(Johnson Quits, Nixon Elected)
By 1968 the war and the president had become so unpopular in America that Lyndon Johnson unexpectedly announced in March that he would not seek re-election.
Hubert Humphrey, vice president under Johnson and former Senator from Minnesota, won the Democratic nomination.
Richard Milhous Nixon won the Republican nomination, making the biggest political comeback in American history. He had been Vice President under Eisenhower, and previously a Senator and Congressman from California. But in 1960 he was defeated by John F. Kennedy for the Presidency, and later defeated again when he ran for Governor of California, It was a very hard fought, no holds barred Presidential campaign, keeping millions of Americans up all night awaiting the results of the election, Richard Nixon won by a very narrow margin, scarcely more than 100,000 votes. Conservative Republicans considered Hubert Humphrey far too liberal, while liberal Democrats, who had disliked Nixon for years, portrayed him as a man who couldn't be trusted, he came to be referred to by many of his detractors as "Tricky Dick".
The year 1968 was a very sad year in America for many reasons. There were now over 500,000 troops in Vietnam, and the number of casualties, both dead and wounded, was growing at an alarming rate. Robert Kennedy, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, was assassinated in California just moments after winning the Democratic primary. Civil rights demonstrations were taking place in large cities across America, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
On Jan. 21,1968, the North Vietnam Army launched an all out attack on a remote Marine base at Khe Sahn.The marines were vastly outnumbered, approximately 6,000, against approximately 30,000 North Vietnamese. The battle lasted until April 8th, at which time the North Vietnam army just suddenly ceased their fighting and left.There were reportedly 730 marines killed, 2,642 wounded and 7 missing. The North Vietnam Army suffered much greater loss, due mainly to American air strikes on their positions, it is estimated there were 10,000 -15,000 killed. The Marines stayed on at the base for a few weeks after the fighting ended but abandoned it in June. The attack at Khe Sahn was planned as a diversionary tactic by North Vietnam, they were secretly preparing their armies for something much bigger.They felt that engaging U S. troops at Khe Sahn would likely lessen the chance that their huge military buildup would be discovered before they had a chance to carry out their plan.
On Jan. 30, 1968, during the Lunar New Year holiday, the combined armies of North Vietnam,over 70,000 troops, launched a surprise massive attack on over 100 South Vietnam cities, including the capital city of Saigon. It has since been called one of the greatest battles in military history, though the North Vietnam military suffered an immense number of casualties, estimated at 30,000. The Communist Armies fought a long hard fierce fight but there was no clear winner when it was over. The fighting lasted until June 8th, and was the turning point in the Vietnam War.
President Johnson tried to convince the American people that the U.S.had won the Tet Offensice but nevertheless the polls now showed that the great majority of Americans thought it was time to cut our losses and bring the troops home, and the anti-war protests continued with ever increasing frequency and ferocity. The Johnson administration had come to realize the war was unwinnable, but still the President kept committing more and more U.S. troops to fight and die in a war he knew they weren't going to win. I guess I'm not very military savvy because that makes no sense at all to me.
As if the Tet offensive wasn't bad enough it was during this period that the greatest atrocity of the war involving American troops occurred.
Vietnam Village
It was believed by US military intelligence that the 48th battalion of the NLF, (Vietcong), had gone into hiding in the village of Song My. The Vietcong army didn't wear uniforms and could blend in easily with the peaceful villagers.
Captain Ernest Medina
On the morning of March 16 soldiers of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, American Division, were ordered by Captain Ernest Medina to go into one of the small hamlets in the village to search for Vietcong insurgents. the hamlet was known as My Lai. He advised Charlie Company that any genuine civilians at My Lai would have left their homes to go to market by 7 a.m. the following day. They were told they could assume that all who remained behind were either Vietcong or active Vietcong sympathizers.
Soldiers From Charlie Company
They were told by the villagers there were no Vietcong soldiers in their village but they weren't believed as it was known that Vietcong soldiers often hid out in the homes of their elderly parents or other relatives.
Lt. William Calley
Charlie Company, led by Lt. William Calley, had his men tell the villagers to move on to another nearby village where they would be safe. But as they were leaving Lt. Calley ordered the soldiers to open fire on the retreating villagers, primarily old men, women, children and babies. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic firearms.
The precise number killed varies from source to source, with 347 and 504 being the most commonly cited figures. A memorial at the site of the massacre lists 504 names, with ages ranging from one to eighty-two years.
The massacre was halted when Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., a 24-year-old helicopter pilot, landed his OH-23 and confronted Lt. Stephen Brooks about attacks on wounded Vietnamese civilians hiding in a bunker. Thompson threatened to have his two door gunners open fire on American servicemen with his ship's machine guns if the attacks continued. Thompson also called in two additional helicopters to evacuate twelve wounded Vietnamese civilians. On 17 March 1970, the United States Army charged 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident, but most of these charges were dropped. US Army Lt William Calley was convicted in 1971 of premeditated murder in ordering the shootings and initially sentenced to life in prison.
Lt. Calley on his way to Court Martial
Two days later, however, President Richard Nixon ordered him released from prison, pending appeal of his sentence. Calley served 3 1/2 years under house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was then ordered freed by Federal Judge J Robert Elliot. Calley claimed he was following orders from his captain, Ernest Medina; Medina denied giving the orders and was acquitted at a separate trial. Of the 26 men initially charged, Lt Calley was the only one convicted.
The ground and air war raged on in 1969 and the casualty rate continued to climb. Nixon steadfastly refused to set a timeline for ending the war, but in June,1969, he withdrew 25,000 troops from Vietnam, promising there would be many more withdrawals to come.
