Things are Getting Bad
This group of Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam opposed the government and supported North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Vietcong
These hidden dangers in Vietnam’s terrain—accounted for about 11% of American deaths and made fighting especially difficult for U.S. troops.
Booby traps and land mines
This was the age range for men eligible to be drafted into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
18-26
This 1968 surprise Communist offensive during the Vietnam War shocked the American public and led many moderates to turn against U.S. involvement.
The Tet Offensive
This 1968 incident involved U.S. troops killing hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a village, later becoming one of the most infamous events of the Vietnam War.
Massacre at My Lai
This anti-Communist leader served as president of South Vietnam in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Ngo Dinh Diem
These weapons were used by U.S. troops to expose underground tunnels and fight Vietcong guerrilla fighters.
Napalm and Agent Orange
This term describes when men avoided being drafted into military service during the Vietnam War
Draft dodging
These were the widespread reactions across the United States—including riots, protests, and mourning—following the 1968 assassination of this civil rights leader.
Martin Luther King Jr.
This Vietnam War policy, introduced by Richard Nixon, aimed to gradually withdraw U.S. troops while shifting combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces.
Vietnamization
This European country ruled Indochina from the late 1800s until World War II.
France
This type of warfare, used by the Vietcong, relied on ambushes, booby traps, and blending in with civilians rather than traditional large-scale battles.
Guerilla Warfare
This group of Americans served in disproportionately high numbers in combat roles during the early years of the Vietnam War.
African Americans
This Republican candidate won the 1968 presidential nomination by promising “law and order” and appealing to Americans frustrated by protests and unrest.
Richard Nixon
At this university campus in Ohio, National Guard troops killed four student protesters during an anti–Vietnam War demonstration in 1970.
Kent State University
This Vietnamese revolutionary leader headed the independence movement against French colonial rule.
Ho Chi Minh
The Vietcong used these to hide, move troops and supplies, and carry out surprise attacks while avoiding detection and bombing.
Underground tunnels
This 1960s youth-led movement pushed for social change, civil rights, and protested the Vietnam War.
The New Left
This 1968 assassination occurred after this presidential candidate had just won the California primary, though the exact motive of the shooter is still debated, some believe it occurred because of his support for Israel.
Robert Kennedy
This secret government study, leaked in 1971, revealed U.S. involvement and decision-making in the Vietnam War and showed that the public had been misled.
This 1964 congressional resolution gave Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
By 1967, this approximate number of U.S. troops had been sent to fight in the Vietnam War.
Approximately 500,000
This term was used for Americans who opposed the Vietnam War and favored peace and withdrawal.
The Doves
About this many protesters converged on Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention to demonstrate against the Vietnam War.
Around 10,000
This 1973 law was passed by Congress to limit the president’s ability to send U.S. forces into combat without congressional approval.
The War Powers Act
Why did one Buddhist monk burn himself alive during the Vietnam War?
He was protesting Ngo Dinh Diem's policies that discriminated against Buddhists.
This U.S. general commanded American military forces in South Vietnam during much of the Vietnam War.
William Westmoreland
This term was used for Americans who supported the Vietnam War and favored continued or increased military action.
This man replaced Robert McNamara as U.S. Secretary of Defense under Lyndon B. Johnson and later concluded that the Vietnam War was not winnable.
Mark Clifford
These are the approximate total numbers of Americans and Vietnamese who died during the Vietnam War.
58,000 Americans, and over 2 million Vietnamese
This Cold War idea suggested that if one country in a region fell to communism, neighboring countries would also fall, one after the other.
The Domino Theory
This was the army of South Vietnam that fought alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)
In the spring of 1965, many college groups protested the Vietnam War through this type of organized campus event involving discussions and lectures challenging U.S. policy.
Teach-ins
During the 1968 Tet Offensive, this many South Vietnamese towns and U.S./ARVN airbases were attacked in a coordinated surprise offensive.
About 100 towns and 12 airbases?
This 1975 event marked the end of the Vietnam War, when North Vietnamese forces captured a key city, leading to the collapse of South Vietnam.
The Fall of Saigon
This Vietnam War-era program attempted to move rural villagers into fortified settlements to isolate them from Vietcong influence.
The Hamlet Program
These two Communist countries supplied the Vietcong with weapons and resources during the Vietnam War.
China and the U.S.S.R.
This U.S. Secretary of Defense resigned in 1968 after growing doubts about the Vietnam War and disagreements over its strategy.
Robert McNamara
This Chicago mayor mobilized police and the National Guard during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in response to large anti–Vietnam War protests and fears of disorder.
Richard J. Daley
Unlike other wars, this was the reaction of many to returning Vietnam War veterans.
Indifference and even hostility