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Thank you all for posting to this project

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Here is a nice little summary of the TET Offensive.

Vietcong may have suffered heavy losses, but soldier morale dropped, many americans at home began protesting the war more, and, although a US victory, the years that followed were in chaos between protests at home and military mistakes, like My Lai.

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A great little 14min video on the My Lai Massacre. It tells a story of a team who helped save a few innocents from the horrid massacre, however the emotional tension is still high. Seeing these war veterans get emotional is very influential on my opinions of war. Some still think we did no wrong; Kelly freed form prison only after 3 days under the Nixon administration and another officer justifying the right to kill women and children as they were the ones who set up the land mines and booby traps. As well, it was difficult as a militatry commander to tell w\ho was the enemy, who was neutral, and who was an ally. Another theme brought up by the two men who went back to save the innocent, the US has yet to apologize. Are we too big for ourselves to get down and apologize to Vietnam? It may be embarrassing, but there is no reason to move on as the US ambassador deemed was ok; This is no secret.

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This past week marked the 46th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, in which 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. troops in 1968. It's one of the most shameful chapters in American military history, and now documents held at the Nixon Presidential Library paint a disturbing picture of what happened inside the Nixon administration after news of the massacre broke.

The documents, mostly hand-written notes from Nixon's meetings with his chief of staff H.R. "Bob" Haldeman, lead some historians to conclude that President Richard Nixon was behind the attempt to sabotage the My Lai trials and cover up what was becoming a public-relations disaster for his administration.

One document, scribbled by Haldeman during his Dec. 1, 1969, meeting with Nixon, reads like a threatening to-do list under the headline "Task force - My Lai." Haldeman wrote "dirty tricks" (with the clarification that those tricks be "not too high a level") and "discredit one witness," in order to "keep working on the problem."

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

"Haldeman's note is an important piece of evidence that Nixon interfered with a war-crime prosecution," says Ken Hughes, a researcher with the University of Virginia's Miller Center Presidential Recording Program.

The question is, was anyone actually on the receiving end of those "dirty tricks" in Haldeman's My Lai action plan? According to Trent Angers, author of newly updated book "The Forgotten Hero of My Lai," Nixon's targets were the star witnesses of the My Lai trials: pilot Hugh Thompson and gunner Larry Colburn. They were the two surviving members of a U.S. helicopter crew that was flying a reconnaissance mission over the South Vietnam village of My Lai when they saw the massacre in progress that March day in 1968.

If not for the actions of the helicopter crew, the death count at My Lai could have been far higher. Thompson and Colburn were so horrified by the sight of American soldiers slaughtering unarmed civilians, they put their own lives at risk to try to stop it, even saving a boy from a corpse-filled ditch and delivering him to the hospital.

Mike Wallace told the helicopter crew's story in the gut-wrenching 60 Minutes segment called "Back to My Lai" (posted in the video player above), which was first broadcast in 1998. That same year, the U.S. military officially honored the crew's actions in My Lai. Not present was the crew's third crew member, Glenn Andreotta, who was shot and killed in action three weeks after the massacre. It had taken 30 years for the U.S. government to recognize the three men.

But when Thompson and Colburn first returned home after Vietnam, it was a much different story. They weren't received as heroes, but as traitors.

Thompson testified about the massacre in the U.S. government's military trials, but according to author Trent Angers, two Congressmen who were working in concert with Nixon, managed to seal that testimony in order to damage the cases against the culprits of My Lai. Whether it was one of the "dirty tricks" Nixon prescribed in Haldeman's 1969 meeting note is a matter of debate for historians.

James Rife, a senior historian at History Associates Inc., helped author Trent Angers find the Haldeman meeting notes, which are described in detail in "The Forgotten Hero of My Lai."

"I would not characterize [the "dirty tricks" note] as a smoking gun, but it's pretty strong," Rife says. "I don't think we'll ever find an actual document that can make the absolute final link between Nixon and Hugh Thompson."

According to historian Ken Hughes, it's the historical context that makes for a convincing argument. He calls My Lai "a political threat to Nixon," and points out that a substantial part of Nixon's support base refused to believe that killing civilians in a war zone was a crime. According to Hughes, Nixon's approval rating dropped by 10 points after Lieutenant William Calley received a life sentence for murdering civilians at My Lai.

Nixon intervened, and Lt. Calley's sentence was reduced. He was paroled after only three years under house arrest.

The gunner on Hugh Thompson's chopper, Larry Colburn, told 60 Minutes Overtime that he and Thompson learned of the Nixon meeting notes long ago. (The documents were made available to the public in 1987.) Aside from a brief mention in the 1992 book "Four Hours in My Lai" by Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim, the "dirty tricks" note has received almost no attention from journalists or historians over the years. Colburn says he's surprised it wasn't a bigger story.

"There was no reaction at all," Colburn says. "I was amazed. I thought, 'Are you kidding me?'"

Colburn and Thompson remained friends throughout the years, speaking regularly on the phone and traveling back to My Lai together in 2001. On that trip, Colburn says they were reunited with the 8-year-old child they saved from the ditch.

