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The Vietnam War : The Causes And Complications Of The Vietnam War

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Bloody, grueling, controversial and it changed America forever, what could it be? The Vietnam war is what it is. The war officially started August 2, 1964 after the Gulf of Tonkin incident where the North Vietnamese fired on a US destroyer. Precedent to that incident the United States had already sent military advisors and a small number of troops to stop aid the southern vietnamese from being overrun by communist forces. There was heavy casualties on both sides 58,000 on the American side and 533,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong deaths. There are lots of questions surrounding the vietnam war such as the impact it had on American society, what are some of the misconceptions and, what was life like for a infantryman in the war. The vietnam war was so controversial because it impacted American society so heavily mainly because of the draft. There were 648,500 draftees making up 25 percent of the soldiers in vietnam. That caused high tension because citizens were unwillingly being thrown into a war that they wanted no part of making matters worse some of those draftees never came home to America. Vietnam also changed America's view on foreign involvement for years. As well the economy tanked in the late 60’s due to president Johnson's inability to change taxes until it was too late. Some draftees even went to the extents of mutilating themselves and going to Canada to get out of going to Vietnam. One of the most controversial protests being the Kent State college protest

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