Agent Orange
A chemical the United States sprayed on the South Vietnamese countryside to defoliate trees and destroy crops
Cold War
the conflict that characterized the hostilities between the Communist Soviet Union and the democratic United States between 1945 and 1988
Colonialism
THe system by which one country establishes control over distant territories for the purpose of economic gain.
Communism
A government in which all property is owned by the state. The spread of communism by the governments of the Soviet Union, China, and North Vietnam was viewed in the 1950s and 1960s by the United States as a threat to its national security.
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
buffer area along the seventeenth parallel border between North and South Vietnam formalized by the Geneva Accords of 1954
Dien Bien Phu
City held by the French forces and attacked by the nOrth Vietnam in 1954. The eventual surrender of the french at Dien Bien Phu brought France's century-long rule of vietnam to an end.
Domino Theory
A theory that if one country fell to communism, surrounding countries would soon follow.
draft
The selection of men for required service in a country's armed forces
Gulf of Tonkins incident
two attacks by north Vietnamese gunboats on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam on August 2 and 4, 1964. The events led to the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by the US congress, which allowed President Johnson to
Ho Chi Minh Trail
A north Vietnamese supply route to South Vietnam that wound through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia
legacy
Anything that is handed down from one generation to the next
MIA
missing in action, a term used to describe soldiers who cannot be accounted for during wartime.
nationalism
the desire within a country for independence from foreign rule.
National Security
protection of a nation from attack or harm by another nation
Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
An emotional condition in war veterans caused by the delayed reaction to combat.
POW
an abbreviation for prisoner of war, a term used to describe prisoners taken during wartime.
Spring Offensive
A military campaign launched by north Vietnam against South Vietnam in the spring of 1972
Tet Offensive
A military campaign launched in 1968 by North Vietnam against South Vietnam. Tet was the turning point in America's involvement in the Vietnam War.
Vietcong
Communist-supported revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the South Vietnamese government before 1960
Vietminh
Communist-supported revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the South Vietnamese government. Name changed to Vietcong after the 1960s.
Vietnamization (Under Nixon)
The process of withdrawing U.S. troops from sOuth Vietnam and replacing them with South Vietnamese troops.
war of attrition
A war where one side triess to win by destroying the other sides supplies and troops until it can no longer fight.
William L. Calley Jr.
American serviceman who led the killings of South Vietnamese villagers at My Lai
Clark Clifford
U.S. secretary of defense, 1968-69, told President Johnson that further escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam would be pointless.
Ngo Dinh Diem
Leader of SOuth Vietnam from 1954 to 1963. His harsh rule angered South Vietnamese peasants and gave the Communists a starting point to spread the revolution in the south. Diem was assassinated in 1963 by members of the army. The assassination plot had th
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President of the United States (1953-1961). He supported the French involvement in Vietnam and in 1954 used the term "domino theory" publicly for the first time.
Vo Nguyen Giap
Commander of North Vietnamese army that defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. He continued the campaign against South Vietnam, including the Tet Offensive in 1968 and the Spring Offensive in 1972
Lyndon B. Johnson
American president (1963-1969) who escalated u.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict.
John F. Kennedy
President of the United States ( 1961-1963). kennedy committed U.S. political and military advisers to South Vietnam. He is rumored to have approved the plot of assassination of Diem. Kennedy himself was assassinated in 1963.
Henry Kissinger
Special assistant and later secretary of state under Richard Nixon. He negotiated Paris Accords that disengaged the united States form the Vietnam conflict.
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese leader credited as the most influential in Vietnam's efforts to gain independence from France. Ho helped organize the COmmunist party in Vietnam in 1930. In 1946, he became leader of North Vietnam and successfully campaigned to drive the french
Richard Nixon
American president (1969-1974) who Vietnamized the war and eventually disengaged the United States form the Vietnam conflict in 1973.
Pol Pot
Dictator of Cambodia
Hanoi Hilton
Prison camps for US prisoner of wars.
Boat People
People who escape vietnam through a boat (refugees)
General William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak, during the Tet Offensive.
Daniel Ellsberg
is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation
Anthony Russo
Assisted Daniel Ellsberg with releasing the Pentagon Papers
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party.
Eugene McCarthy
Presidential Candidate against Lyndon Johnson
Daniel and Philip Berrigan
They were best known for their Vietnam-era raid of draft-board files in Catonsville, Md., which they destroyed with chicken blood and napalm. They were also known for the persistence of their activism. Philip later left the priesthood. Both authored numer
Robert McNamara
He was the secretary of defense, he designed the "body count" and he was the CEO of Ford (car)
Green Berets
Special forces unit (U.S.A)