MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

HIS273  1991 Fall – 1999 Summer II

US Experience in Vietnam 1945 - 1975

1.

Identify and locate geographic features significant to the Vietnamese conflict. (I)

2.

Identify and describe cultural elements significant to the Vietnamese conflict. (I)

3.

Explain how the Vietnamese conflict fits within the Cold War framework. (II)

4.

Trace the evolution of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1975. (II, III)

5.

Identify key participants (both countries and individuals) in the Vietnamese conflict. (II, III)

6.

Describe U.S. social issues which influenced the course of the Vietnamese conflict. (IV)

7.

Summarize principal arguments presented to explain U.S. failure in Vietnam. (V)

8.

Identify and describe social, political, and economic legacies of the Vietnamese conflict. (V)

MCCCD Official Course Outline:

HIS273  1991 Fall – 1999 Summer II

US Experience in Vietnam 1945 - 1975

I. Introduction to Vietnam: land, history, and culture

A. Geography

B. History and culture

C. The people of Vietnam

D. The coming of the West

E. French colonial rule

F. The rise of nationalism

1. Vietnamese reaction to French colonial rule

2. Emergence of Ho Chi Minh as a political force

II. Post WWII (1945-1963)

A. Origins of the Cold War (1945-1950)

B. The first Indochina war (1945-1954)

C. The United States enters the war

1. The Truman years

2. Eisenhower and Dienbienphu

D. The Geneva Conference (1954)

E. The two Vietnams

1. South Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem (1955-1963)

2. North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh (1955-1969)

III. U.S. at war

A. Gulf of Tonkin incident and resolution

B. U.S. escalation in Vietnam

C. The combatants

1. National Liberation Army

2. Vietcong

3. Vietminh

4. U.S. troops

5. Other

D. Unique nature of the war

1. Search and destroy

2. Guerrilla warfare

E. The course of U.S. involvement

1. Advisory role (1955-1960)

2. Counterinsurgency program (1961-1964)

3. U.S. enters into combat (1965-1967)

4. The air war (1965-1967)

5. Pacification (1967)

6. The war turns bad (1968-1972)

7. U.S. disengagement (1972-1973)

IV. U.S. at war: social issues

A. The draft and draft resistance

B. Racial issues

1. Minorities in the military

2. U.S. troop attitudes toward the Vietnamese

C. Protest at home

1. Campus unrest

2. Anti-war activism

D. Press coverage of the war

1. Importance of television

2. Coverage of the Tet offensive

3. Controversy over press coverage

E. My Lai controversy

V. Legacy of the Vietnamese conflict

A. U.S. failure in Vietnam

B. Social and political aspects

1. Casualties/POW/MIA

2. Agent Orange

3. Veterans issues: obstacles to reconciliation

4. Boat people

5. Amerasian children

C. Economic costs

D. Vietnam in American literature