Thompson died in 2006, and Colburn says he was in the room with him during his final moments. With his friend gone, Colburn says he feels an obligation to carry the torch, and speak publicly about what happened in My Lai that day. But he misses having Thompson at his side.

"There were times you start thinking, 'Why are so many people against what we did? What we did was morally correct-- why don't they understand?' It was always nice to have one other person who did understand," says Colburn. "We were therapeutic for each other."

Although Colburn says he has no regrets about his own actions at My Lai, he has doubts that the U.S. military took the lessons of the massacre to heart.

"The U.S. claims to be concerned with collateral damage with civilians that are caught up in war zones, but I don't believe that," Colburn says. "That's lip service."

When Colburn considers the actions of the U.S. in military conflicts of recent years, he says: "It makes me wonder about 46 years of testimony, and interview, books and lectures. I know it's had some impact, but on a larger scale, does it really matter what we say?"
The 60 Minutes segment "Back to My Lai," produced by Tom Anderson and reported by Mike Wallace, aired March 29, 1998. Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously referred to the child that was saved by Hugh Thompson and Larry Colburn as "wounded."

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Document points to Nixon in My Lai cover-up attempt

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This past week marked the 46th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, in which 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. troops in 1968. It's one of the most shameful chapters in American military history, and now documents held at the Nixon Presidential Library paint a disturbing picture of what happened inside the Nixon administration after news of the massacre broke.

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I find the domestic side of the Vietnam Conflict to be the more interesting than the actual fighting in Vietnam. It is unbelievable how unpopular the war was among the people of the nation as well as how vocal and open the people were in their protest, such as in this picture.

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Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel is a song expressive of the pain and horror American soldiers fighting in Vietnam experienced firsthand by one of America's undisputably great musicians.

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Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon (Official Video)

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This song shows the struggle between the soldiers that went to war and their families.

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Paper Lace - Billy don't be a Hero 1974 The marchin' band came down along Main Street The soldier-blues fell in behind I looked across and there I saw Billy Waiting to go and join the line And with her head upon his shoulder His young and lovely fiancee From

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This link gives an insight to the Geneva Accords, what South Vietnam was like under Ngo Dinh Diem, the Liberation Front, Gulf of Tonkin, the war at home, the Tet Offensive, Nixon years, and the Paris Peace Agreement

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By Professor Robert K. Brigham, Vassar College The Second Indochina War, 1954-1975, grew out of the long conflict between France and Vietnam. In July 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule, a defeated France was forced to leave Vietnam.

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Example of the hawks and doves.

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http://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ

This song really expresses the youth's growing resentment to those in control.

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I thought that this was a good overview:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=18

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This is a song about the Green Berets, an elite special force in the U.S. Army that fought in the Vietnam War. Instead of bashing the actions of these American soldiers, the song honors them with lines like: "America's best" and "He has died for the oppressed."

This isn't the original recording, but I love Dolly Parton:)

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Dolly Parton - The Ballad Of The Green Beret

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Dolly Parton - The Ballad Of The Green Beret

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This article helps explain the cause(s) of the Vietnam War, a subject I find confusing.

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The Modern American Poetry Site is a comprehensive learning environment and scholarly forum for the study of modern and contemporary American poetry. MAPS welcomes submissions of original essays and teaching materials related to MAPS poets and the Anthology of Modern American Poetry. We are also happy to take questions and suggestions for future materials.

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This video from the History Channel really brings to life the vicious conflict of the Tet Offensive. It explains fairly well how 1968 marks the turning point of the Vietnam War. As well, the other related videos provide visuals for many different aspects of the war.

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Watch Tet Offensive Clip - Vietnam in HD | HISTORY

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Watch the Tet Offensive video clip of HISTORY's series Vietnam in HD'. Find this and many more videos only on HISTORY.

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This picture is quite disturbing, but I think it is extremely interesting - and rather bothersome - that the main interest of the bystanders is to capture the screaming children on camera. The picture shows both the horror of the children and the odd role of the media.

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Erik Preedom

This is a picture of the Paris Peace Accords being signed by North Vietnamese officials and Henry Kissinger.

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I find the fall of Saigon and the U.S. evacuation particularly interesting. Here a CIA agent is shown helping Vietnamese refuges onto a helicopter.

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This is a printed map detailing the locations of structures, troop movements, bullet hole locations, and locations of causalties at the Kent State shooting.

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These pictures shows the four students who were shot and killed on the day of Kent State shooting

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This photo depicts Vietnam War veteran Nick Smartt during the Tet Offensive, originally published his Life magazine in 1968.

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The picture event that was discussed, but not portrayed in our text book of a Buddhist monk's act of self-immolation in protest to the persecutions of Buddhists by Ngo Dinh Diem.

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Battle plan from the Battle of Saigon

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Interesting Political Cartoon

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Mrs. Humowitz...This is an excellent timeline

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Mrs. Humowitz...This is an excellent timeline

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Vietnamese forces occupy the French command post at Dien Bien Phu and the French commander orders his troops to cease fire. The battle had lasted 55 days. Three thousand French troops were killed, 8,000 wounded. The Viet Minh suffered much worse, with 8,000 dead and 12,000 wounded, but the Vietnamese victory shattered France's resolve to carry on the war.