The Vietnam War

Blood, gore, intense combat, little sleep, death. These are some words that describe the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had 240 days of combat in one year. World War II had forty days of combat in four years(Interesting Facts). That statistic shows how rough the Vietnam War was. The fighting was constant between the two sides. This war was fought over politics and had many gruesome battles.

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 political instability in Vietnam from 1950 to 1975 between the communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam during the Cold War era has led to the United States’ inevitable intervention in Vietnam. The main motivators for the United States’ incremental decision to intervene and commitment in Vietnam can be viewed as an accumulation of socio-political, political and economic catalysts. In recognition that there were many other factors that may have contributed to the U.S’s involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, this essay will largely focus on these three factors. As the cold war resonates, the American’s crusade was propelled by the fears of the domino theory and perception of Communist threat and expansion affected the

One of the most important issues that happened to everyone in the past called the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is a war that between the Southern and Northern zones of Vietnam. In the early 1960’s, the United States was very worried about the situation in the South Vietnam. Therefore, the president Lyndon B. Johnson were starting to draft so many young people in the country to combat issues in the war with Vietnam. However, the Vietnam War were proved to be a common topic were to fight against the war, combat the issue of drafting about freedom and peace in countries to stand against the U.S. intervention in other countries. Moreover, the United States has believed there were over 20,000 Viet Cong guerrillas in the south and about another 100,000 of the population were on the Viet Cong side to defeat with other countries. Also, Vietnam War is one the longest war in the history has fought with the United States on the bridge of Cau Tan Cang which never going to win the war in Vietnam. Besides that, the Australians have fought a battle in a rubber plantation near the Long Tan. They won this battle with the Viet Cong and was lost with 18 men and has 21 wounded during that battle. Also, The Viet Cong had about 500 people wounded and lost 245. Therefore, the Vietnamese traditional culture may be still a mysterious and unknown to most of the people outside the countries of Vietnam, especially the white people. Nowadays, many white people, Philippines, and other neighbor countries

“I was persuaded then, and I remain persuaded now, that the war was wrong. And since it was wrong and since people were dying as a result of it, it was evil(O ' Brien 272).” Tim O ' Briens If I Die in a Combat Zone is based in the Vietnam war with the main character being Tim O ' Brien. He explains what it was like to be drafted into the war and the hardships that he went through fighting the Vietcong. The changes that happened before his eyes to people he was fighting with being turned into a deranged person. He describes the fears that the soldiers had of bouncing betties and the people hiding waiting to attack the moment they go to sleep. The Vietnam started in 1955 and ended in 1975 with a total body count of a million people killed

Edward R. Murrow once said, “Anyone who isn 't confused really doesn 't understand the situation,” (Quotes About Vietnam War). The entire basis for the Vietnam War was to suppress communism. Citizens of the United States as a whole did not understand communism. Communism was a newer concept and had mainly been seen in reference to the Cold War with USSR. Often times with confusion comes anger. Many soldier were angry that they were sent to war, while others went out of curiosity. The story of Mary Anne Bell’s time in Vietnam is representative of the curious soldiers who volunteered for the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War was, and still is a difficult topic to discuss, not because of the battle itself, but because of the unfamiliarity of the subject most present-day students have. Five years after World War II, the war for Vietnamese independency began, which is also when textbooks for some reason strayed away from world history and lingered toward United States history instead – the economic boom and "race war" is far more recognizable to modern day students and the fear of Communist tendencies assisted in altering the curriculum to avoid the problems outside of the United States. However, soldiers continued to fight on unfamiliar grounds during the time, many have lost their lives, and George Crumb’s composition Black Angels represents the true, raw emotion of what it felt like away from home. “In Black Angels, Crumb fulfilled the command to reinvent music, not by writing a piece that reflected on the war, but by making music as the embodiment of war and thus assume…mythic qualities” (Ho). Although the music can be audibly heard as a battle within itself, the titles of each number in the three-movement program can assist the surfacing discomfort of what “war” should bring.

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 destructive legacy of the war is shared by both the American and the North Vietnamese veterans and both sides responded to troubling memories in similar ways. To many, the most devastating effects of the war didn’t begin until its ending, mainly through the form of PTSD, Agent Orange, and other excruciating traumas. In The Sorrow of War, Kien recalls the daylight hours where he had smelled the rotten meat in the midst of the busy street, and how the scent had triggered the vividly unsettling memories of crossing Hamburger Hill and walking over strewn corpses. He also remembers startled onlookers who stared at him as he froze, held his nose, and struggled to fight his own consciousness as he cope with his own memory of the war (Ninh 46). At night, the sound of his ceiling fan brings back memories of the sound of helicopters attack overhead. It reminded him of the dreaded “whump-whump-whump of the rotor blades, the vapor-streak, and the howling of their rockets” (Ninh 46).

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.

The atrocities that took place in Vietnam fifty years ago have left physical and mental scars on the people that were afflicted by the war. Regardless of whether an individual was a civilian or a soldier, both experienced horrors. With over 1.3 million casualties, the war has stricken locals in Vietnam, to families across the United States. The majority of Vietnam 's history has been a challenge for freedom, whether it was from the Chinese around 900 years AD or the French just after World War II. After Ho Chi Minh, a soon to be leader of Vietnam was tired of the Frenchman’s tyranny, declared war and launched attacks against the French in April of 1954. This was the start of the Vietnam war. When the French began to see the casualties

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.

The largest counterargument for those who take Johnson as the one worst modern day presidents would be his failure in the Vietnam War. Admittedly, the war has ruined Johnson’s reputation. The Vietnam war started as the conflict between the South and the North Vietnamese. However the war has global ramifications. The North Vietnamese was lead by the Communist Party, and the South was led by a non-Communist regime. However, as a matter of fact, during that period of time, Vietnam War seemed to be necessary in against Communist party, and the Soviet Union. With belief in “domino theory”: when one country becomes communists then the surrounding countries will also fall under communists influence, stopping Vietnam from pursuing Communism seemed to be compulsory to Johnson’s administration.

I really enjoy the TED Talks videos and always learn a lot. Johann Hari is intriguing to listen to and backs his statements with scientific evidence. I especially like his comparison of rats getting to choose between water and heroin or cocaine (Hari, 2015). When the rats had a viable and enjoyable alternative to the desire to use the drug they choose the water in almost all instances. I think the analogy to the Vietnam War was interesting as well as the comparison to Portugal. What comes to mind for me, is the relation between the Portugal program and the manner in which positive reinforcement works. It seems the program they have been using in Portugal for the last 15 years is very effective. A 50% decrease in injectable drug use, decrease in overdose and HIV and addiction in general. The Portugal method of dealing with addiction, benefits not only those with addiction issues, but also those who employ those recovering addicts by paying half their salaries. Hari’s major point is structured around the importance of close relationships with family and friend and how our society has gotten away from this. The other video Dr. Werries posted about intervention, demonstrates the opposite of what Hari is saying in his talk. Those family and friends involved in the intervention program confront the person addicted to the substance and demand they stop the behavior or they will take away their love and discontinue their