vietnam war review

MAAG (Military Assistance Advisory Group)

Military advisors were sent to Vietnam before major troop involvement to help train and support the South Vietnamese forces

The elite part of the army 

MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam)

The main U.S. military command in Vietnam that directed American military operations during the war

Green Berets

Special forces units of the U.S. Army trained in guerrilla warfare 

Dien Bien Phu

Battle where the Vietnamese defeated the French, leading to the end of French control in Vietnam

Strategic Hamlet Program

Defeat the Vietcong by separating them from the villages, by relocating people to protected camps

Napalm

Highly destructive firebombing weapon used during the war

Operation Rolling Thunder

American bombing campaign against North Vietnam

Intimidate the enemy, destroy infrastructure, cut resources

North Vietnam could still fight even with the bombings

DMZ

The dividing line between North & South Vietnam

Saigon

Capital of South Vietnam

Major Center of U.S. involvement

Hanoi

Capital of North Vietnam

Bouncing Betty

A grenade that jumped 3^ft in the air before exploding to maximize injuries and deaths

Pungi Sticks

Sharpened bamboo or metal spikes in traps

Often covered with feces to cause infection and create fear

Geneva Conference

The meeting that followed the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu, divided Vietnam into North / South

NLF

Communist organization fighting in S.V. against the South Vietnamese government and the U.S.

Also known as the Vietcong

NVA

Military forces of North Vietnam

Vietcong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam who used ambushed, traps, tunnels, and guerrilla warfare

Body Count

The way Americans measured success in the war was by counting enemy deaths

Inaccurate, didn’t show real progress, civilians could be counted as enemies

Agent Orange

Chemical herbicide used by the U.S. to destroy jungle cover and crops around bases and enemy areas

Poisoned water caused diseases, harmed both Vietnamese people and Americans

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Naval incidents involving the USS Maddox and N.V. patrol boats

Justification for expanding the war (Johnson)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Congressional resolution giving Johnson broad authority to take “all measures necessary” in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war

My Lai Massacre

Mass killings of Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers in a “Free Fire Zone”

Became a major symbol of war crimes and damaged public trust

Mad Minute

Rapid and Intense bursts of gunfire from American soilders

Ho Chi Minh Trial

Network of jungle supply routes used by N.V. to move troops and supplies into S.V.