US Anti-War Movement & Vietnam War’s End
The Peace Movement in the USA
The US needed the support of the American public, but maintaining it was increasingly difficult. Public opinion in the US was turning against the war even before the Tet Offensive. Many Americans felt uncomfortable with what was happening in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was a media war. Television, radio, and newspaper reporters, along with a vast army of photographers, sent back to the US and Europe pictures of the fighting. They showed:
- Prisoners being tortured or executed.
- Women and children watching as their houses were set on fire.
- Crying children burned by American napalm bombs.
There were anti-war protests all over the country, and thousands began to draft dodge (refuse to serve in Vietnam).
The My Lai Massacre
In 1968, a unit of young American soldiers called Charlie Company started a search and destroy mission in the Quang Ngai region of South Vietnam. They had been told that in the My Lai area, there was a Viet Cong headquarters and 200 Viet Cong guerrillas. They had been ordered to kill everyone they found in the village and destroy everything.
Charlie Company arrived in My Lai, and 400 civilians were killed. No Viet Cong were found in the village; only 3 weapons were recovered.
The army treated the operation as a success. Soldiers took it to be a normal part of the war. Twelve months later, a letter arrived in the offices of politicians and officials in Washington. It was written by Ronald Ridenhour, an American soldier who had served in Vietnam. He recounted in detail the stories he had been told and asked Congress to investigate.
Calley, an officer of Charlie Company who had personally shot many people in My Lai, was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor, and ten other members of the company were also charged.
Ending the War in Vietnam
After the Tet Offensive, President Johnson concluded that the war could not be won militarily, so he reduced the bombing campaign against North Vietnam and instructed officials to start negotiating for peace with the Communists.
In 1968, a peace conference began in Paris. Johnson announced he would not be seeking re-election as President. The anti-Vietnam War feeling was so strong that anyone who wanted to continue the war would not be elected.
Richard Nixon was elected president. He worked tirelessly to end US involvement in Vietnam. This was not easy; they used several strategies:
- Pressure on the USSR and China: It seemed possible that there would be a war between these two, so both tried to improve relations with the US.
- Nixon began Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the USSR to limit nuclear weapons. He asked Moscow to encourage North Vietnam to end the war.
- Nixon was invited to China. He asked China to pressure North Vietnam to end the war.
- Peace negotiations with North Vietnam: Kissinger had regular meetings with the chief Vietnamese peace negotiator, Le Duc Tho.
- “Vietnamization” of the war effort: In Vietnam, Nixon began building up South Vietnamese forces and withdrawing US troops. 400,000 US troops left Vietnam.
- Bombing: Nixon increased bombing campaigns against the North to show he was not weak and invaded bases in Cambodia.
The Fall of South Vietnam
Nixon had promised continuing financial aid and military support to Vietnam, but Congress refused to allow it. They did not want to waste American money.
The South Vietnamese government was corrupt and lacked the support of the population. Without US air power and without the majority of the population, the South Vietnamese government could not survive for long. In 1974, North Vietnam launched a major military offensive against South Vietnam. Saigon fell to Communist forces in 1975. After 30 years of constant conflict, the struggle for control of Vietnam had finally been settled, and the Communists had won.