The American War : The Vietnam War

In 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was published by president James Monroe that stated that any effort of European nations to try to colonialize any parts of North America or South America would be seen as unfriendly by the United States. The expansion of the Monroe Doctrine to include Olney Corollary which said that it gave the U.S authority to mediate conflicts in its own hemisphere This corollary foreshadowed the the events of the Spanish-American War because which ended in 1898 with the Spanish ceding the Philippines and Cuba. The need for the United States to gain territory and intervene led to the war with the Philippines because after the Philippines was ceded to the United States, the Philippines didn’t want another colonial ruler so they sought independence by a war with the United States (Engel, Lawrence and Preston, 47). Imperialism caused the U.S to intervene with the Spanish which then angered the Filipino because they didn’t want a new colonial ruler. The Philippines created an opportunity to project American power into the pacific. With the Filipino leader, Aguinaldo, as president demanded independence but Washington refused so Aguinaldo declared war. The U.S didn’t want to give land away that they just received as well as the Philippines was considered a hotspot because it would allow the U.S to refuel on their long journeys back from Asia

In addition the control of the Philippine islands gave the United States clout in the Far East and a chance to spread the dreams of democracy and Christ. Clearly the forces working behind the Spanish - American War were far different then those that led our forces, only a few decades earlier, into the western frontier. Once the United States had established it's presence in the Far East it felt obliged to oversee all that went on in the area. So when Chinese nationalists rebelled against the controlling government, the United States was most eager to get into the action.

It seems as if the united states are always fighting a battle whether it is overseas or within its own borders. The citizens were not ready for what the 1970’s was going to bring, socially, economically, and religiously. Jim Jones was going to bring peace and relief to these people in the most tragic way possible. With brain washing, manipulation, and isolation Jones convinced hundreds of people to commit suicide. The Peoples’ Temple religious movement was one of the many going on during the 1970’s.

The Montagnard had suffer the same consequent as the Native American, the conquer of the land, according to the Degar Foundation “In this way, we have suffered a fate similar to the Native Americans, Australian aboriginals, African Bushmen and other original inhabitants subjected to invasion and exploitation by outsiders.” The same way as the Vietnamese is taking over the land, but the solution in taking back the land is far too risky, due to the fact that; the Montagnard population is dropping. It was once over 3 million during French colonialism, today the race has dwindle to only a few thousand. As the tension between the Montagnard and Vietnam grow the safer place to be is in Cambodia and the neighbor countries.

In the month of December of 1967, near Tam Quan in Vietnam, troops on a foot patrol from D-1-12 were on their way back to camp. While crossing a vulnerable spot in a rice paddy, the wood-line suddenly opened up with intense small arms fire in an all-out ambush on their position. Low on ammo, and with almost no cover, they radioed for assistance. The small infantry platoon hunkered as low to the ground as possible in what appeared to be the final moments of their lives, when suddenly the wood-line erupted into a cacophony of explosions, and out of nowhere a Chinook appeared. "At first, I thought it was our Admin/Log Bird who 'd tragically picked the wrong time to do re-supply, but that worry vanished when I realized it was coming to a

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

It is a known fact that soldiers endure experiences that can only be felt by seeing through one’s own eyes. The Vietnam War was especially one of the wars that had a major impact on soldiers, as their lives became significantly more difficult and dangerous. The soldiers were young and thrown into war, not knowing who they were fighting. Tim O’Brien was one of the soldiers that was placed into Vietnam’s danger. O’Brien stated that he still carries “the memories or the ghosts of a place called Vietnam, the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers. More importantly [he carries] the weight of responsibility and a sense of abiding guilt. [He carries] joyful memories, too, friends [he] made and the conversations at foxholes

