HIST+484+Reactions

Use these items the next time I teach this course: Edwin A. Shuman III, Former Prisoner of War Who Defied Hanoi Hilton Guards, Dies at 82 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/us/edwin-a-shuman-iii-former-prisoner-of-war-who-defied-hanoi-hilton-guards-dies-at-82.html?hpw&rref=obituaries

[| http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/vietnam/vietnam_where.cfm]
 * Where is Vietnam?**


 * My Own Path to Vietnam**

How and why did I end up in Vietnam?

1. Army ROTC at Georgetown, commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant.

2. Prepared myself as much as possible for Vietnam: wrote term papers on Vietnam and other insurgencies.

3. One part of me thought I had to go to graduate school as my classmates were doing.

4. Army permitted deferments to pursue my Ph.D.

5. Began a Ph.D. program in Political Science at University of Pittsburgh. Difficult to be in school when war on.

6. Finished M.A. in Political Science. Asked Army to call me in for my two years.

7. Stateside assignments:

Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia Troop duty in the Infantry Advanced Individual Training Brigade at Fort Jackson, South Carolina Vietnamese language study at Fort Bliss, Texas Advisor school at Fort Gordon, Georgia

8. Tour of duty in Vietnam as an advisor to the South Vietnamese army.

9. Returned from Vietnam to begin MBA program at Stanford Business School.


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #1**


 * Context for U.S. decision-making**

1. Vietnam became one of the many sites where the Cold War and the Third World intersected. 2. Containment policy 3. Domino Theory 4. American leaders thought of Vietnam as an Asian Berlin, a place to draw the line against communism and to implement the containment doctrine. 5. China 1949 6. McCarthy in US (1950-1954) 7. Korean War (1950-1953)


 * Tuesday, 15 January**
 * Reaction #1**

The Vietnam War and the Tragedy of Containment [| http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/vietnam/lecture.html]

Vietnam: Lessons Learned [| http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,43778,00.html]

Edwin Moise: The Vietnam Wars Background [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet1.html]

Could One Man Have Shortened the Vietnam War [| http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23037957]


 * END OF REACTION #1**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #2**


 * Thursday, 17 January**
 * Reaction #2**


 * French Indochina: French colonialism**

Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) colonized in 1880s. Vietnamese resisted French colonial regime as much as possible Vietnamese tradition of historical resistance to invaders: China.

French Indochina [Read the sections on Population, Economy, and Infrastructure] [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Indochina]

The City: Colonial Saigon (PBS) [| http://www.pbs.org/vietnampassage/City/city.colonial.html]

Volume 1, Chapter 1 of the Pentagon Papers, "Background to the Crisis, 1940-50," pp. 1-52. [| https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent1.html]


 * END OF REACTION #2**

B **EGINNING OF REACTION #3**


 * Tuesday, 22 January**
 * Reaction #3**

Pentagon Papers Volume 1, Chapter 1: "Background to the Crisis, 1940-50," pp. 42-52. [| https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent4.htm]

The character and power of the Viet-Minh--a summary Ho Chi Minh: Asian Tito?


 * END OF REACTION #3**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #4**

Thursday, 24 January Reaction #4


 * We Were Soldiers**

I changed my mind about this reaction. Instead of asking you to read more from the Pentagon Papers, I am hoping it will grab your attention to watch all 4 of the following YouTube clips (they are all part of the same documentary) on the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley (We Were Soldiers). In this documentary, survivors of that battle (including Hal Moore) revisit the actual battlefield.

Begin by reading this article about Hal Moore. [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Moore]

Then watch these 4 clips: 1. [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpTB7LH_5L4&feature=youtube_gdata_player] 2. [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_fmnZ3CC8A&feature=youtube_gdata_player] 3. [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBvjuZwGlSA&feature=youtube_gdata_player] 4. [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQdYydPOgA&feature=youtube_gdata_player]


 * END OF REACTION #4**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #5**

Tuesday, 29 January Reaction #5

Edwin Moise: Emergence of the Viet Minh [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet2.html]

Edwin Moise: The First Indochina War [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet3.html]

Vietnam: A Television History 1. Roots of a War (1945-1953)

Episode 1: [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqKi-SyRA7I] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_01.html]


 * First Indochina War: Vietminh war against the French**

After World War II, U.S. had a choice:

a) Support Ho Chi Minh's bid for independence

Ho Chi Minh obituary (New York Times) [| http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0519.html]

Ho Chi Minh and the OSS [| http://www.historynet.com/ho-chi-minh-and-the-oss.htm]

Leader of Vietnamese Communist Party Major leader of Vietnamese resistance to the Japanese

Vietminh declared independence from France in 1945. Ho quoted from U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Vietnam [| http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139/]

b) Support French return to Indochina

We supported the French return. Context: containment of communism We paid 80% of the costs of French war against Vietminh


