Exploring the Reasons for United States' Withdrawal from Vietnam

find answers about the future movements of Americans. The Vietcong played mental games with these

The Vietnam War was one of the most deadliest wars in America, many were killed and even more injured. The war began because of America’s efforts to stop the spread of communism. The Vietcong may of won the war but America showed that we will not let communism spread, the domino theory come into effect, and America’s faults in our war program and way to attack the Vietcong. The war was lost but from a overview of the war America learned from their lose.

In 1960s, the US was faced with another crisis of communist expansion in the war between North and South Vietnam. The Kennedy Administration decided to further pursue their containment strategy out of fear being seen by the international community as weak towards communism. During the Johnson Administration, an attack against American vessels that happened in the Gulf of Tonkin led to President Johnson being granted the ability to conduct broad military operations without congressional approval. The American public began to largely oppose American intervention in Vietnam because the optimistic statements made by the government ran contradictory to the reports of the violent fighting by American news outlets. During the Nixon administration, the US switched to a policy, later known as Vietnamization, where the main goal was to strengthen the South Vietnamese forces and provide them with better armaments so they can better defend themselves. Vietnamization proved to be ineffective as the South Vietnamese forces were unable to hold their own against the North without US air support as proven during Operation Lam Son 719 and the Easter Offensive. The signing of the Paris Peace Accords officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam War. The US followed containment policies during beginning of the war due to the underlying fear of the spread of communism and since the policies were inherited from previous

The U.S. was going to the extreme using chemical warfare tactics; this was counterproductive, riddling fields useless and sickening or killing not only the Viet Minh but also the Reunified Vietnam. At this point, they could not distinguish the enemy from the people they were trying to save. They angered the people of the Reunified Vietnam to the point of where they were switching to the communist side with a goal of getting the United States out of their country. Many United States citizens worried about what would happen if we pulled out of the war. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of the State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, wrote in a speech “if they [Viet Minh] achieved military or political success, it is certain that they would subject the people to a cruel Communist dictatorship taking its orders from Peiping and Moscow.”(Document F). He like many others knew that if the U.S. abandoned the Vietnam War they would encourage communism to continue its infectious spread through Asia and Europe. Ultimately, The United States intermeddled with countries in attempt to help but failed, giving them over to communism

“If the tiger ever stands still, the elephant will crush him with his mighty tusks. But the tiger does not stand still. He lurks in the jungle by day and emerges by night. He will leap upon the back of the elephant, tearing huge chunks from his hide, and then he will leap back into the dark jungle. And slowly the elephant will bleed to death.” This quote by Ho Chi Minh emphasises his belief that Guerrilla tactics would be what would result in a win for the Vietcong. The Vietcong made use of tunnels, known as the Cu Chi Tunnels , which was a network of underground tunnels that the Vietcong resided in, and used to store supplies and care for the sick and injured. The use of underground hiding places meant that the US was unaware of the Vietcong’s whereabouts from ground level, allowed them to be

The United States formulated a plan to safeguard their nation from the Vietnam War. Lyndon Johnson, the President of the United States, was unable to compose a clever plan to prevent North Vietnam from attacking. Eventually, in 1968, Richard Nixon became president and launched an invasion of Cambodia and supported a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos. These two unsuccessful invasions discontented the citizens and individuals held protests against the Vietnam War. Many soldiers refused to fight in the Vietnam War and citizens opposed the United States involvement. Ultimately, in 1973, the United States withdrew their troops from Vietnam and was declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Howard Zinn said, “The Vietnam war gave clear evidence

Exploring the Reasons for United States' Involvement in Vietnam 1. US involvement in Vietnam The US wanted to stop communist expansion into South Vietnam after successfully stopping them from capturing South Korea but President Eisenhower could not get the support of the people. Therefore he used a different way i.e. sending a team of 12 intelligence agents under Colonel Edward Lansdale to win over the South Vietnamese people by spreading lies about the Ho Chi Minh government killing political opponents and the presence of Chinese communists in South Vietnam. Besides that colonel Lansdale also employed mercenaries to sabotage North Vietnam and boost up the image of President Diem.

attacks, the American soldiers were trained for open battle. The Vietcongs had underground tunnels as well where the Vietcongs

Andrew J. Bacevich was born 1947 in Normal, Illinois. In 1969, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and served in the Vietnam War for a year from 1970 to 1971. He retired in the early 1990’s with the rank of Colonel after also holding posts in Germany, Persian Gulf, and the United States. He later earned his Ph.D. in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University. He is a professor at Boston University, currently teaching international relations. He is also a retired career officer of the U.S. Army and one of the former directors of Boston University’s Center for International Relations. In 2007, his son, First Lieutenant Andrew Bacevich Jr., who also served in the U.S. Army, was killed in action at the age of 27.

