Early War Strategy

In this lesson, students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War that show the US involvement in Vietnam in the early years of the war.

In the early years of the Vietnam War, Cold War ideology stated that if South Vietnam was lost, the rest of Southeast Asia would fall to Communism. The daunting power of the US military was overwhelming the Viet Cong and the effort to stop the spread of Communism appeared to be succeeding. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Perceptions of American Power in the Early Vietnam War Years.

Few advisers understood the unique challenges of fighting an insurgency in Vietnam better than Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann. When it became clear to Vann that the tactics the Americans had taught the ARVN were beginning to make more enemies than friends, he sought out newspapermen to spread the word. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Perceptions of American Power in the Early Vietnam War Years.

In this lesson, students will view selected video clips from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War on the newly elected Kennedy administration and its sense of American exceptionalism.

The new President, John F. Kennedy, gathers around him an extraordinary set of advisors who share his determination to confront Communism. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Analysis of Early US Strategy: Myth and Reality.

Students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War and explore the military coup against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and the Kennedy administration’s degree of complicity.

President Kennedy and his advisers were sharply divided regarding the decision to promote a coup in South Vietnam. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Kennedy and the Diem Coup: The Torch Is Passed.

President Kennedy instructed Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the US Ambassador to South Vietnam, to tell the renegade generals that, while the United States did not wish to stimulate a coup, it would not thwart one, either. The generals proceeded with their plans and on November 1, 1963, troops loyal to them seized key installations in Saigon. Diem and Nhu surrendered the next day and were murdered shortly thereafter. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Kennedy and the Diem Coup: The Torch Is Passed.

In this lesson, students will view a selected video segment from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War that describes the battle of Ap Bac. Students will follow the progress and outcome of the battle and evaluate the effectiveness of the US military advisors’ work with the ARVN.

Learn about the Battle of Ap Bac, a major battle fought in Vietnam on January 2, 1963. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled The Battle of Ap Bac.

In this lesson, students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War and examine the Kennedy administration’s deliberation over whether to escalate the effort in South Vietnam, weighing all contingencies of the Cold War, American exceptionalism, containing communism, and the uncertainty of the enemy.

In South Vietnam, President Kennedy felt he had to act. Advisors urged him to commit ground troops, but Kennedy refused. Instead, the President supported a new, flexible, way to confront and contain communism—"limited war." NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Kennedy’s “Limited War” Campaign.

Ho Chi Minh and John F. Kennedy had conflicting visions for how an independent Vietnam should be governed—it boiled down to the difference between communism and democracy. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Kennedy’s “Limited War” Campaign.

Students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War and examine the circumstances that led to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the decisions made to authorize the resolution that bears its name.

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was one of the most controversial and consequential events in American history, and resulted in the escalation of United States involvement in the Vietnam War. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled The Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

On August 4, 1964, American radio operators mistranslated North Vietnamese radio traffic and concluded a new military operation was imminent. The USS Maddox and another destroyer, the USS Turner Joy, braced for a fresh attack. The attack was "probable but not certain," President Johnson was told, and since it had probably occured, the president authorized the first-ever bombing raid on installations in North Vietnam. On August 7, a joint session of Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled The Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

On August 7, 1964, by a vote of 88-2, in the Senate passed what came to be called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. In the House, not a single congressman opposed it. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled The Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

In this lesson, students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War and examine the war strategies and political tactics of both North Vietnamese leader Le Duan and US President Lyndon Johnson in the war’s early stages.

By the early 1960s, Ho Chi Minh was still a beloved figure in North Vietnam, but shared power with younger, more impatient, leaders. At the November 1963 Party Plenum in Hanoi, Ho, who favored the new Soviet policy of de-escalating the Cold War, was outmaneuvered by party First Secretary Le Duan, who sided with the Chinese in advocating revolution through violence. From that point forward, Le Duan controlled North Vietnam's war policy. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Both Sides Escalate Their Efforts.

In 1964, President Johnson authorized an increased number of military personnel in Vietnam and widened the scope of bombing, but concealed this from the American public to avoid hurting his chances in the upcoming election. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Both Sides Escalate Their Efforts.

In this lesson, students will view selected video segments from Ken Burns & ​Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War and examine communist forces and US military battle tactics during the battle in the la Drang River Valley. Students will then discuss the results of this pivotal battle and the lessons learned by the North Vietnamese and the Americans.

In October 1965, Communist commandos laid seige to the U.S. Special Forces outpost at Plei Mei, in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands. Despite reinforcements helicoptered in by the 1st Cavalry, the seige lasted for almost a week. It ended only after American bombs and napalm turned the surrounding terrain into a moonscape. In November, the 1st Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Hal Moore, went looking for the enemy. At Landing Zone X-Ray, at the base of Chu Pong mountain, Moore's force of just over 400 men soon found itself beseiged by 3,000 enemy soldiers. Once again, massive American air power was required to break the seige. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Early War Strategy: Comparisons of US Military Tactics and North Vietnamese Army/Viet Cong Tactics.

American air power and artillery beat back the initial assault on Colonel Hal Moore's forces at Landing Zone X-Ray. The next day, enemy soldiers hurled themselves against the same sector of Moore's Line four more times, and were obliterated by artillery and machine gun fire. After three days and two nights of fighting, the North Vietnamese retreated into the forest. A couple of days later, they ambushed another battalion at Landing Zone Albany and wiped it out. Their tactic this time was to get so close that the Americans couldn't call in artillery and air strikes for fear of killing their own men. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Early War Strategy: Comparisons of US Military Tactics and North Vietnamese Army/Viet Cong Tactics.

The battles in the La Drang Valleywere declared American victories, but privately General Westmoreland and the Johnson Administration were worried. In spite of the Americans' new airborne mobility, the enemy had been able to choose the place and time of battle, and the numbers of North Vietnames forces in the South was vastly greater than had been reported. Defense Secretary McNamara gave President Johnson two options: try to negotiate with Hanoi, or grant Westmorland's request for 200,000 more troops. NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled Early War Strategy: Comparisons of US Military Tactics and North Vietnamese Army/Viet Cong Tactics.