US Involvement In Vietnam

The Vietnam War began in 1954 after years of conflict stretching back to the 1940s between the communist regime of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was attempting to make South Vietnam a communist country; since we are a democracy, the United States opposes the views of communist countries, and because we feared the spread of communism the United States became involved as an ally of South Vietnam. The war ended in 1975, resulting in disastrous effects on Vietnam and America. The assertion of the United States in this war rose controversy among Americans, and I disagree with our involvement in the Vietnam War because of the United States’ reasons to fight.

The Vietnam War was, and continues to be, one of America's darkest moments, one that nearly tore the nation apart. In order to stop the spread of communism in Europe and Asia, the United States aided French imperialists and their reoccupation of Vietnam. At first, the U.S took a position of neutrality to both countries, but by early 1947, they began fighting in support of France. This war, lasting over 20 years, became the longest and most unpopular war in the 20th century. Overall, the Vietnam War was detrimental to the United States because it caused a massive debt from the 1960s to the 1990s, turned the American people against their government, and many troops were neglected and despised upon their return.

The first thing that one must do when discussing Vietnam is remember the historical context in which the conflict took place. The United States and it's Free World allies were attempting to confine the Communist Bloc, which by this time included both the Soviet Union and China, and keep it from expanding into surrounding nations. The U.S. felt that if the Communists were not allowed to expand, they would eventually collapse under the weight of their centralized economy. So in order to accomplish the policy of containment, the U.S. need to ally itself with nations bordering Communist ones. However, one of the most important aspects of political alliances is the trust each must have in the

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

Throughout America’s history, many conflicts have occurred with other countries. The U.S has had its run around with conflicts and many of them not being controversial, but some of them have had their share of controversy. One of these controversial conflicts occurred when the Vietnam War broke out. The Vietnam War occurred between the dates of nineteen forty-seven and nineteen seventy-five. The American government was criticized greatly due to intervening in the War. This paper is here to discuss the American involvement in the war, and if the American Government should have got involved in the war or not.

During the time that America invaded Vietnam, the Vietnamese had quite a bit of internal conflict within the walls of the country. Communism was a big issue

thousand plus killed, many were blameless citizens who wished not to be involved. The attacks were just fruitless, and it should be clear to Americans about how hypocritical their government is acting and reacting.

The American involvement in Vietnam War began in 1950 with the first shipment of military supplies to the French. (Graham, 2016) The conflict involved over 2.5 million soldiers while 58,183 US personnel were killed and over a span of twenty-four years. Air Defense systems such as the HAWK, Vulcan, Quad 50, and Duster deployed to Vietnam for the protection of assets as well as providing forward area air defense and fire support to ground forces. These systems provided a strategic advantage and deterred the North Vietnamese while maintaining US air superiority. Air defense Soldiers during the war earned more 450 medals for valor and received over 1000 Purple Hearts for their service during the war. (USC ROTC, n.d.)

The dilemma of whether Americans were willing to fight in the Vietnam War seems to boil down to the fact that a large group of American men were not willing and sometimes non-compliant. Having been in two World Wars relatively recently (both of which Americans as a whole were not willing to join) it would make sense that the American people largely would not want to fight a war that was not immediately nor in the foreseeable future a threat to our safety and freedoms. On March 31, 1966, 11 members belonging to a group known as the Committee of Non Violent Action publically resisted the draft, burning their draft cards as self-proclaimed “pacifists.” The protesting members of the CNVA were assaulted by a large crowd of over 250 pro-war protestors

Do you know how many people died in the Vietnam war? 58,200 American soldiers died during the Vietnam war. 1.1 million Vietnamese war soldiers died during the war. This war was pointless for America to get involved in. The only reason America joined the war was because the government thought it was a way to prevent the communist takeover of Vietnam. This was a part of the “domino” theory. The Vietnam war was a very bad thing that happened and it was bad that we got involved.

In the beginning, the United States always pushed forth the idea they were becoming involved in the war in Vietnam in order to send out aid to France, who was an ally of theirs. After the United Nations began setting up a plan to help France, the United States suggested splitting up the Communist and Democratic portions of Vietnam, with the communists having control over the North, while the Kennedy administration continued to send military aid to the Southern portions of Vietnam.

and it also does not state why it was a concern. It could have been

The causes of the war in Vietnam are rooted in events that took place before the United States finished World War II. Before WWII started, Hitler was taking over territories that had been taken away from Germany after the First World War. The nations that allowed Hitler to regain those territories were appeasing him thinking that he would stop after the next territory he took. Eventually appeasement had to end but by that time, it was too late; Germany was once again a strong world power, ready to fight a war to regain its position in the world. In part because of the immense fighting that resulted, the United States took it upon itself to not appease the spread of Communism with the Soviet Union. This was best put into light when President

America’s involvement in Vietnam goes back to World War II when it was still a French colony. After World War II, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel with the Geneva Accords into the Communist North and Democratic South. The proxy war in Vietnam occurred in the Turbulent Sixties, after the Eisenhower years which the death of Stalin occurred. John F Kennedy was assassinated; with instability in the nation, Lyndon Johnson was installed as president.

The Vietnam war was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, who was against the government of the south and the main ally was United States. The main conflict was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1953/4, to put together the whole country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. The human cost in this wars was harsh for all the involving.