Greene discuss how roomy remember the civil war and whether to remove or contextualize confederate monuments. Then sunday, at 6 pm eastern, on american artifacts, we will preview photographs of native americans. Which includes more than a half million images. At 8 pm on the presidency, a look at president ial retreats, including abraham lincoln, harvard Hoover Mountain fishing camp, and stories of the kennedys. Clintons, and obamas, and marthas been yard. And monday night, at 8 pm eastern, august mark the 75th anniversary of the bombings up hiroshima and nagasaki. American history tv and washington journalist back of the events that led to the bombing and their legacy with author ian toll, and president trumans grandson, Clifton Truman daniel. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv, this Labor Day Weekend on cspan three. From our lectures in history series, San Diego StateUniversity ProfessorPierre Asselin teaches a class on the vietnam war. Looking at the conflict from uss escalation in 1965, to follow saigon in a teen 75. He argues that the United States was in vietnam to prove the viability of capitalism in the american system of government. This class is about an hour and 15 minutes. So, we talked about the kind of lead up to the American Intervention and on tuesday. We are going to look at the war today. Before we kind of jumped in to the actual work here, did any questions concerning the stuff we covered on tuesday . No . Everything i am not good, arent i . laughs so, i want you guys to pay especially good attention today, because as it turns out, this isnt the only thing im actually qualified to teach. I dont know there was a war in korea until i read the text because you guys, but the vietnam war, thats kind of my thing, and so, ive tried to present relatively, kind of concise history of the war, and hopefully it makes some sense to you. So, on tuesday, we are talking about how, starting in 1964, as a result of developments in hanoi, north yet numb under its new leader, le duan, starts to escalate the insurgency in Southern Vietnam, and it escalates to a point where by late 64, we effectively have a state of war in Southern Vietnam. We have big, or as i mentioned, in, Southern Vietnam. At that point, the position of the americans is, what do we do about whats going on . Do we just effectively allow the south to fall, or do we do more than merely send advisers to preclude a collapse of this proamerican, anti communist regime in saigon . So, ultimately, in response to the escalation, in response to this existence of a state of war in Southern Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson decides to deploy combat troops. It begins with 3000 marines, and it keeps going up from there. He deploys these combat troops to Southern Vietnam, and at the same time, he initiated a sustained Bombing Campaign against the north. The idea being that the north needs to be punished for all the troubles in the south. As far as johnson is advisers are concerned, whatever difficulties the americans are facing in the south are all the result of this collusion by hanoi, of this involvement by hanoi. As we established on tuesday, as it turns, out right, the insurgency in Southern Vietnam was actually started by southerners. Against the wishes of hanoi. So, johnsons approach is to fight the insurgents in the south with American Military personnel, and to bomb the north for its support of this state of war in Southern Vietnam. And that significant, because for the people of northern vietnam, this is all lost on them. As far as they are concerned, the markets are bombing us for no reason that we can understand. Thats one of the reasons why the bombing will actually be counterproductive. If anything, it inspires northerners to fight more valiantly once they get deployed to the south. They really eventually buy into the whole narrative presented to them by le duan the fact that the american war in vietnam is effectively unprovoked american aggression against our pour, innocent people. Now, always keep this in mind, right, we talked about this on tuesday. As far as johnson and his team are concerned, its important to do something about vietnam at a minimum so as to prove that the u. S. Is not a paper tiger, as mao has been saying about the u. S. And ultimately, to demonstrate american resilience in the cold war. And, you know, if you dont think anything else from todays lecture, at least please remember this the vietnam war was never about vietnam for the United States. Its about the larger cold war. Its about the credibility of the presidency, its about the credibility of the United States. Its about the credibility of the entire american system. Right . So, people always kind of try to rationalize how vietnam, which had been so inconsequential before, suddenly becomes so important to the United States, right . So, was it resources . Was it location . Its really the cold war context that accounts for a white vietnam becomes so important. Its also that same cold war context that accounts for why johnson, even though he really doesnt want war and get numb, and so intervening and escalating, and effectively matching what le duan and hanoi has done. Keep this in mind, vietnam a small, and from the perspective of the big powers, its technically inconsequential, but in the context of the cold war, just like these other little places, it assumes an important that is tremendous. We talked about cuba earlier, right . Tiny little cuba, the world almost ends because of cuba. Thats what the cold war does. Right . It gives this importance to places which otherwise would become completely inconsequential. We talked about kennedy in laos earlier. Its in this context we need to see vietnam. This is about much more than vietnam itself. If you fail to recognize