacre
Coming to terms with defeat
‘Peace with honour’
Cease-fire Jan 1973
Saigon fell April
1975
A superpower
humbled….
The Vietnam War Memorial
The Consequences of
Vietnam
Secrecy, Lies and Watergate
‘Apocalypse Now’: Vietnam and popular culture
Economic problems and the rise of the New Right
The War Powers Act (1973) and avoiding another
Vietnam
The ‘War on Terror’: Iraq and Afghanistan. History
repeating itself?
Tighter control of the Media…
Unclear war aims, timetables……….
Unclear war aims, timetables……….