 * END OF REACTION #5**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #6**

Thursday, 31 January Reaction #6

Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, 6 April 1954 [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-indochina/]

General Vo Nguyen Giap as Military Man and Poet (Cecil B. Currey) [| http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Scholarly/Currey_Giap.html]


 * Dien Bien Phu (May 1954)**

French Foreign Legion Parachute unit [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YSsetJU-tU&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Battle of Dien Bien Phu (Bernard Fall) [| http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-dien-bien-phu.htm]

Battle Scenes [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TJ1KJJuJ3M&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

New Perspectives on Dien Bien Phu [| http://www.hawaii.edu/cseas/pubs/explore/v1n2-art2.html]

French withdrawal from Indochina


 * END OF REACTION #6**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #7**


 * Tuesday, 5 February**
 * Reaction #7**

Why CIA analysts were so doubtful about Vietnam [| https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/97unclass/vietnam.html]


 * END OF REACTION #7**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #8**


 * Thursday, 7 February**
 * Reaction #8**

Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel. Ho's forces gained control of North Vietnam. Election to unify the country was scheduled for 1956. America, figuring Ho Chi Minh would win, did not permit the election.


 * Geneva peace conference (July 1954)**

YouTube video on Geneva Accord meetings

Edwin Moise The Vietnam Wars The Geneva Accords [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet4.html]

21 July 1954 Peace deal ends Indo-China War (BBC On This Day) [| http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_3894000/3894175.stm]

Edwin Moise The Vietnam Wars The Aftermath of Geneva, 1954-1960 [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet5.html]


 * END OF REACTION #8**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #9**


 * Tuesday, 12 February**
 * Reaction #9**

Our man in Vietnam: Ngo Dinh Diem

Vietnam: A Television History America's Mandarin (1954-1963) Episode 2: [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yd7tnJAEGE] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_02.html]


 * END OF REACTION #9**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #10**


 * Thursday, 14 February**
 * Reaction #10**

Edwin Moise: The Fall of Ngo Dinh Diem [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet6.html]

JFK and the Diem Coup [Read the introductory sections--those prior to the Documents] [| http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/index.htm]

Volume 2, Chapter 4, of the Pentagon Papers, "The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem, May-November, 1963," pp. 201-276. [| https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/pent6.htm]
 * [use the summary section only]**


 * END OF REACTION #10**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #11**


 * Tuesday, 19 February**
 * Reaction #11: LBJ Goes to War (1964-1965)**

Watch the video:

Vietnam: A Television History Episode 3: LBJ Goes to War (1964-1965) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5TNwVIhcQk] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_03.html]


 * END OF REACTION #11**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #12**


 * Thursday, 21 February**
 * Reaction #12: Gulf of Tonkin episode**

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (7 August 1964) (New York Times) [| http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0807.html#article] [Look at what else is on front page: Goldwater for President, LBJ Anti-Poverty Bill]

Major General H.R. McMaster [read both of these bio sketches] [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster] [| http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/MG%20HR%20McMaster%20Bio.pdf]

Lessons of Vietnam (interview with H.R. McMaster) [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/military/etc/lessons.html]


 * END OF REACTION #12**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #13**


 * Tuesday, 26 February**
 * Reaction #13: America Takes Charge (1965-1967)**

Watch the video:

Vietnam: A Television History Episode 4: America Takes Charge (1965-1967) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD5Sek4snmw] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_04.html]


 * END OF REACTION #13**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #14**


 * Thursday, 28 February**
 * Reaction #14**

“It Was Vital Not to Lose Vietnam by Force to Communism”: Leslie Gelb Analyzes the Roots of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam [| http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6899]

The Language of War [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/language.html]

On Patrol [| http://www.history.com/shows/vietnam-in-hd/videos/on-patrol#on-patrol]

The Use of Punji Traps [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo7XBaG_-SE&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Ho Chi Minh trail: Google Images [| http://bit.ly/GXZlFl]

Ho Chi Minh Trail [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_trail]

Ho Chi Minh Trail maps [| http://www.austincc.edu/caddis/ImagesText%20copy/Vietnam/HoChiMinhTrailMap.jpg] [| http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/USAH023-H.gif]

Enemy Tunnels (BBC) [| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/720577.stm]

Tunnels of Cu Chi [| http://away.com/vacations/travel-gd-vietnams-cu-chi-tunnels-photo-gallery-sidwcmdev_118953.html]


 * END OF REACTION #14**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #15**


 * Tuesday, 5 March**
 * Reaction #15**

Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 5. America's Enemy (1954-1967) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hPXw1YnUQQ] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_05.html]


 * END OF REACTION #15**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #16**

Thursday, 7 March Reaction #16: Helicopter Warfare

The Helicopter Road to Vietnam (Peter Brush) [| http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/central/Brush/Helicopters-Vietnam.htm]

