This Day in Vietnam 10/31 1967: Nguyen Van Thieu took the oath of office as the first president of South Vietnams second republic Also in 1967: President Johnson reaffirms his commitment to maintain U.S. involvement in South Vietnam. 1968: President Johnson announces bombing halt In a televised address to the nation five days before the presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson announces that on the basis of developments in the Paris peace negotiations, he has ordered the complete cessation of all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam. Accordingly, effective November 1, the U.S. Air Force called a halt to the air raids on North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder. The President further disclosed that Hanoi had finally agreed to allow the South Vietnamese government to participate in the peace talks. Johnson said that the United States would consent to a role for the National Liberation Front, though he stated that the latter concession in no way involves recognition of the National Liberation Front in any form. The National Liberation Front (or Viet Cong, as it was more popularly known) was the classic Communist front organization that included both Communists and non-Communists who had banded together in opposition against the Saigon regime. Domestically, President Johnsons action drew widespread acclaim; both major presidential candidates expressed their full support. The reaction in Saigon, however, was much more subdued; President Thieu issued a communiqué declaring that the United States had acted unilaterally in its decision to halt the bombing. 1970: Thieu vows to never accept a coalition government South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu delivers a speech on the state of the nation before a joint session of the South Vietnamese National Assembly, asserting that 99.1 percent of the country had been pacified. The pacification program that he alluded to had been a long-term multi-faceted effort to provide territorial security, destroy the enemys underground government, reassert political control, involve the people in their own government, and provide for economic and social reforms. Citing success in this program, Thieu said that a military victory was close at hand and that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. With regard to the ongoing peace talks in Paris, the South Vietnamese president declared that the Communists viewed negotiations merely as a way to gain time and to achieve victory gradually. He said he would never accept a coalition government with the Communists, because countless past experiences had already shown that such an approach would not bring peace. 1971: Saigon began the release of 1,938 Hanoi POW’s.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:52:11 +0000
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