The Vietnam War : The Longest And Most Controversial War Essay

Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.

In the middle 1960s, every male in America had to register for Selective Service Draft at age 18. He would then be eligible for the draft and could be inducted into the Army for a period of two years. If you were a college student, you could receive a deferment and would be able to finish college without the fear of being drafted. However, once finished with college, a students name would be put to the very top of the draft list and could be deployed at anytime. The anti-war movement was about young men being drafted and then sent into war that most Americans did not believe threatened the security of the US. The Vietnam War was America’s rebellious war, a war without popular support

The Vietnam War is the longest war fought in America’s history (1954-1973). The Vietnam War occurred because North Vietnam followed Communist ideas and the United States followed democratic ideas. The North wanted to interfere with the South into becoming Communist but the U.S did their best to reduce or eliminate the North interference in South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the first ever war to be shown on television. Although the U.S won the battle, the T.V exposed the horrors and struggles of the war. It seemed like the U.S was just killing random people for no reason. It made a lot of people question whether the U.S was the good or bad side. During the war, there was a theory “Domino Effect/Theory, that basically meant that once one fell under communism than the others would fall too. This war was extremely difficult because they were fighting in a forest. There were trees and bushes and everything would block the sight of the soldiers. So there was Guerilla Warfare which meant unconventional fighting, surprise attacks and ambush. Helicopters were extensively used. It was a fast in and an easy out. After the Tet Offensive, people started to distrust the government and increased the number of protests. There were war-hawks and doves. They were two completely different groups. One was anti-war and the other was pro-war. The war made a drastic impact in American Culture. Especially with the American people. The Vietnam War created division. (History.com)

The Vietnam War raged on from 1954-1975, taking over three million lives with it. Conflicts rooted in the cold war resulted in the United States sending troops to defend South Vietnamese democracy. However as the war became more lengthy and expensive, many civilians began to protest the United States participating in the war, creating the Antiwar Movement. Though the movement had lasting effects on society, it did not immediately cause the United States to retreat from Vietnam. The antiwar movement of the 1960’s, which is deeply connected with the transcendentalist belief of Civil Disobedience, protested the involvement of the United States in the infamous Vietnam War, and has had numerous effects on the American Military and Government to this day. However, the movement that strived for peace did not completely accomplish its goal of ending the United States’ involvement in international armed conflict.

The Vietnam War started in 1945, resulting in almost 60,000 American deaths and nearly two million Vietnamese deaths, according to Mintze. Years after combat countless Vietnam veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder in every aspect of their lives (Price). Posttraumatic stress disorder is an illness that can happen to anyone who has gone through a horrifying experience. It has been documented in all forms of literature and films the brutality of the war and the side effects it came with. The history of Vietnam is quite long and winding and leaves one to question its purpose (Mintze).

Vietnam was so significant to the United States partly as it would be the first war they would lose. It also had a tremendous financial impact on the country and the casualties were also more in the public eye than ever before due to the media. They learnt that: "a long war for limited objectives, with its steady stream of body bags, will not be supported by the American people" (Martino, 1996, p37). Some suggest that the US should have avoided any involvement in the war.

The Vietnam War in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia lasted from November 1st, 1955 to around April 30th, 1975. The war was split up between two sides, North Vietnam, who were allied with the Soviet Union, China, and most of the communist countries during this time period, and South Vietnam, who were allied with the United States and many countries that were against the belief of Communism. Although the United States did not necessarily have to get involved in the war, they believed that they had too so that South Vietnam would not join the Communist party. During this time period there was a belief that if a region began to fall underneath communist control then other countries around them would do the same, this was known as the domino theory. As a result, the United States were committed for the long run to try and contribute to South Vietnam, so that Communism would not spread across the world. While the United States government was simply trying to stop Communism, what they did not know was that this war would begin the movement of anti-war by the citizens of the United States. Peace movements began to appear all across the country in major cities such as New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and in smaller towns as well. Surprisingly, numerous veterans joined in on the movement too. This may have been due to the fact that many veterans have struggled from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, but it also enlightened an abundant amount of citizens for if those who are