Battle Stations: Huey Helicopter [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvN2os2djM&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Helicopters Class Guest: Professor Charles Carillo Bio sketch


 * END OF REACTION #16**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #17**


 * Tuesday, 12 March**
 * Reaction #17**

Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 6. Tet 1968

[| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oMu3MHsmxM] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_06.html]

Declassified: The Tet Offensive [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri2rpSH38p0&feature=youtube_gdata_player]


 * END OF REACTION #17**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #18**


 * Thursday, 14 March**
 * Reaction #18**

Edwin Moise: The Tet Offensive of 1968, and its aftermath [| http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet8.html]

Tet [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive]

Battle of Khe Sanh [| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh] Battlefield Vietnam [| http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/khe/container.html] a. Stories of 4 participants b. The Siege c. Close-up (interactive maps)

Raymond Torres story [| http://www.history.com/shows/vietnam-in-hd/videos/a-soldiers-story-khe-sanh#a-soldiers-story-khe-sanh]


 * END OF REACTION #18**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #19**


 * Tuesday, 19 March**
 * Reaction #19**

[| http://www.vietnamgear.com/gallery.aspx]
 * Vietnam Gear website:**

Work through ALL of these categories:

Soldiers & Marines Special Forces SOG Navy SEALs Australians Korean Forces Mobile Riverine Force River Patrol Force Coastal Surveillance Force Aircraft Vehicles Dogs Places Visitors


 * END OF REACTION #19**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #20**


 * Thursday, 21 March**
 * Reaction #20**

Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 7. Vietnamizing the War (1969-1973) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIdYdbpR8kA] Transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_07.html]


 * END OF REACTION #20**


 * Week #12** [No class: Easter break all week]: Tuesday, 26 March; Thursday, 28 March


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #21**


 * Tuesday, 2 April**
 * Reaction #21**

a. Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 10. Homefront USA [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMN6M5CZo8o]

b. Read the transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_10.html]


 * END OF REACTION #21**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #22**


 * Thursday, 4 April**
 * Reaction #22**

Student Protesters [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/twodays/peopleevents/p_protest.html]

Policing Student Demonstrations at the University of Wisconsin [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/twodays/peopleevents/p_police.html]

Student Antiwar Protests and the Backlash [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/twodays/peopleevents/e_antiwar.html]

Questioning Authority [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/twodays/peopleevents/e_questioning.html]

Finding Dulcinea: On This Day: Kent State Students Shot by Ohio National Guard [| http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Kent-State-Students-Shot-by-Ohio-National-Guard.html]


 * END OF REACTION #22**

Put these in below:


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #23**


 * Tuesday, 9 April**
 * Reaction #23**

Lon Nol ousts Prince Sihanouk — History.com This Day in History — 3/18/1970 [| http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lon-nol-ousts-prince-sihanouk]

a. Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 8. Cambodia and Laos [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLMJoVJJR4]

b. Read the transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_08.html]


 * END OF REACTION #23**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #24**


 * Thursday, 11 April**
 * Reaction #24**

a. Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 9. Peace Is at Hand (1968-1973) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXIjMkE7Ikk]

b. Read the transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_09.html]


 * END OF REACTION #24**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #25**


 * Tuesday, 16 April**
 * Reaction #25**

a. Watch the video: Vietnam: A Television History

Episode 11. The End of the Tunnel (1973-1975) [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJBVklyIXs]

b. Read the transcript [| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/series/pt_11.html]


 * END OF REACTION #25**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #26**


 * Thursday, 18 April**
 * Reaction #26**

INR'S 1969 Vietnam Study in Context: A Retrospective Preface Thirty-five Years Later [| http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB121/hughes.htm]

A Retrospective on Counterinsurgency Operations — Central Intelligence Agency [| https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no2/a-retrospective-on-counterinsurgency-operations.html]


 * END OF REACTION #26**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #27**


 * Tuesday, 23 April**
 * Reaction #27**

A Look Back at the Vietnam War on the 35th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon (Denver Post Photo Blog) Photos #1-70 [| http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/04/30/captured-a-look-back-at-the-vietnam-war-on-the-35th-anniversary-of-the-fall-of-saigon/1781/]


 * END OF REACTION #27**


 * BEGINNING OF REACTION #28**


 * Thursday, 25 April**
 * Reaction #28**

BBC News - Pete Peterson: The ex-POW teaching Vietnam to swim [| http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21770163]

A Look Back at the Vietnam War on the 35th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon (Denver Post Photo Blog) Photos #71-141 [| http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/04/30/captured-a-look-back-at-the-vietnam-war-on-the-35th-anniversary-of-the-fall-of-saigon/1781/]


 * END OF REACTION #28**


 * END OF SEMESTER!!!**