On October 15, 1969, millions of people, both young and old, took part in demonstrations across America calling for a Vietnam Moratorium; a temporary halt to the war and renewed efforts to bring about a negotiated peace.
In 1969 the draft lottery system was instituted. Lottery numbers were drawn by birth date; the lower the draft number, the more likely that one would be drafted. President Nixon ordered secret bombing attacks on Cambodia that went on for 14 months. These attacks were carried out in secret because the U.S. wasn't at war with Cambodia, a country that claimed to be neutral. But North Vietnam had established military bases along the Cambodian border, from which they were launching attacks against South Vietnam. Nixon later also secretly sent ground troops into Cambodia, a move that drew so much criticism they were withdrawn in a short time, but the bombing raids continued .
The demonstrations against the war continued, and thousands of young men were defiantly burning their draft cards in public. When the news of American involvement in Cambodia got out support for Nixon's handling of the war dropped to an all time low, and was openly criticized by many members of Congress, some from his own party. In June of 1970 Congress repealed the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which had authorized the Vietnam war. By an 81-10 vote, senators first added the Gulf of Tonkin repeal to another bill. Then, by a 57-5 vote several weeks later, the Senate passed a separate repeal resolution. President Nixon signed the bill that included the Gulf of Tonkin repeal. However he kept the Vietnam war going, using what he called 'inherent presidential powers'
The bombing of Cambodia and the entry of American ground troops there was blamed for renewed anti-war protests around the country, one in particular made headlines across America. In May of 1970, students had gathered on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio to protest U.S. involvement in Cambodia, the ending of college draft deferments, and the belief that President Johnson had lied to the American people about the 2nd 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident in order to obtain the legal authority to escalate the Vietnam war. They began throwing rocks and beer bottles and shouting obscenities at the police, and alledgedly set fire to the ROTC building on the campus grounds. The National Guard was called in and before it was all over the protest turned deadly. A group of 77 National Guardsmen, fully armed, managed to push the students down a hill away from the campus, where the students dispersed into smaller groups. As the Guardsmen were walking back up the hill towards the campus grounds they suddenly turned and began firing into the crowd. They hit 13 students, four of them died. and nine were wounded. It was never determined why this happened as the guardsmen were never in any real danger.This tragedy was also shown on television and resulted in anti-war sentiment reaching a new high. No-one was ever charged in this tragic incident.
In May of 1970 President announced that 150,000 troops would be withdrawn over the next twelve month period, and later in that same year he ordered renewed bombings of Laos, secret bombings had been going on there since 1964. More bombs were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War than on any country in the history of war to that date. Entire villages were destroyed and it is estimated that as many as 400,000 civilians were killed.
In April of 1971 Congress passed a two year extension of the draft. and ended most college deferments. More and more Vietnam veterans in the States were turning against the war and were joining in the war protests, often making speeches calling for an end to the war, and throwing away their medals and citations.
One such veteran was a young man from Massachusetts by the name of John Kerry. He made a long anti -Vietnam War speech in 1971 before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Senator J. William Fullbright. The speech became known as the 'Winter Soldier' speech. and it caused him to become branded a traitor by most who served in the war. The speech tuned out to be the launching pad for a long political career for Kerry, leading up to his running for President in 2004. The Vietnam veterans never forgot it and it could very well have cost Kerry the election that year, and enabled the incumbent president, George W. Bush, to win re-election by a landslide.
By 1971 rebellion had begun to surface among the Vietnam troops and morale was extremely low, especially among battle weary ground combat troops. Many were going AWOL and desertions were becoming commonplace. Drugs were easily obtained and as the war drug on with no end in sight drug usage among the troops was becoming a serious problem.
Troops from the 1st. Air Cav. had just staged a 'combat refusal'.
There were instances of troops refusing to obey combat orders and of attacking officers they considered uncaring, insensitive, and cruel. There were also some reports of officers being killed by enlisted men, this kind of behavior was known as "fragging". There was one instance where an entire batallion sat down in the middle of a battlefield and refused to fight.
January,1972: Nixon orders withdrawal of 70,000 troops from Vietnam, troop level now stands 69,000. On April 26 he ordered another 20,000 withdrawn, in June 10,000 more. On March 30,1972, North Vietnam launches a surprise major offensive across the DMZ (demilitarized zone). Nixon retaliates by ordering B 52 bombing raids, and on May10 Operation Linebacker began, a sustained bombing mission that lasted until August 23, when North Vietnam agreed to resume peace talks in Paris.
By 1972 most all Americans were so Vietnam war weary they wanted more than anything to see it end, and many just didn't care anymore how we got out of Vietnam, they just wanted us out!!!! Many well known people were openly speaking out against the war, one of the most notable being the movie actress Jane Fonda. In July of 1972 she actually went to North Vietnam and was photograhped laughing heartedly and shaking hands with North Vietnamese soldiers. Most of you have probably seen the famous photo above, that is a North Vietnam anti-aircraft gun she's sitting on, smiling and looking very happy to be there. This photo enraged Americans, and especially those who were serving or had served in Vietnam. She became known to many as 'Hanoi Jane', or the 'Tokyo Rose" of the Vietnam war. Millions of Americans, myself included, believed that what she did was a treasonable offense and that she should have been tried and convicted for treason, and put behind bars for life. But she was never charged with anything and went on to become one of Hollywood's most popular leading ladies for many years. She even won the coveted "Oscar", not just ONCE but TWICE.. Now that was some kind of reward for a TRAITOR, wasn't it?
April --2007
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