that, nothing about the vietnam war will make sense to you, right . So always keep this in mind. So, thats johnsons rationale for intervening, and as far as the conduct of the war itself in vietnam is concerned, thats the preview of an American General by the name of westmoreland. William westmoreland. So, hes the one tasked with defeating the insurgents, the communist threat in Southern Vietnam. And his entire approach is predicated on this search and destroy we. Tactic. And body counts. So, basically, what westmoreland seeks to do to achieve victory, it is kill as many enemy troops, viet cong and North Vietnamese as he can. So, whenever americans go into combat, once combat is over, they have to count how many get mes bodies are left behind, and based on the numbers provided, westmoreland we measured how successful the u. S. Was in the war. Beyond all of that, in terms of finding the enemies, right, because the enemies recognized early on that there really are no match for American Forces. So, if anything, we live yet kong, and North Vietnamese troops will try to avoid as much as they can, actually engaging americans in combat. They will go after troops of the south vietnamese regime, feeling pretty confident about their odds against them, but try to avoid major combat with american troops. So, thats why westmoreland develops this whole search and destroy thing. Effectively, americans will be the want to have to go out in the middle of nowhere to search for and we troops. Find them, and then destroy them. Right . So, for your typical american soldier in vietnam, the war is not easy. Essentially, you are Walking Around, until you make contact. And contact usually means until somebody starts shooting at you. Vietnam is interesting because of that. Its Something Like 90 of the cases and always the other guys opening fire first. Thats ironically enough how westmoreland wants it. American troops have to go out and draw these guys out, make them initiate contact and which what american troops can fire back and call for artillery support, and air support, and destroy communist units that way, right, and we units that way. But if you are the american soldiers involved in that enterprise, or the marines involved in that enterprise, its not particularly fun. You are Walking Around effectively waiting to get shot at. So, the last thing you want to be is the first guy, walking through the jungle, right . The socalled point man. Those are the guys who inevitably get it. So, typically, right, whenever platoons go out, and we embark on the search and destroy missions, they rotate who is on point, because you know if its always, you its a matter of time before you get shot. So, thats why. Its a really, really kind of dramatic experience for people your age, fred . The average age of the combat soldier in vietnam is 19 years old. They are kids, right . And then you are in vietnam, and this is your job, right, to walk around until somebody shoots at you. So, show you some images in a moment. So, this is a situation we have by mid, late 1965, right . So the hardline is firmly in charge in hanoi. Then we have a general, a guy by the name of many things inside gone. His picture is on the side. Thats the counterpart in the south. And as part of the war began, the north get me is our obtaining, significant support from the chinese and the soviets. I mean, theres countless other countries that offer material, political, moral support, but ultimately, what really allows we hanoi to wage that war, is the Material Support they get from the chinese and the soviets. And then inside, god weve got the americans, obviously, right, who provide significant military and economic assistance, but unbeknownst to many people, theres also other countries that continued assistance including troops to the anti communist struggle. Some of the flags you see here, she probably cant recognize, but so weve got beyond the u. S. , the white flag with a little circle. South korea, very good. South korea. The one next to it, what is that one . Australia, and then the one above it . We excellent. Very, very good. The ties are one of the rare Asian Countries with the red white and blue flag. They will actually have thrown troops and vietnam. There will also be tie troops and vietnam. Filipinos will be in vietnam. There will be some new zealanders in vietnam. There will be South Koreans fighting and vietnam. I talked to some veterans from the north getting beside, and they told me that they were terrified of the south korean troops. They were really strict. The South Koreans were ferocious troops. And eventually, the communist north creates a special unit to deal to South Koreans because they are thought to be so intimidating from the respective of communist forces. Also little known fact, 35,000 canadians will volunteer to serve in vietnam. So kennedy himself doesnt fight in vietnam, but 35,000 canadians volunteer because i think thats a good fight. Which is probably why you lost to get more. laughs we are great fighters, we are great fighters. So, heres slides. 