The+End+of+Vietnam

Vietnamization-Nixon's policy for winding down the war -troops withdraw -training and equipment given to South Vietnamese -by 1972, only 24,000 are left-huge decline

bombing raids increased however -hurt supply lines of North Vietnam -bombing expanded to other countries-Laos and Cambodia

US ground forces are invading Cambodia in Spring 1970 this leads to more domestic upheaval and unrest May 4th, 1970-tragedy at Kent State University 4 people are killed

college campuses are main place where there are anti war protesters

Nixon loses support from the public and Congress Gulf of Tonkin Resolution repealed

The Pentagon Papers- -gov realized that what they were saying and what they were doing were 2 different things -gov official sends it to the NY Times -NY said we are going to put it onto the front page -gov says no your not -goes to Supreme Court and the NY Times wins

Peace Talks-1972 -Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho meet and say "peace is at hand" -Nixon get reelected -Nixon bombs the crap out of Vietnam-where many civilians are-15 US bombers shot down, only 1 had ever been shot down before -Jan 27, 1973-agreement reached on ending the war and resorting peace in Vietnam -US gets agreement that says that we get all POWMIA back -Vietnam POW camps didn't follow the rules-they were tortured and abused-absolutely awful, gruesome stuff -they were allowed to come home-most celebrated people

-in 1975- North Vietnam military attacks -Saigon falls -Vietnam is reunited under communism

we lost the war because of this, we spent the whole war trying to avoid this

LEGACY- ---In Southeast Asia ---1.5 million Vietnamese deaths ---countless Vietnamese civilians wounded, homeless ---agrarian society in shambles ---Southeast Asia left highly unstable as well ---Cambodia fell to communism after terror

America Copes ---58,000 Americans are killed ---365,000 wounded ---$150 billion in direct costs ---US attempts to come to grips with a "loss"-blow to self-esteem

Disillusionment ---veterans extended a cold hand ---typical veterans were called name ---if war was bad, so were the veterans ---many veterans suffered from stress-PTSD ---many citizens embittered toward the gov ---entire generation of Americans war affected ---Vietnam War Memorial is probably most important memorial because it helped America "come back together"-veterans were SO grateful