The War Of The Vietnam War

Before the Vietnam war, Vietnam was in a revolution because they did not want to be ruled by France. Vietnam wanted to be independent right after World War II ended in 1945. Japan had control of them, when Japan surrendered to the Allies the French never left Vietnam and claimed it as a territory(Mintz).

The French were highly involved with Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) due to the abundant harvesting riches that were favorable with their own economy. Historically, Vietnam first established the communist party through the influence of China after their conversion into a Communist country in 1949. Ho Chi Min, a nationalist leader, had

The Vietnam War was fought between North Vietnam communists led by their leader Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam anti-communists led by their president Ngo Dinh Diem. North Vietnam was trying to taking over South Vietnam to make it a communist country. That is when the U.S. came knocking on South Vietnam’s door and gave them much needed help in 1950. In Eric Foner’s and John A Garraty’s essay, “Vietnam War,” they explain, “from Washington’s perspective, . . . [a]ny communist anywhere, at home or abroad, was, by definition, an enemy of the United States” because of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “domino theory” (Foner). Eisenhower’s “domino theory,” was a theory that if communists took over Vietnam, they would gradually control all of Southeast Asia. The first aid given by the U.S. was to France. Willbanks explains in his essay that the U.S. provided France, a South Vietnamese ally, $2.6

During the 1950s, US advisors were sent to French Indochina or what is South Vietnam (Eckhardt, 1991:6). Because of many internal conflicts with the North trying to take over the South, U.S. increased their involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s, nearly quadrupling the number of American troops in South Vietnam during 1961 and in 1962 (Hayes, 2014). The US continued to deepen its involvement, so that by the end of 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin resolution gave the President the authority to assign massive

The Vietnam War, deploying 2.5 million troops and lasting 10 years made it one of the largest wars in United States history. Allegedly, the war started after two navy ships were fired at off of the banks of Vietnam. The questionable attack would foreshadow a very misunderstood and questioned war to come. The United State’s army would be tested in just how strong they were, some 58,000 men were killed and almost double that were severely disabled. This was humiliating to the United States, a great world power at the time, and tensions grew as the war went on. Robert F. Kennedy mentioned the severity of the war in one of his speeches, “For years we have been told that the measure of our success and progress in Vietnam was

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.

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

Throughout the 1960’s, the United States of America was in the midst of change, advancements, and struggle. It was America vs. the Soviet Union, always trying to one up each other in both weaponry and space technology, but the main conflict was the spread of Communism. As the battle between Communists and Non-Communists raged on, America attempted to do everything in its power to stop the spread of communism all around the world. This is what lead to the gruesome war that lasted over a decade in Vietnam. A great deal of social changed happened all over the world, but particularly in America as the Vietnam War dragged on. As people became more aware of the atrocities going on in Southeast Asia, the endless domestic support turned into

The United States government started to become more involved in Vietnam when the Eisenhower administration “authorized covert operations against the North, while in the South, the United States took over the French role in military training and nation building.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower was careful not to become directly involved in Vietnam. This was due to France’s loss of the Asian colony of Vietnam during their military intervention, the belief that communism may prevail in the country, and during the fifties, the United States was more concerned about the race of nuclear buildup with the Soviet Union. In the end, Eisenhower believed that “American intervention in Indochina seemed moderate an investment. Yet Southeast Asia was mined with unexpected dangers and trials for the nation.” Soon, John F. Kennedy would become president of the United States after Eisenhower in 1961, and “covert operations continued and became more difficult to control.” Because of reports coming into the White House of how more would need to be done in Vietnam by the United States, to support the regime of South Vietnamese President Diem, “Kennedy…authorized the dispatch of

Since the U.S were trying to prevent communism, they would try to support and “backed the return of the French in Vietnam” (Llewellyn). Though, some do not like the idea of returning Vietnam to French due to their hatred toward colonialism and believing that Asian nations should be free to govern themselves. But many would rather take the revival of French colonial-ism than a communist-ruled Vietnam. So America offered support for the French in Vietnam. Until in the late 1945, there was a formal position which was about one of the neutrality, but “by early 1947 the U.S. Government was tacitly supporting France” (Llewellyn). Later that year, President Harry Truman funded French War effort.

The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was one of the most publicized wars of all time and was what they called the first “television war.” It was a prolonged conflict that eroded the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States (Britannica). This war lasted nearly 20 years and was by no means a cheap or peaceful war, more than 3 million people, including 58,000 American soldiers, were killed which lead to the U.S. forces withdrawing in 1973. The war was costing the U.S. some $25 billion per year (History). Veterans were highly mistreated when they returned from the war.

During 1968, the Vietnam War was a major moment in American history. The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover, this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country, riots began to raise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. During this time, fear and doubt were widespread due to the decisions of the government, and battles occurring in Vietnam.

War is something of a desideratum and an atrocious entity. It sparks contentious discourses, and is often declared following such events. The Vietnam War is notably one war that has enraged many American citizens thereafter. It is understandable that President Kennedy would want to become involved in a war that is governmentally motivated; we have war to overthrow regimes and conquer land. Moreover, a possible cause of the Vietnam War could have been to overthrow the Communist regime so that no more people would be forced to live in the sphere of a homologous influence. (Source E) In due time the question became: what is more detrimental, having engaged in war, or having remained pacifistic? Both have consequences, both have casualties.

In July and August of 1972, Jane Fonda made radio broadcasts from Hanoi that changed the way Americans thought of the Vietnam war and of her. To this day, many people view her as a traitor and criticise her actions in Vietnam; however, some people were truly inspired by her words and what she had to say. Despite people 's personal opinions, Fonda was a powerful speaker and knew how to convey her message to her audience. She tried to convince people that the American government and military were the “dual villains” and the Vietnamese would never surrender. Jane Fonda 's radio broadcast from Hanoi to American Servicemen tried to convince the American people that the Indochina War was a useless attempt to make the Vietnamese people compromise

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