65, right . Marines initially 3000 of them landing in Southern Vietnam. We are expecting action, and what they get is young getaways women with les. You see them in that upper left hand corner. There is the bombing of the north right so spring of 65, the war effectively becomes americanized through the deployment of this first contingent of u. S. Troops in the form of marines, and then the beginning of the sustained bombing runs against northern vietnam. Kind of cool picture, right . I got this from the vietnamese archives. So, the americans bomb, and, of course, the North Vietnamese population will rally, mobilize to defend the homeland. What you guys notice about the picture . Who is featured prominently in this picture . Kids, right . Kids. And thats, you know, when you try to understand why they win, and the u. S. Loses, for the vietnamese specifically, for the North Vietnamese, this is a total or situation, right . So for americans, vietnam is their only if you have to fight and get numb. For everyone else, its pretty much life as it was before. For the people of North Vietnam, because of the state of war, because of the bombing, every man, woman, and china note effectively starts contributing to contribute to the war effort and one way or another. So, a lot of the guys end up being drafted, and send south to fight. The women are being employed to fill in bomb craters or else to go to the south not to fight but to serve as nurses and medics and so on and so forth. And then kids end up being coopted, right . As part of your school curriculum, right, you study matt, history all the great stuff in the morning and then in the afternoon, you put out fires. Well, thats usually more of an impromptu thing, but you fill and bomb creators, you contribute to the rebuilding of bridges and so on and so forth. Everyone and the north is effectively mobilized for the purposes of the war effort, which really kind of helps the cause of le duan. Also got this from the getting is archives. Recognize him . John mccain. John mccain. So, the archives and vietnam have this photo collection, and im going through stuff and there is a picture of mccain getting shot down and 67. His plane crashed in l. A. In hanoi. If you go to hanoi, it is a plaque where mccain was captured. Its a big deal for the vietnamese. We captured john mccain, and we tortured him. Thats on the plaque, but this is mccain moments after he was shot down. Its, i guess, one of the first photos that was taken of mccain. I said that his office, and i got a response back, and say, by the way, in case you care, heres a picture of the senator after he was captured. This is what the war was like for American Marines and soldiers. You are just basically Walking Around through jungle, right . Again, getting these communist forces, they know how vulnerable they can be if they are exposed. So, they go in the deepest areas of the country, usually mountainous, jungle regions and wait for the americans to come to them. Something like 3 million americans served in vietnam. You have to see these guys, vietnam, the other license plates. As it turns out, only 20 of americans who served in vietnam or actually in combat. The overwhelming majority of americans who served in vietnam were not in combat. And if a 20 and combat, 10 only ever actually experienced combat. So, only a minority of americans have served in vietnam, actually did the stuff that you see in these pictures, and you see in movies. And those are the guys who sometimes suffer various, from various ailments. Again, because the nature of the work was such that it was really, really hard for a 19 year old to cope with. For a lot of americans, the war was actually the best time other lives, right . If you were 19 years old, stuck in an air conditioned Office Inside gone, things could be pretty darn good, and that was the reality for, as a turns, out most americans who were in vietnam. So, you know, people are, ask well, at one point, theres almost 600,000 americans in vietnam. How could the u. S. Have lost . Again, most of these guys are effectively support personnel. They are not actual ground forces. They are not soldiers, they are not marines who are out there, searching for communist forces. So, that partially explains why the outcome was not what american policy makers intended. So, i told you about this search and destroy tactic developed by westmoreland. American troops go deep in the jungle, search for the enemy, and destroy the enemy. But then these guys and pick to start coming out, and people start thinking of search and destroy as what . You search peoples homes, and then you destroy the homes. Exactly. So, you know, among the things that end up playing against the american effort, and that account for its unpopularity, is ironically enough the very name of the tactics out west more land used. For most americans, for many americans, not most, but for money, search and destroy came to mean american troops going into getting these peoples homes searching those homes and then setting them on fire. So, of course, that kind of explains why, very quickly, many people turned against the war, right . We dont want our country to be involved in searching peoples homes and than just destroying them. As a turns out, search and destroy meant searching for the enemy in the jungle and destroying the enemy. Not going after innocent peoples homes. Thats westmoreland. These are really interesting character. Some people consider him a hero, who, given the chance, could have won the vietnam war, fred . Some people think that it is the way civilian policy makers brand the whole thing that accounted for the tragic outcome. Others will tell you that the u. S. Effectively lost the vietnam war, because of westmoreland. Because of the way he chose to deal with the communist presence in Southern Vietnam. So, hes a great guy to some, hes revered by others. Just like so many others when it comes to vietnam, theres no consensus on westmoreland. But again, like so many issues having to do with vietnam, he was either great, or he was either really, really bad. Remember, it right, people are never particularly objective when it comes to vietnam. Its it all good, or is all that. When it comes to policies, to policy makers, or in this particular case, to the american commander, responsible for military affairs. Cover of life magazine. So, again, its that, you know, the war will be extensively covered by the world media, including the american media. And so, lower effectively becomes inescapable, if you are an american citize