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American History: The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War The start of the Vietnam War lead to a painful battle between North and South Vietnam and its ally the United States of America. “During the entire Vietnam war the U.S. dropped 8 million tons of bombs. That’s four times the tonnage dropped in all of world war II” (“The Vietnam War”). The battle started in the year 1954 just after Chi Ho Minh and his communist party took over in North Vietnam (Vietnam War History). America decided to get involved because they were worried that communism would expand all over Southern Asia (Truman). Communism is a form of government where mines, factories, farms, etc. Are owned by the state. Wealth is divided equally among citizens or according to an individual's need, for example a family with …show more content…

It was a long costly armed conflict between the Viet Cong or North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and its principal ally the United States. It was the longest war in American history and the most unpopular American war of the 20th century (“Overview of The Vietnam War”). The Wars roots began before World War II, Vietnam had been part of the French Empire. During the war the country had been overrun by the Japanese. When the Japanese retreated the people of Vietnam took the opportunity to establish their own government lead by Chi Ho Minh while the French were not focused on Vietnam at that time period. Once the French settled down they announced their intention of reclaiming the North which meant the Viet Minh, which were Chi Ho Minh’s followers had to fight to keep their independence. The war began when the french bombarded a part of Haiphong and killing 6,000 people (Truman). In 1954 Chi Ho Minh rose to power and so did his Viet Minh communist party in North Vietnam. America got involved when they realized that communism was expanding all over South Asia (“Vietnam War History”), (Truman). It is important to learn more about the war’s origin to better understand the importance of …show more content…

That is four times the tonnage dropped in all of World War II. It was the largest display of firepower in the history of warfare. A public opinion poll states that forty-six percent of Americans now believe military involvement in Vietnam to be a mistake. America sent 16,300 military advisors to South Vietnam and spent 500 million dollars in U.S. aid during 1963 (“The Vietnam War”). After the first United States marines landed in Vietnam, more U.S. troops poured into Vietnam each week. By December 1963 there were 200,000 men. A year later there were 400,000 men (Kent #49).
Conclusion
The Vietnam war was a long, costly, tragic war for the U.S. During the entire war the U.S. dropped several million tons of bombs and spent hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. The Vietnam war is important to know about because it is such a historic war. The war resulted in what many people believe to be the most unpopular war in the U.S. history. The American citizens were affected through several terrorist attacks. About half of America would say getting involved in the war was a mistake and the other half thought is was necessary to take part in the war (“The Vietnam

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