Lesson 29 - Vietnam: Legacies - War in the 20th Century

INTA 4803 TP WAR IN THE 20th CENTURY

Vietnam: Legacies

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"You know you never defeated us on the battlefield," said the American colonel.

The North VIetnamese colonel pondered the remark for a moment.
"That may be so," he relpied. "but it is also irrelevant."

Conversation between Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr., US Army,
and Colonel Tu, North Vietnamese Army, Hanoi, April 1975.

Quoted in
Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr., USA
On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, (1982), p. 1

Lesson Objectives

• Begin to understand the lingering issues of the Vietnam War that continue to divide the American people.

• Understand the impact of the draft on the outcome of the Vietnam War.

• Be able to describe the lessons of the war in Southeast Asia.

• Be able to articulate the impact of the Southeast Asia conflict on US foreign policy and national security strategy.

Study Guides

• What are the issues from the Vietnam War that still impact US domestic politics and foreign policy?

• What have been some of the long-term consequences of the use of herbicides (particularly Agent Orange) in Southeast Asia?

• What was the impact of the draft on the Vietnam War?

• Describe the War Powers Act. Why was it enacted?

• How does each of the six points of the Weinberger Doctrine relate to a lesson of the Vietnam War?

Assignment

Readings:

"The Postwar Impact of Vietnam"
Harvard Sitikoff
The Oxford Companion to American Military History
John Whiteclay Chambers II (ed)
Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 1999
   • Also available as "Vietnam War (1960-75): Postwar Impact" (Answers.com)

"Weinburger's Six Tests"
Air Force magazine, January 2004

"Strategic Choice, National Will, and the Vietnam Experience"
Colonel Kenneth Alnwick, USAF
Air University Review, January-February 1983
      • This is a review of the book On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War by Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr., US Army

"Igloo White" ("The McNamara Line")
Air Force magazine, November 2004

"Herbicidal Warfare in Vietnam, 1961-1971"
H. Lindsey Arison III
Agent Orange & Dioxin Committee, Vietnam Veterans of America

Supplemental Resources:

"US Air Operations in the Vietnam War"
"US Naval Operations in the Vietnam War"
The Oxford Companion to American Military History
John Whiteclay Chambers II (ed)
Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 1999

"An Uncommon War: The U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia"
Air Force Historical Studies Office

Operation Ranch Hand: The USAF and Herbicides in SEA, 1961-1971 (e-book)
William A. Buckingham
Washington: USAF Historical Studies Office, 1982

"Operation Ranch Hand"
Thomas D. Pilsch
Air Operations - Vietnam
      • This site provides links to articles on the the issues involved with the use of herbicides in Southeast Asia.

"Legacies of Vietnam"
Thomas D. Pilsch
Air Operations - Vietnam
      • These links provide a synopsis of the lingering issues of the Vietnam War.

"Weinburger's Six Tests" (excerpt)
"The Uses of Military Power" (full text)
Caspar W. Weinberger
National Press Club, Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 1984

This is the formal presentation of what has become known as "The Weinberger Doctrine." It is reprinted in Air Force Magazine, January 2004.

The War Powers Act
Public Law 93-148
93rd Congress, H. J. Res. 542
November 7, 1973

"Fixing the War Powers Act"
Albert E. Jenner
Heritage Lecture #529, May 22, 1995
The Heritage Foundation

"Preserving the War Powers Act"
Lee H. Hamilton
The American Legion Magazine, July 1999, Vol. 147, No. 1

"Should the United States Reinstitute the Draft?"
Charles Moskos and Alan Gropman
The Retired Officer, July 2000, Vol. LVI, No. 7 (used with permission)

Air Operations - Vietnam
Thomas D. Pilsch

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