Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Attacked on December 7, 1941.

D Day

June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

Operation Overlord

The code name for the Allied invasion of Europe at Normandy on June 6, 1944; also known as D-Day

Atlantic Wall

Extensive coastal fortifications built by the Rommel and the Germans with the intention of deterring an expected allied invasion of Normandy

V-J Day

"Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945

Enola Gay

the name of the American B-29 bomber, piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets, Jr., that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

Executive Order 9066

A presidential executive order issued during WW2 by FDR that sent Japanese ethnic groups to internment camps. It was issued because of the fear for the country's safety and also Japanese-American's safety.

Eisenhower

Allied commander in WW2 in Europe; helped plan the D-Day invasion at Normandy; 34th President

MacArthur

American general; he commanded U.S. troops in the South Pacific during World War II; later he commanded UN forces in the Korean War; also drove the Bonus Marchers out of DC

Iwo Jima

a bloody and prolonged operation on a Japanese island in which American marines landed and defeated Japanese defenders. Gave Americans a site from which they could bomb Japan and have an emergency runway.

Okinawa

Showed that the Japanese would "fight to the death",was the scene of the last great U.S. amphibious campaign in World War II. U.S. army and marine forces.

Manhattan Project

code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Internment Camps

Detention centers where more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were relocated during World War II by order of the President.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The cities which received nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman

Robert Oppenheimer

United States physicist who directed the project at Los Alamos that developed the first atomic bomb

Korematsu v. U.S.

The Court upheld the constitutionality of internment (detention) camps for Japanese-Americans during World War 2

Midway

Pacific battle victory here gave Allies control of the "central" Pacific; proved to be the turning point in the war in the Pacific

Normandy

site of Allied invasion of occupied France

General Rommel

one of hitlers most brilliant commanders, aka "Desert fox", was sent to North Africa to push British troops back across the desert. Also tried to get more defenses against an allied invasion of Normandy.

French-Indochina War

1946-1954; France came back to Vietnam after WWII to continue colonial rule; Vietnamese resisted. Fighting between the French and the Viet Minh ended with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu.

17th Parallel

line of latitude that separated North and South Vietnam

Vietcong

A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.

Military Advisors

Teams of US soldiers sent in to help S. Vietnam strengthen its military and organize anti-guerrilla, anti communist programs.

Operation Rolling Thunder

The bombing campaign authorized by President Johnson in 1965 to force the NVA to surrender. Using the new B-52 bombers it caused heavy damage, but it wasn't able to force the North to surrender.

Free Fire Zones

Areas in which any and every Vietnamese person was considered hostile and was fired on by US troops.

Hearts and Minds

The U.S. tried to win the ______ _______ _______ of the Vietnamese by trying to convince the civilians that the U.S. had the best interests of the people at heart.

Kent State

an Ohio University where National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War on May 4,1970, wounding nine and killing four

Christmas Bombings

A massive series of bombings initiated by Nixon in an attempt to bring the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table for an end to the war.

War Powers Act

Passed by Congress in 1973; the president must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and gain congress' approval to stay longer than 90 days. Designed to curtail President's power

Hawks v. Doves

Refers to the polarization of American society in the 1960's, when one side called for intensification of the Vietnam conflict, and another side wanted de-escalation or withdrawral

Dien Bien Phu

A town of northwest Vietnam near the Laos border. The French military base here fell to Vietminh troops on May 7, 1954, after a 56-day siege, leading to the end of France's involvement in Indochina.

Diem

Leader of South Vietnam, 1954-1963; supported by United States, but not by Vietnamese Buddhist majority; assassinated in 1963

Strategic Hamlet Program

Program created to "pacify" rural Vietnam and develop support among the peasants for the central government. Involved clearing Viet Cong insurgents from an area and resettling the population in villages to be defended by S. Vietnam army. Forcing the Vietnamese from their homes lowered their opinions of the U.S.

General Westmoreland

The commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Made many false statements about the state of the war to make victory seem more imminent back home.

McNamara

Was the secretary of defense under Kennedy. Against the war in Vietnam and was removed from office because of this.

Fragging

US troops' use of hand grenades to kill their own sergeants or officers for the alleged unneccessary risking of soldiers' lives

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

Pentagon Papers

Secret government documents published in 1971; revealed that the US government had misled Americans about the Vietnam War.

Geneva Accords

a 1954 peace agreement that divided Vietnam into Communist-controlled North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam until unification elections could be held in 1956

Ho Chi Minh

1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used geurilla warfare to fight anti-comunist, American-funded attack. His strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization for the use of military force in Southeast Asia without a declaration of war.

Search and Destroy

Strategy to locate and kill Vietcong forces. Used by Westmoreland

Tet Offensive

The turning point in the war in Vietnam. VC launched surprise attacks on major South Vietnamese cities. Moral Victory for the North despite their large losses.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A network of jungle paths winding from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, used as a military route by North Vietnam to supply the Vietcong during the Vietnam War.

William Fulbright

Senator who headed the Foreign relations committee. Wanted to find ways to get out of vietnam quickly and tried to convince Americans that their government had been lying about the status of the war.

Body Counts

The number of enemy forces killed in a battle, became the measure of success for American and South Vietnamese forces, because maintaining secure control of territory in rural South Vietnam was difficult.

Agent Orange

chemical the U.S. used to destroy plant life in the jungle, but comtaminated drinking water and caused birth defects from those who were contaminated

My Lai Massacre

In 1968 American troops massacred women and children in the Vietnamese village of My Lai; this deepened American people's disgust for the Vietnam War.

Boat People

Refugees who escaped from Vietnam in small boats after the Vietnam War.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.

Little Rock High School

The site of the forced integration of a public school in 1956. The use of the 101st showed that the federal government was upholding and would continue to uphold the decision of Brown v. Board.

Sit-ins

protests by black college students, 1960-1961, who took seats at "whites only" lunch counters and refused to leave until served; in 1960 over 50,000 participated in these across the South.

Freedom Rides

a series of political protests against segregation by Blacks and Whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961

Birmingham

Alabama city against equal rights; peaceful marches in 1963 were broken up brutally by city police.

March on D.C.

Massive rally organized by civil rights leaders to urge passage of President Kennedy's civil rights bill. Site of "I have a dream" speech.

Selma

Where the events of Bloody Sunday March 7th, 1965, took place. A town in central Alabama on the Alabama river. Best known for the 1965 Voting Rights Movement and its marches to Montgomery.

March Against Fear

March stated by James Meredith to protest racism. He got shot during it, but the march continued.

Poor People's Campaign

This addressed the issues of economic justice and housing for the poor in the United States. (Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

Black Nationalism

A call for black pride and advancement without the help of whites; appeared to be a repudiation of calls for peaceful integration uged by King. Race riots were partially fueled by supporters of black nationalism. (Malcom X)

Black Power

Rallying cry for many black militants in the 60s and 70s; it called for blacks to stand up for their rights, to reject their integration, to demand political power, to seek their roots, and to embrace their blackness. (Opposed by MLK)

Black Panther Party

A group formed in 1966, inspired by the idea of Black Power, that provided aid to black neighborhoods; often thought of as radical or violent.