The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, lasting almost twenty years and deploying 2.7 million troops to the front lines, was one of the largest wars in United States history. Beginning August 2nd, 1964, the war killed 58,000 American soldiers and disabled twice that number. The war brought humiliation to our great nation, and created very overwhelming tensions, in a quote by President Nixon, “Let us be united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that” (Doc G). These tensions grew immensely over the course of the war. In terms of political tensions, the trust and credibility of the war and government began to seem very questionable. Socially, the public began to acknowledge

The Vietnam War was another United States attempt in containing Communism in southeastern Asia. To this point in the Cold War, containment dominated U.S. foreign policy and already led the U.S. into a war, Korea. In 1964, The North Vietnamese attacked the U.S.S. Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. Soon after the attack, the U.S. Senate crafted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Johnson the ability to engage in the Vietnam War (Phillips). President Johnson immediately sent thousands of troops directly into Vietnam. The highest amount of American troops committed to Vietnam was 542,000 (Phillips). In January 1968, both sides agreed to a truce during the Tet holidays, which celebrated Vietnam’s new year. However, the Viet Cong organized a massive surprise attack in many cities in South Vietnam. This attacked has been named the Tet Offensive and shocked the U.S.. Even though the Viet Cong suffered many causalities, it showed the inability for the U.S. forces to adequately fight a war on foreign soil. This attack dismissed the fact that the U.S. was winning the war and changed the outlook on the war. Bringing the television into middle class family’s homes changed the way people got their news. This sparked outrage in the U.S. and caused the increased effectiveness of the anti-war movement. The Presidents policies began to change was the war dragged on and this ultimately led to the unification of Vietnam under a Communist government, which was the fear of many because

The Vietnam War, is widely regarded as a conflict that divided public opinion in the United States and influenced civilian perceptions on international relations. The conflict lasted for over twenty years and began after a policy of communism was introduced in the North after the withdrawal of French imperialists. The American government was highly concerned with the spread of communism in Asia (known as the Domino Theory) and wanted to end the possible political threat. Over time, the war has became a part of American social memory and is especially known for its distribution of iconic imagery of civilian atrocities. Through these images, varying tales have been told and have brought into question American values, as well as possible hidden motivations of both the government and the press. Over the course of several decades, a popular myth has formed that photojournalism was a critical hallmark to the effectiveness of the anti-war movement, however the public perception of the imagery was commonly not out of sympathy for the Vietnamese people who were victims, but dissatisfaction with the influx of internal confusion and misinformation. This essay will argue the Vietnam War 's use of photojournalism, ultimately contributed to the questioning of American values, as well as the hidden motives of government and media outlets that remains a concern in modern America.

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.

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The Vietnam War was a war against communist Russia more than it was a war against the North Vietnamese. Before the start of this War the United states established a policy where any country seeking help in a fight against communism would be aided by the United States. Any such bold statement, would eventually put the United States in a difficult situation. The war started off establishing a presence in South Vietnam attempting to push back the North Vietnamese who were attempting to conquer the South and create a united communistic Vietnam. This war was also aided by the politician who saw the war as an opportunity to prove the US superiority over Russia. Slowly, it became clear that the war was not as easy as originally planned. The slow progress and eventual realization the war could not be won began to wage war on the minds of people. This in addition to the loss of thousands of innocent lives began to affect popular opinion. The war beginning to develop into a political nightmare and politicians were forced to make a decision on what was the best policy for the country. Was it fair to continue to protect a group of people to possibly offer a better way of life while at the same time american soldiers continue to lose their life?

The Vietnam War was one of the most deadly wars in history, taking over three million lives during the 20-year war. It began in the mid 50’s, between Northern and Southern Vietnam. The United States joined the Vietnam War in 1965, and by 1969 there were about 500,000 U.S. soldiers involved with the war. The war began to slow down in ‘73 when President Nixon pulled the American troops, and the long hard war ended in 1975 after the Communists seized control.

Though it may have ended in 1989, the Vietnam war is still being fought, but on a different battlefield, one of public opinion. Some call this war an atrocity, a war the United States should never have joined. Others call it a crime, committed by the power hungry politicians of the U.S. Now that new information from both sides of the war has surfaced and the wounds of battle have had more time to heal there is yet another opinion emerging. The Vietnam War was in fact only one of many proxy wars fought under the umbrella of the Cold War. While some of the actions of people involved in the Vietnam War were questionable at best, the decision the lawmakers of the United States made to enter the war was in the best interests of Americans and in line with the ideals they upheld at that time.

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.

Every great form of government must be open to change. If a country is not open to change, then they are doomed to fail. That doesn’t mean all, change can be considered a good thing or a bad thing, but is a necessary natural phenomenon to help keep up with the modern times. In the United States (U.S) government 's case, this change was thrust upon them in the form of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war forced the U.S’s hand in adopting a very aggressive form of foreign policy.

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 wars in Indochina and Vietnam ravaged the landscape for decades. The strive for Vietnamese independence was fought for years by men and women across the country. Who were these people and why did they fight? Two of the more interesting men who fought for Vietnamese independence were Truong Nhu Tang, and Lam Quang Thi. Truong was a member of the southern Vietnamese intelligentsia who would later become a key member of the National Liberation Front(NLF), that would be instrumental in fighting against the Saigon government and American presence in Vietnam. Lam on the other hand couldn’t have had a much different goal in fighting for a sovereign Vietnam. Lam decided that his best course of action was to enlist into what would eventually be the Army of the Republic of Vietnam(ARVN), the army of southern Vietnam, eventually rising to the rank of general. I’ve had the pleasure of reading their memoirs (along with several others), and an interesting question came into my mind. Why would these two men, who had comparable backgrounds, choose such strikingly different ways of attempting to foster Vietnamese independence. I’ll attempt to answer this question by examining in more detail their comparable backgrounds, educations, early lives, families, etc, and striving to find an answer. As a further comparison Le Ly Hayslip, a woman from central Vietnam who also got involved in the fighting, will also be examined, but in much less detail, and more as a comparison to the

Protests , controversy, hippies , Woodstock and a whole lot of deaths. America 's involvement in Vietnam was to hypothetically stop the spread of communism in southeast asia.The united states played a major role in Vietnam aiding the south. In 1961 President Kennedy sent a team to report on condition in Vietnam to dictate if the united states would provide future aid. “December 1961 White Paper” argued for an increase in military, technical, and economic aid, and the introduction of large-scale American advisers to help stabilize the Diem regime and crush the NLF.