Pages

0

Media Type

Audio

Physical Location

D030.5C

Copyright Statement

various

Number of Media

1

Language(s)

English

Format

Reel-to-Reel

Time - Hr:Min:Sec

4:51:10

Digitized in HD?

No

General Note

This lengthy audio file contains a great deal of analysis of the Vietnam conflict that is presented primarily in the format of NBC and CBS news broadcasts. The first hour of this audio file discusses the issue of the public participating in violent and nonviolent demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Many politicians also publicly objected to America's presence in Vietnam. Lt. Gen. James Gavin, former ambassador to France, resigned from the Democratic Advisory Council in Massachusetts because he felt that he could no longer support President Johnson and the Vietnam conflict. Senator Robert F. Kennedy from New York, while not directly stating his opposition to the Vietnam conflict, suggests that the country begin to reduce spending in Vietnam and increase domestic spending. A number of military advisors concur, saying that the land war that Vietnam has become is exactly the type of land conflict that should have been avoided. The second hour of this audio file presents a number of NBC and CBS news broadcasts that suggest ways to end the Vietnam War. In part, this would require that South Vietnam take a more active role in the defense of their own country. After the shelling of Dong Ha and the decision to send 45,000 additional troops to Vietnam from the Strategic Reserve, Johnson is placed under pressure to remove the restrictions on bombing efforts to help avoid as many casualties as possible. This section of the audio file also describes the conditions in the Pleiku POW camp and the campaigning during South Vietnam's first presidential election. The third hour of this audio file, again consisting primarily of CBS and NBC news broadcasts, discusses the inability and/or unwillingness of the South Vietnamese government to hold a truly fair and objective election. This situation caused a number of U.S. senators to reconsider the American commitment to the conflict. Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island suggests that America cannot help the Vietnamese unless they want to be helped. America's only justification for being in Vietnam is that we want the Vietnamese people to be free. They are only able to express that freedom through the ballot box. If the ballot box during the presidential elections is not free, then America is wasting its time, money and resources. This section of the audio file also reports the decision to finally remove restrictions on bombing in North Vietnam, thus allowing U.S. bombers to attack Hanoi, North Vietnam's capital city, and Haiphong, one of North Vietnam's major seaports. The fourth hour of this audio file elaborates on the deliberations that took place regarding the decision to reduce the number of U.S. bombing missions over North Vietnam. It was suggested that if the bombing were to be reduced, it would have to be followed by a reciprocal de-escalation of hostilities by the North Vietnamese. The effectiveness of the bombing campaign was questioned. Critics suggested that the bombing campaign did not stop the flow of supplies and enemy troops into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The bombing campaign was defended by suggesting that the objective of the bombing campaign was not to stop the flow of troops and/or supplies because that is an unrealistic expectation. The objective of the bombing campaign was to make it more difficult and more expensive to move the troops and supplies, thus hindering the efforts of the enemy troops. An interview at Camp Smith, Honolulu with Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp, Commander of U.S. Pacific forces, reiterated the successes and failures of the bombing campaign in North Vietnam. The fifth hour of this audio file consists primarily of an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, about his role in civil rights protests, his denunciation of violent riots, and his objections to the Vietnam conflict. The role U.S. troops have in the life of the Montagnard tribes in South Vietnam is also discussed,