The Vietnam War was one of the most intense, stressful and exhilarating wars to fight due to the factors of fear and not knowing the surrounding environment. Vietnam’s land is a jungle filled with natural dangers. Monsoons were common on the Vietnam land, which made harsh wet and hot fighting conditions. Animals such as snakes and scorpions made it dangerous to wander blindly in the jungle. On top of all the natural dangers and conditions of the land, the communist enemy known as the Vietcong were known for their use of booby traps such as bear traps, wooden stakes applied to dangerous designs, and use of poison. American soldiers found these factors made it hard to fight a war and found it even harder to fight when the U.S Army couldn’t discriminate the enemy from civilians. The Vietcong and South Vietnamese were the same people with different views, so this made war hard to fight when it is nearly impossible to identify the enemy. The use of guerrilla warfare made it difficult to beat the enemy in a foreign jungle terrain. The Vietcong having the upper hand in almost every aspect of the war made warfare conditions very stressful for American soldiers. Most of the American soldiers were already experiencing anxiety and stress due

In a speech given to the American people in 1969, Richard Nixon explained how and why America had associated itself with Vietnam to begin with. Nixon first stated, “Fifteen years ago North Vietnam, with the logistical support of Communist China and the Soviet Union, launched a campaign to impose a Communist government on South Vietnam by instigating and supporting a revolution” (Nixon’s ‘Silent Majority’). Nixon continued in saying that because the South Vietnamese government requested it, President Eisenhower offered military and monetary assistance to aid the South Vietnamese resistance against Communism. Then, in President Kennedy’s term, he ordered 16,000 military directors to be sent over to Vietnam. Additionally, when Lyndon B. Johnson was elected president, he commanded that American military troops be sent over to South Vietnam. Therefore, Nixon took office at the height of the war in Vietnam (Nixon’s ‘Silent Majority’).

They didn’t fight to win, they fought to stay alive and protect each other. This was not just a daytime happening, it was around the clock. The Vietcong had the advantage of knowing the terrain, therefore they were able to instill fear in the American soldiers.

The decision to leave the country is very difficult for many reasons. One reason being that maybe there prisoner of war father returns after they leave. Which is shown when Brother Khoi says, “ What if father comes home and finds his family gone.” (Pg. 44) Another reason is shown when Brother Quang says,” without honor, without dignity.”(Pg.44) This shows they don’t want to be seen as cowardly by other Vietnamese people and leave when Vietnam is such and strong willed and honored country. A final reason could be just the struggles of leaving the country. Like trying to buy a home in a new country and trying to learn a new language as a refugee. All of these reasons show that this is a very tough decision for the family.

In 1968, presidential candidate Richard Nixon claimed that he had a ‘secret plan’ to end the Vietnam War. Later after his inauguration, the details of Nixon’s plan were released and they turned out to be the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat ground forces that would be replaced by South Vietnamese forces. Richard Nixon’s plan to end the Vietnam War was by turning the fighting over to the Vietnamese themselves. While the policy of Vietnamization was happening, Nixon secretly bombed suspected enemy bases in North and South Vietnam. In the course of four years Nixon’s Vietnamization policy was supposed to end the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, however it was not entirely effective.

In 1958, Communist-led guerrillas, eventually known as the Viet Cong, began to battle the government of the South Vietnamese. The United States then sent 2,000 military advisors t support South Vietnam’s government. This number grew to 16,3000 by 1963. The military force slowly deteriorated. By 1963 the fertile Mekong Delta was lost to the overpowering Viet Cong. The war rose in 1965, when President Johnson issued commencing air strikes on North Vietnam and ground forces, which had risen to 536,000 by 1968. The Tet Offensive by North Vietnam turned many Americans against the waging war. President Nixon, following Johnson, promoted Vietnamization, the withdrawing of American troops and handing over the great responsibility of the war to South Vietnam. Protesting of the war dramatically increased, especially after Nixon’s attempt to slow North Vietnam forces and supplies into the South by sending American forces to destroy supply bases in Cambodia in 1970, which violated Cambodian neutrality. This provoked antiwar protests on many of the United Stats’ college campuses. In 1968 through 1973 attempts were made to end the ongoing conflict through diplomacy. Then in January 1973, an agreement was reached. U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam and the U.S. POWs were released. In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North and Vietnam was once again united. The Vietnam War ended, but it took the lives of 58,000