AIM: Concentrated bombing
of key stategic locations, i.e.
bridges roads and railways
There was no bombing of major
N Vietnamese cities as this could
cause USSR intervention
Hoped the N Vietnamese
would back down after
experiencing US bobing
It didn't work so the bombing intensified
Do to the original plan not working
America' moved away from 'surgical
bombing', towards blanket bombing
Nota:
Surgical bombing is the bombing of precise locations
B-52 bombers each carrying
28 two-tonne bombs,
battered N Vietnam, but
theN Vietnamese did not
surrender
Search and Destroy
Helicopters from US bases
would carry small numbers of
US troops for suprise attacks
on vietcong controlled villages
The fast helicopters gave little
time for the vietcong to escape
Every home was searched
and if any vietcong were
found the whole village
would be destroyed
Vietcong suspects were interrogated to
get information on other vietcong
villages.
Interrogation was often brutal and led to death
Caused the vietcong to start find and kill americans
Made Americans more
violent as they wanted
revenge for lost friends
The collective failure of
Operation Rolling thunder
and Search and Destroy
led to America using more
deadly tactics
Agent Orange and Napalm
Agent Orange
One of the 'Rainbow
Herbicides that was
developed in the 1960s
It was used from 1966 to clear
leaves and undergrowth;
leaving bare trees and
polluted rivers, soil and air
The chemical
could also cause
cancer in
humans
Napalm
Contact with napalm
would cause severe burns
of the skin
The impact on the war
was minimal, but was
large on civilians
Caused wide spread
revulsion around
the world, including
the USA
It is estimated over 500,000 vietnamese
children have been born with birth
defects as a result of chemical warfare
My Lai Massacre
16th March 1968 nine US helicopter
gunships carring 3 platoons landed
near the small village of My Lai
(population of around 700) on a
search and destroy mission
Lt. William Calley ordered the
village o be destroyed as he
believd it was a vilage that
sheltered the VC
No resistance was offered, and
eyewitnesses claim there were
no men, only old men and boys
Over 2 hours 500 unarmed
men, women and children
were killed
Lt. Calley claim it was 'no
big deal' and that he was
following orders
The importance of My
Lai in the Vietnam War
In 1969, 18 months after the
massacre, news broke in the US after a
soldier told his story on American TV
An investigation was held, and
statements were taken and photos
were released to the media
There was wide spread shock
across the US with some not
believing it thinking it was a
Vietcong plot; other accepted it
However the majority were horrified,
think they were no worse than the enemy,
and the soldiers were compared the Nazis
One of the key
events that turned
public opinion
against the war
Lt. Caley was the only soldier to face charges - he was
sentenced in 1970 to life imprisonment with hard
labour; but was given a presidential pardon in 1974
TV and Media Coverage
Was dubbed the 'first
media war' and the
'first war fought on tv
Before Vietnam the media
was censored when
covering conflicts, but in
Vietnam it wasn't
This coverage
wasn't always
favourable to
US forces
It was the media
that exposed My
Lai over a year
after it happened
There was
media coverage
every day,
providing details
on the war and
fighting
Pictures and Foreign Media
There were many important pictures
changing public opinion to become ani-war
North Vietnamese media did
not show the attrocities their
troops commited but told their
people they were fightig the
might of the USA