American Involvement In The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War began in 1954 after years of conflict stretching back to the 1940s between the communist regime of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was attempting to make South Vietnam a communist country; since we are a democracy, the United States opposes the views of communist countries, and because we feared the spread of communism the United States became involved as an ally of South Vietnam. The war ended in 1975, resulting in disastrous effects on Vietnam and America. The assertion of the United States in this war rose controversy among Americans, and I disagree with our involvement in the Vietnam War because of the United States’ reasons to fight.

The Vietnam War was fought between North Vietnam communists led by their leader Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam anti-communists led by their president Ngo Dinh Diem. North Vietnam was trying to taking over South Vietnam to make it a communist country. That is when the U.S. came knocking on South Vietnam’s door and gave them much needed help in 1950. In Eric Foner’s and John A Garraty’s essay, “Vietnam War,” they explain, “from Washington’s perspective, . . . [a]ny communist anywhere, at home or abroad, was, by definition, an enemy of the United States” because of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “domino theory” (Foner). Eisenhower’s “domino theory,” was a theory that if communists took over Vietnam, they would gradually control all of Southeast Asia. The first aid given by the U.S. was to France. Willbanks explains in his essay that the U.S. provided France, a South Vietnamese ally, $2.6

Going over to Vietnam was a decision made by the U.S. government to go over and stop Communist from taking over South Vietnam. This resulted in a long and costly war. Sending over 500,000 Americans over to help fight this Communist battle. According to The Vietnam War Statistics web page, there were only 1,728,344 men drafted but only 38% of the men actually served. The death toll for Americans was up to 58,000 people, meaning that one in every ten people died.

The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War helped for the South Vietnamese for a while,

The United States involvement in Vietnam was the longest war the U.S. has ever took part in and was considered an extended military engagement due to the fact congress never formally declared war with Vietnam (FCNL). The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955 and lasted for 20 years until April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist Northern Vietnamese and the anti-communist Southern Vietnamese after the country was temporarily divided by the Geneva Accords. Americas entering of the Vietnam War proved to be an extremely controversial decision due to citizens belief that the United States reasons for intervention were unnecessary nor justified, and young teens were mainly drafted under the Selective Service Act. The death toll of nearly 3,595,000 people from the war was the result of years of conflict in Vietnam prior to the war (Statistical). The policy of imperialism, division of Vietnam, and American Ideology created circumstances in which the Vietnam War was an inevitable outcome that would forever change the lives of millions of people.

Throughout history, there have been multiple wars that have all contributed to build the society we live in today. An example of one of these wars is the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War occurred between 1962 and 1975, and was fought between communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. United States was one of the nations that was involved in the conflict, and as a result, suffered due to its involvement. It is still argued today why America was involved in the war, and is believed to be because of their fear of the “domino theory” and the idea that Communism would spread from nation to nation. United States suffered socially, economically and politically, and the impacts of their involvement include suffering veterans and American

“Why? Why was America involved in such brutal war to stop a brand new country from forming? Shouldn 't we support that because that 's what happened to us.” That was my very first question when my grandfather first told me about the most brutal and longest wars America has ever been in, the Vietnam War. America’s involvement in the conflict was to stop the evil and corrupt system of Communism. French forces were dead meat unless America teamed up with them. Unfortunately, this didn 't stop the nonmoral army under Ho Chi Minh. The United Sates did not win the Vietnam War due to strong motivation, Guerrilla warfare, and the political factors in the United States.

The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War began in 1955 or ten years after World War 2. The United States direct involvement in the war started in 1964 and extended through 1973 but its indirect involvement started much earlier. At the end of the Second World War the United States and the Soviet Union were recognized as the two greatest military powers in the world. As the Soviet Union expanded their influence over Eastern Europe in countries including Bulgaria, East Germany, and China turned to communism and the United States grew concerned with the expansion of communism and its potential impact on the democratic nations of the world. Similarly the Soviet Union was concerned with the economic and military strength of the United

As well as taking office in 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon introduced a new strategy to office called Vietnamization that was aimed towards finally ending American involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75) by moving all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. This increasingly unpopular war had made deep division in American society, so Nixon believed his Vietnamization strategy, which involved building up South Vietnam’s military strength in order to create a slow building withdrawal of all U.S. troops, would prepare the South Vietnamese government to take responsibility for their own defense. In 1973, the U.S. negotiated a treaty with North Vietnam, withdrew American fighting troops and then declared the Vietnamization process complete.

The Vietnam war was a civil war between Northern and Southern Vietnam. The two halves of Vietnam were separated because of disagreements in governmental policies. American troops involved themselves in the Vietnam war because they wanted to protect Vietnam from becoming a communist country. The United States was split between those who wanted troops to get involved in the war and those who opposed. So when the US officials decided to enter into the war, uproars and peace movements began. The United States should not have gotten involved in the war because there was a loss of many soldiers and the economy was damaged.

U.S involvement in Vietnam developed gradually and through a series of steps. Both FDR and Truman took the first step, with Truman providing aid to France in their struggle to retain control in Indochina in 1950, thus; supporting French Colonialism. The U.S had at first, a non-involvement approach, despite claims that they supported self-dependence in countries and having granted independence to the Philippines. Vietnam became the battleground for global powers amidst the Cold War. The decision to provide military power and economic aid to France was dominated primarily by the influence of the consolidation of a communist China, with Mao Zedong becoming China’s ruler. The U.S foreign policy quickly became one of containment. They were determined

government believed the cost of sending American troops was too high. The French defence of Dien Bien Phu collapsed in 1954 and soon France surrendered and Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh declared victory. The avoidance of becoming involved in Vietnam is debatable and controversial. The Johnson administration believed it was critical to suppress the spread of communism and it was vital to prevent South Vietnam from coming under North Vietnamese rule (Tucker). Those opposing US involvement believe that the war posed no direct threat to the U.S. and caused great debts, casualties, and social dismay. The war was protested in America and abroad. Steps to winning the war would have been to destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail, which was vital to the survival of the Viet Cong. More strategic bombing sites and setting up North Vietnamese bases would have also contributed to a possible win. The unfavorable public opinion and false media reporting added negative support and riots of the the U.S. involvement in the war. The US ignored faults and corruption of the the SOuth Vietnamese government and if the US recognized reform and gained support of the South Vietnamese people, they had a better chance of winning the war. The complete elimination of the communist party in Vietnam and the success of an establishment of a democracy in Vietnam would have produced a victory and allowed the U.S. to exit the

Vietnam War. President Lyndon B. Johnson began to release for the first a juncture of air attacks

Vietnam’s new government was divided into pro- communism in the north and pro-democratic liberty in the south. Their enemy over Vietnam wasn’t a national army, but a group of gorilla fighters, this and a lack of knowledge no the terrain where battles occurred made it extremely difficult for the Americans to advance north.

The Vietnam War was a typical proxy war that occurred during the cold war period. It involved both the Soviet Union and the United States and in some ways China was also involved. The American involvement in the Vietnam War started just like most proxy wars do. President Truman and President Eisenhower sent military advisers to the region along with economic aid to support the French and South Vietnamese in their actions against the North Communists. Eventually, more and more aid and military advisors were sent to Vietnam under President Kennedy, who believed that the war was the place to help restore American Credibility. Kennedy was a strong believer that he as President had to contain communism and in his first speech as President he