Operation Rolling Thunder: The Vietnam War

Tet Offensive. It showed the American people that we were nowhere close to winning and served

The Vietnam War began soon after World War II. At first , in 1946, the war was between the Vietnamese and the French. The government was French, but many Vietnamese people did not want a French government. They wanted the French to leave so they could have their own government. The Vietnamese fought hard, and slowly they won more and more land. By 1953. The French army was in trouble. They were not winning the war. French soldiers were dying and the war was costing a lot of money. So, in 1954, the French army stopped fighting and left Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was first derived from the gradual oppression of the communist party of the north over the region of South Vietnam. The North Communist party was supported mainly by China and the Soviet Union whiles the Anti-Communist party of South Vietnam was supported by United States and France. The communist party group, as known as the Viet Cong, was recognized for their guerilla war strategies within the region of South Vietnam, intended to fully expand and unify Vietnam under Communist rule. U.S. involvement with the Vietnam War starting in November 1, 1955, develops from the theory of the domino effect, stating that if one country falls into communism, a threat that can develop into the encouragement and spread of communism throughout the world in the future. It is basically viewed as a potential harm to the welfare of the United Sates. Therefore, due to the conflicting forces of the historical, political, economic and cultural nature of the war itself, it is known to be the longest enduring war in United States history that altered many lives of the Vietnamese and American community, leading to suffrage and acts of courage.

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

during the Vietnam War. Acts such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964 allowed the president to take a measure need to defend foreign aggression on the U.S. (Doc A). This indirectly gave too much power to the president. The abuse of presidential authority was evident during Nixon’s Cambodian campaign. Military forces were sent to Cambodia without confirmation from Congress. To prevent future abuse of power, Congress passed the War Powers Act (Doc I). This act took away the authority previously provided in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Respect towards the president was lost. The anti-war spirit continued to increase during the Tet Offensive. The people realized that the war was not almost over and that the U.S. actually had little control. This raged the American people and many wanted to immediately pull out of the Vietnam War. The government's heist to mislead the public was put to light by President Kennedy (Doc E).Kennedy exposed the belief that the U.S. had everything under control, because in reality, they did not. Trust in the government had been lost. Bonds between the president and the civilians were shattered. The lost in both trust and faith in the U.S. government continued to heighten the political tensions within the U.S. during the Vietnam

The beginning of the war started during World War Two, when Japanese forces invaded Vietnam forcing out the French influence. After the war Japanese forces refused to vacate Vietnam, therefore causing Vietnam’s future leader Ho Chi Mien to request foreign help. Ho Chi Mien requested help from both the US and China, and was successfully able to expel all

On November 14, 1965 the first battle of the Vietnam War had begun. This is a war between communism and democracy. The first major part of the war between the United States and Northern Vietnam was the Battle of Ia Drang. The battle erupted in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands. Lt. Col. Harold Gregory Moore took his 1st Battalion and 7th Calvary sent an assault near the Chu Pong hills. The North Vietnamese's 33rd regiment attacked our troops later that day. The fighting lasted all day and continued into the night however both sides were receiving support throughout the night and next day. Around noon on the 15th more companies arrived and helped Col. Moore giving us the upper hand. Once the three day battle ended, 834 were confirmed

In 1973, the "Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace" or the "Paris Peace Accord" was signed between the US, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam, to arrange a settlement which ended the US military involvement in the Vietnam war and also established peace in Vietnam which was supposed to end the war itself. Originally, the US got involved into the Vietnam war due to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's theory of the Domino Effect, a metaphor for the spreading of Communism happening in Asia and north-east Europe. Communism was a thought of all people having the same rights and goods as others, a thought that attracted several developing countries such as Vietnam and Indochina who were trying to approach a Communist approach government. Soon, when it could be seen that Communism does not work in practical ways since there always are people who are better off than others, America decided to try to stop the spread by getting involved into the Vietnam civil war, joining the democratic South who were fighting against the communistic North that wanted to take them over and adjust their government style.

The Vietnam War was fought between South and North Vietnam over the reunification of Vietnam. The North fought a more conventional warfare and it was supported by the Soviets and other communist countries while the South fought more of a guerilla war and was supported by the US and other anti-communist countries. Of course the US got involved and supported the South because of the Truman Doctrine in which aided any country who felt threatened by communism and prevented the spread of communism, the US got involved and supported them by going into war and using military tactics such as airstrikes and large stratgetic bombings. One major thing the US had going on was the Domino theory which applied to most US foreign policies, this justified their support for non-communist regimes. North Vietnam saw this war as something small while the US saw it as a way to prevent communism taking over another country and eventually the US got involved in the long run. Although the North Vietnamese won and unified Vietnam under communism, and the US had no success in preventing this, communism failed to spread through the rest of Southeast Asia.

In this essay I will be providing a summary and overview the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war changed America forever. The war damaged America's self image by becoming the first time in history that the U.S. failed to accomplish its "stated war aims". The Vietnam war was also the first war ever broadcasted on television. The war is a significant part of US history and influenced a generation.

He and the group had 3 options to deal with the pressing Vietnam Issues. The first option was to continue with the current approach of soldiers and methods in Vietnam. The second option was to escalate the war entirely and direct bombs to North Vietnam. Alternatively, the third option was to follow a series of graduated response in the area to efficiently sustain resources. After discussion between Johnson and the ITF, they fell on the option of a series of graduated response in Vietnam. The first phase in their approach was named “Operation Barrel Roll” and in this phase they decided to bomb the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a supply route running through Laos and Cambodia controlled by the North Vietnamese (Campbell, n.pag.). Johnson’s next move was named “Rolling Thunder” where Aircraft Carriers were put into the South China Sea to expand their influence in the area and start to put pressure onto the North Vietnamese with airstrikes and bombings. This operation was escalated as a retaliatory fight due to the Viet Cong’s attack on the U.S. base named Pleiku (History.com, n.pag.). Johnson had to deal with how he would go about fighting communism in Vietnam and trying to keep both his people happy and being efficient at stopping

The Vietnam war started with a governmental conflict that would cause major problems across the country. The North Vietnamese wanted Communism and the South wanted to avoid Communism at all costs, because of Southern Vietnam’s stance of anti-communism they would be joined by America in their attempts to get rid of Communism. America involved

The Vietnam War began in 1954 and came to an end in 1975. It was a conflict that set in opposition the communist regime of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong

“The Vietnam war was a costly and very long conflict that eroded the communist regime of North Vietnam and its allies against the South Vietnam and its ally, us the United States of America (Unknown Source).” The Vietnam War began on the eve of 1959, causing a struggle between two of our major national forces. These two forces were attempting to unify the country the both love, Vietnam.

In 1965, the United States of America officially enter the war against North Vietnam. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident where North Vietnamese attacked two U.S. ships on August 2nd and 4th, 1964, this event was a chance for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson to give authority for U.S. to enter war in Vietnam. United State involvement in Vietnam War was an approach to seize the communist aggression. A campaign authorized by President Johnson called “Operation Rolling Thunder” which started on February 24th, 1965 is a series of extensive bombing directed towards the North Vietnamese predicted to be eight weeks long until the North Vietnamese surrender to U.S. power. However, this campaign lasted two years longer than expected.