The Vietnam War was the longest war in the history of the United States it lasted from 1959-1975. Billions of dollars was spent trying to win and unwinnable war. Countless of lives were lost and America failed to achieve its objective. The origins of the war stem from the Indochina wars that occurred in the late 40s and early 50s. After many years of colonial war, the Viet Minh a communist group led by Ho Chi Minh sought independence for Vietnam. The French were not reluctant to let go of their crowning jewel without a fight. The French were aided militarily by the Unites States who sought the membership of France to the NATO and were willingly to provide as much aid to ensure that they won the war and Vietnam did not fall to communism. This led to an eight year war which culminated with the defeat of the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. A cease fire was issued and peace agreements known as the Geneva Accords where drawn during the 1954 Geneva Conference. The agreement issued a temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel which created a Communist North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and a democratic South Vietnam led by prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem. Vietnam was supposed to unify after the nationwide election of 1956 which Diem refuse to acknowledge.

Anti Vietnam demonstrations was one of the most important and influential American anti-war movements. Throughout the sixties, as the war drew on, more and more Americans grew weary at both the growing casualty count and the escalating costs. People began persistently pressuring American politicians and other leaders to reconsider the war efforts and advocated for the unilateral removal of U.S troops from Southern Vietnam.

Robert S. McNamara served as the Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. While historians place considerable focus on his role in the Vietnam War, McNamara also helped shape the U.S.’s greater Cold War strategy. A large component of this included the relatively new field of nuclear politics. He understood the significance of nuclear weapons as a strategic tool for bargaining. Through clear messaging, the weapons could create gains while never actually being fired. However, he also proposed that nuclear war could be limited, and not inevitably lead to global extinction. His contemporaries often dismissed this view, and indeed it remains controversial. After 1968, the former Secretary continued to advise nuclear policy through published papers, adding considerable fodder for our discussion of his positions on the topic.

The Vietnam war was considered wrong by millions of people around the world. Some people decided to take a stand against it. From California to Japan, people stood up for what they believed in, and they would fight until all soldiers were back home. men. The protests, at first, were small. College campuses usually held small peace rallies, but as the war progressed, so did the protests that spread across the world

Regarded as the longest war in all of United States History, lasting from 8 May 1950- 15 August 1975, the Vietnam War is one of the most controversial wars. Supporters of the war believed in the Domino Theory and were convinced that the United States needed to stop the possible spread of Communism. However, because this was a civil war between the North and South, many felt that the United States did not need to interfere with it. The United States ultimately lost the Vietnam War because of unreliable weapons, tactics, unique terrain, the anti-war movement at home, and opposition from the Vietnamese population.

The Vietnam War is one of the major conflicts within the vast time frame of the Cold War. In this long and horrific war, the Viet Cong from the communist north fought against southern Vietnam and the United States. The war lasted from 1954-1975. Throughout the long war, the Lyndon B. Johnson and Nixon associations faced several difficulties, two of them being military tactics and the American public. The most influential (in a negative manner) military tactic was the infamous Tet Offensive.

This paper will be explaining the similarities, and differences, between the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan. There are many topics that bring these two wars together. However, I am only going to be talking about public support, policy objectives, military strategy, weapons, fighting spirit, links to home, and death totals. These topics have a lot of information about them, but there is too much to write about every little detail, so I will cover the broad overview of them. Each paragraph will be about one of the topics. There will also be a discussion about insurgencies and counter insurgency operations. These are two big topics in Vietnam and Afghanistan since almost all of the enemy in both wars were, and are, comprised of insurgents and different types of militia groups.

In the 1950's, the United States had begun to send troops to Vietnam and during the following 25-year period, the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2 million people on both sides were killed.