10/12/17
Timmy P. Irvin
- drafted July 30th, 1967
- Released in March of 1969
- 20 years old at the time
- Going to college trying to evade the draft
- Initially flunked out of college
- Found his draft letter upon arriving home
- Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
- Placed in the Infantry
- Taught how to fire an M-16
- 8 weeks of basic
- Fort Poke, Louisiana
- good weather
- 8 weeks of infantry training
- taught hand to hand combat
- taught how to shoot many types of weapons including machine guns and grenade launchers
- Learn of the high war expenses
- they taught the trainees to be prepared to kill
- went home for christmas
- Sent on to Oakland California
- given shots
- flew to Vietnam from there
- Made two stops during the flight: Hawaii, and the Philippines
- Vietnam
- Sent to a tank company
- tank company took 29 infantrymen
- sent them off to Pleiku, Vietnam
- Central highlands area
- Asked if he could type, was a horrible typist
- Became the company clerk
- First letter was about was a death letter to a family
- Horibble company clerlk
- Became a Jeep driver
- Sent to a tank company
10/25/17
1941
- ho chi minh
- created the viet minh
- was willing to sacrifice lives for freedom
- General Vo Nguyen Giap
- Began the guerilla warfare
- Viet Minh
- won territory
- US President Roosevelt
- was for the independence of small counties
- WW2 ended
- French came back
- occupied southern Vietnam
- Chinese the swarmed over the boarder
- Roosevelt mad ea Deal with the French
- French may return for only 5 years
- after the 5 years, they will ask the Vietnamese who they want ruling
- Emperor Bao Dai
- The war between the French and the Viet Minh
- war lasted 8 years
- many French and Vietnamese died
- The Viet Minh won over the peasants
- education
- food
- heath care
- President Truman
- backed France
- US funded most of the French war
- China becomes communist
- Moa TseTung-
- china's new leader
- supplied advisers, weapons, training
- US war with Korea
- North Korea communists came down to south Korea with the help of china
- 93000 French soldiers died
- War tore France Apart
10/26/17
Essential Questions
- what should have the US learned from the Vietnamese war with the French?
- Vietnam wanted to be one country, not divided
- Vietnam was ready to endure suffering and destruction in order to gain freedom
- Vietnam is, as a whole, very recourceful: they took weapons from their opponents, as well as built their own
- Vietnam had a different idea of communism than the rest of the world
- The Vietnamese were willing to oppose anyone (who was not Vietnamese) trying to rule them
- the war was very expensive, and over all, not worth the effort
- Never underestimate an opposing force
- The Viet Minh were willing to take big risks, were tireless, and were formidable opponents
- Don't fight during the rainy season
- The losses were going to be great
- the Vietnamese were not an easy target, nor were they easy to fight
- issues were not so easily resolved
- Even allies betray you
- Vietnam wanted to be one country, not divided
- What might the US have done differently when Ho Chi Minh made his declaration of independence?
- Maybe they would have listened to/ respected it a little more due to the fact that the US was not occupying Vietnam or tying to take their resources
- Maybe they would have listened to/ respected it a little more due to the fact that the US was not occupying Vietnam or tying to take their resources
- What were the affects of colonialism on Vietnamese people?
- There were both pros and cons to colonialism in Vietnam.
- while the colonists built roads, bridges, and brought new architecture to the people, the much beloved land was being destroyed, and the people took that very harshly.
- The Vietnamese people were treated very poorly by the colonists, who drugged and abused them, payed them very poor amounts whilst making a huge profit.
- the over-all affects were very negative in the minds of the people.
- There were both pros and cons to colonialism in Vietnam.
Why did Americans oppose Communism?
Because Americans wanted to keep their freedoms as individuals.
Because Americans wanted to keep their freedoms as individuals.