The US had just officially gone to war, and they had started bombing Vietnam. By 1965, the Us had 125,000 soldiers in Vietnam. They had also started the US's longest bombing campaign in history, lasting 3 years. During the bombing campaign, the US dropped more bombs on Vietnam than Japan and Germany combined. Regardless of it being the longest and largest campaign, the bombings were a failure. Lyndon B. Johnson had a never give up, never surrender attitude during the war. He believed we were strong enough to win the war, and we didn't plan to stop until we did.
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Tet OffesniveOn the Buddhist holiday, Tet (basically the Buddhist new year), the VietCong launched a surprise attack on the US. We were underprepared due to it being a holiday, and a day of ceasefire. The US suffered great losses, making it one of the greatest battles that the US has lost.
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ProtestsThough some people supported the war, many protested the war. The Hippie peace movement was in full swing. College students around the US has protests against the war, and nine people even went to a selective service office and destroyed draft records. The most trusted News anchor of the time, Walter Cronkite, traveled to Vietnam and returned to say we couldn't win the war.
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LBJ Gives UpLBJ saw how much people hated the war, and he said,
"If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America."
He knew we couldn't win the war, so in the March of 1968, he announced the stopping the bombings, and denounced his running for a second presidential term. Later, Robert Kennedy, JFK's brother, decided to run for president, but he was assassinated.
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