Vietnam War - End and Aftermath

End of American Involvement

  • Papers due before the next class.
  • Civilian team of 9,000 replaced military personnel after the treaty was signed. Many were hastily discharged from the military and employed by the South Vietnamese government.
  • US maintained naval and air power in the Gulf of Tonkin, Thailand, and Guam.
  • Continued bombing of Cambodia to support Prime Minister Lon Nol against the Khmer Rouge.
  • Case-Church Amendment prohibited American military action in Southeast Asia after August 1973.
  • ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) aware they could sustain losses without American intervention.
  • Smaller BC operations and sabotage continued as North Vietnamese regained strength.
  • North Vietnamese dismissed charges of ceasefire violations, accusing the US of not holding up their end of the deal.
  • Kissinger accused of using these accusations to deceive public opinion, which angered him.
  • A communique reaffirming the January accords was eventually issued.
  • Kissinger reduced involvement in Indochina affairs to preserve emotional stability.
  • ARVN stepped up ground and air attacks and launched land-grabbing operations in late 1973.
  • North Vietnamese and PRG (Provisional Revolutionary Government) counterattacked, achieving successes and taking territory.
  • Military balance shifted in favor of North Vietnam and PRG by fall 1974.

Internal Issues in South Vietnam

  • Massive unemployment and declining morale among soldiers.
  • Increased corruption in the South Vietnamese government.
  • Pilots demanded bribes to fly missions.
  • Buddhists agitated for peace and reconciliation.
  • Catholics organized an anti-corruption campaign targeting President Thieu.
  • Defeatism was rampant.
  • Nixon's presidency was ending by August 1974.

American Aid and Congressional Opposition

  • Kissinger, now Secretary of State under President Ford, pleaded with Congress to expand military aid to 1,500,000,000.0 (from a reduced amount).
  • Kissinger argued for a moral obligation to South Vietnam and warned of a domino effect if it fell.
  • Inflation was the overriding concern in America.
  • Congress believed the corrupt Thieu regime would steal the money.
  • Senator Edward Kennedy called for terminating America's endless support for an endless war.
  • Congress approved curtailing air operations by 50% and rationing ammunition.
  • Morale worsened in the military, and desertions reached an all-time high of 240,000 in 1974.

Fall of Saigon

  • Ford requested $300,000,000.0 in aid, but Congress rejected it.
  • Ford proclaimed the Vietnam War "finished" as far as the United States was concerned.
  • The scene in Saigon involved exorbitant fees paid by the US embassy to secure visas for those fleeing.
  • Inadequate transport meant not all who wished to flee could.
  • US Marines used rifle butts to control desperate Vietnamese.
  • ARVN soldiers fired on departing American planes.

Responsibility and Blame

  • The US shared responsibility for the fall of South Vietnam.
  • The US provided enough support to encourage defiance but not enough to win.
  • The refusal to intervene in the final crisis contributed to the fall.
  • President Thieu's intransigence and strategic errors contributed.
  • South Vietnam relied on American money and power to exist.
  • South Vietnam suffered from a lack of able and honest leadership and was controlled by a corrupt elite.

Consequences of the War

  • Fought for, by, and among civilians, with the majority of casualties being civilians.
  • American planes dropped millions of tons of ordnance and chemicals (napalm, defoliants).
  • Devastation of cities, buildings, infrastructure, farmland, and vegetation.
  • High numbers missing, potentially adjusted upward from previously recorded 72 quarters.

Interpretations and Lessons

  • George Kennan described it as the most disastrous undertaking in 200 years of US history.
  • Some viewed Vietnam as a nationalist conflict where US intervention was a mistake.
  • US attempted state-building failed, flawed choice of Diem.
  • Critics on the right argued the war was winnable but lost by politicians who restricted engagement terms.
  • Washington withdrew from foreign disputes and entered a period of detente with the Soviet Union and China.

Domestic Impact

  • Two decades of intervention cost the US close to 1,000,000,000,000.0 (in today's money).
  • War costs stalled Great Society reforms.
  • Returning veterans faced challenges (alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide).
  • Almost 100,000 Vietnam veterans had taken their own lives by 2014.
  • A 1988 government survey indicated 479,000 people (over 15%) of US personnel posted to Vietnam, had been diagnosed with PTSD.
  • Symptoms of PTSD: depression, anxiety, nervousness, sleep deprivation, flashbacks, and social isolation.
  • Veterans also contended with physical problems from chemical defoliants like Agent Blue and Agent Orange (estimated 18,000,000 gallons).