Dominos. One falls then they all fall. People spend hours to set them up, just to watch them all fall in the blink of an eye. This is similar to the theory of what the U.S. believed would happen if one country, Vietnam, was to fall to communism. This is what caused the war between North Vietnam the communist lead government and the anti-communist South (Encyclopedia Britannica1). How does a war relate to a game enjoyed by millions of people all over the world? Just like in a game of dominos, you set them up and watch them fall, the Vietnam War was the same. Vietnam and the countries surrounding it had worked very hard for independence, that they no longer cared how their government was run. But, the U.S. believed that if Vietnam became

When the War first started the United States claimed that the reason behind the war was to contain communist aggression and expansion. The U.S. claimed that the war was caused by outside aggression from the communist North Vietnam and that South Vietnam’s independence was being threatened by the North. This was what the public was led to believe and what policy makers did believe. The United States was the defender of the world against communism. They were the knight in shining armor that would come in and save not only Vietnam but any country from the grasps of communism. It felt as if it was their duty to protect the world from such evil, at least that is what it felt like at the beginning of the war. So based on the readings and class lectures there was a difference in what United States officials were telling the American people and the reality of the Vietnam war, in order to hide the gruesome behavior towards the Vietnamese people, hide that the officials were wrong, conceal the actual progress in South Vietnam, and distract the people of the issues in their own nation.

The Vietnam War was a long armed conflict where the communist regime of North Vietnam and their southern allies, Viet Cong, fought against South Vietnam and their biggest ally, the United States. It was a decisive war that had an increasing amount of criticism in the United States, and resulted in the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973. In 1975, Vietnam was unified under communist control. Over 3 million people were killed in the war; 58,000 of these casualties were American.

The Vietnam War was notoriously one of the most violent wars in history; it led to a myriad of bloodshed among those fighting and brought a great amount of distress to the nations involved and the rest of the world. The war was a compilation of many sequential conflicts. The dispute “began as a war of resistance, pitting mostly communist insurgents against the Japanese occupiers.” After the defeat against the Japanese, it developed into an issue between Vietnam and France. From 1946-1954, Vietnam fought with France in order to avoid colonization. This led to the division of Vietnam into the Communist North and the South, who was supported by France and later, the United States. A number of Americans detested the involvement of the U.S.

The Vietnam War, or also known as the American War to the Vietnamese people, is a catastrophic battle that has left both nations reeling with the casualties and the irreversible emotional, physical, and mental destruction for civilians and soldiers alike. Spanning over two decades, the war has taken away not only the lives of its soldiers, but also the souls of its survivors. Aware of its impact, artists, writers, and filmmakers from both sides have attempted to capture the post-war memories and sentiments through the perspectives of the few surviving soldiers and their loved ones, hoping to bring to light the unfiltered descriptions of the war and the raw emotions that it has left on its brave victims. Originally written by a veteran of

The movie Platoon was based upon the 25th infantry division stationed in Vietnam during 1967. The company was to patrol near the Cambodian border to prevent the North Vietnamese Army from controlling the southern half of the country. I believe that the movie Platoon portrayed the many conflicts that occurred throughout the Vietnam War. Not only was the war a big conflict for the United States, but also there were different small beliefs about why we were fighting, how to fight in a foreign unknown land, and many others. This movie displayed a truly realistic version of how the war actually was and how it was viewed among the veterans.

Remembered as one of the most controversial wars, Vietnam had more casualties in the short three day battle of Ia Drang, than in the worst week during the Korean War. Entering this war, neither side could have predicted how this battle would play out. With numbers in the thousands the Vietnam leaders must have believed victory was theirs for the taking. Whereas the opposite could be said for the 450 brave American soldiers who faced incredible odds. It seemed as if only death awaited these men in the valley of Ia Drang, yet they managed to secure the first American victory in the Vietnam War.

Before television was created, people received their news from different sources. The progression from sending mail by horse to getting news by paper and then television transformed how instant people understood what was going. However, not everything back then was factual. America back then liked to feel patriotic, they wanted to be the superpower in all circumstances, that included handling news. This alternation of information was specifically seen during the Vietnam War. The fact that the Vietnam War was the first televised war was the primary reason that public opinion turned against the war, and ultimately led to the United States’ withdrawal from Vietnam.