Lesson 1

Vocabulary

• Domino Theory : The belief that if one nation in Asia fell to communist, neighboring countries would follow.

• Napalm : A jellied gasoline used for bombs

• Guerrilla : Member of an armed band that carries out surprise attacks and sabotage rather than open warfare.

• Agent Orange : A chemical defoliant used to clear Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War.

• Ho Chi Minh : He traveled through the Soviet Union and became an advocate of communism. He was one of the leaders of the nationalist movement. He organized the nationalist group called the Vietminh.

• Vietminh :The Vietminh were a collection of communist and non-communist forces with the goal to kick out the Japanese.

• Events that gets the U.S in Vietnam under Truman : China’s fall to communism and the breakout of the Korean war helped convince Truman to aid France.

• Eisenhower and Vietnam : He continued Truman’s policy and defended his decision with what became known as the Domino Theory.

• Ngo Dinh Diem : A south Vietnamese leader who was pro-western and anti-communist. He soon became unpopular by discriminating against Buddhism and he was corrupt. Later he was overthrown and executed.

• Geneva Accords : Provided for a temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel.

After Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold national elections, Ho Chi Minh and his followers created the new guerrilla army known as the Vietcong.

• Vietcong : South Vietnamese communist and their goal was to reunify North and South Vietnam.

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 7, 1964) : It allowed the president the power to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack on U.S. forces. Aka Congress had given its war powers to the president. The president who sent ground troops to North Vietnam was Johnson.

Lesson 2

Vocabulary

• Credibility gap : lack of trust or believability

• Teach-in : an extended meeting or class held to discuss a social or political issue

• Dove : A person in favor of the U.S withdrawing from the Vietnam War

• Hawk : Someone who believed the U.S should continue its military efforts in Vietnam

• William Westmoreland : A American commander in South Vietnam

• Tet Offensive : On January 30, 1968 during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese launched a surprise attack. Militarily, the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the Communists, but it was a political victory that shocked Americans.

• Martin Luther King Jr. : was assassinated by James Earl Ray

• Robert Kennedy : was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan

• George Wallace : A third candidate, governor of Alabama. He was an outspoken segregationist, Wallace sought to attract Americans who felt threaten by the civil rights movement and Urban social unrest.

Lesson 3

Vocabulary

• linkage : Policy of improving relations with the Soviet Union and China in hopes of pursuing them to cut back their aid to North Vietnam.

• Vietnamization : The process of making South Vietnam assumes more of the war effort by slowly withdrawing American troops from Vietnam.

• Henry Kissinger : President Nixon chose Harvard professor Henry Kissinger to be special assistant for national security affairs, giving him authority to find a way to end the war in Vietnam. Kissinger used a policy called linkage to improve relations with the Soviet Union and China.

• Le Duc Tho : Kissinger also made secret negations with North Vietnam’s representative aka Le Duc Tho.

• My Lai : An American platoon under the command of Lieutenant William Calley had massacred more than 200 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet

  of My Lai. Most of the victims were old men, women, and children.

• Invasion of Cambodia : Nixon announced that American troops had invaded Cambodia to destroy Vietcong military bases. Americans viewed this as an expansion of the war and a wave of protests followed.

• Daniel Ellsberg : A former Defense Department worker, leaked what became known as the Pentagon Paper to the press.

• Pentagon Papers : The secret document showed that many government officials had privately questioned the war while publicly defending it. The document also showed how the various administrations deceived the public about Vietnam.

• Nguyen Van Thieu : South Vietnam president, who refused to any plan that left North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam.

• Saigon : On April 30, 1975, the North Vietnamese captured Saigon (South Vietnam capital) and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.

• MIA : Missing in action.

• Operation Rolling Thunder : A frequent bombing campaign by the U.S.

• War of attrition : Trying to wear down the enemy side.