United States' Loss to Vietnam There were many reasons for the USA's loss in the Vietnam War. There is no singular reason for the USA's loss; instead there are many, and each of these contributes to the end result. Some historians believe that the USA didn't lose the war at all. The USA first invaded Vietnam on the 8th March 1965, with the first 3,500 US marines landing on Vietnam soil, this seemingly small amount of troops would mass to 525,000 in 1967. America first involved themselves in Vietnam because of the "Policy of Containment" in this policy it made it clear that the USA was to stop the spreading of communism. The Domino theory was also a persuasive element. It suggested in the Domino …show more content…
The Search-and-destroy operations undertaken by the US meant that many innocent civilians were killed which also helped to increase the un-popularity of the South Vietnam regime. Many of the Vietcong hid in villages and the US troops didn't know civilian from VC "You never knew who was the enemy and who was the friend. They all looked alike. They all dressed alike. They were all Vietnamese. Some of them were Vietcong." - Source F. An Extreme example of this is the My Lai Massacre "We were firing before we hit the ground, we fired into the huts all we could. Then we burned the huts" - Source H. Bombing usually had the opposite effect to what the US desired. The Intense bombing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder, was mainly directed at the jungle to stop the Vietcong gaining routes to the South through the Ho Chi Min trail. This was largely in effective and until the introduction of chemical weapons. Even the chemical weapons meant the US were not gaining favor as the chemicals they used often meant long-term damage to the communities and also with other chemicals (mainly napalm) serious injury. Diem made himself un-popular in many ways towards the population. Diem made a corrupt government putting many Roman Catholics in power although they were a small majority of
more money to spend on music and fashion, and so they had more say in
The Vietnam War was one of the most deadliest wars in America, many were killed and even more injured. The war began because of America’s efforts to stop the spread of communism. The Vietcong may of won the war but America showed that we will not let communism spread, the domino theory come into effect, and America’s faults in our war program and way to attack the Vietcong. The war was lost but from a overview of the war America learned from their lose.
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 was a conflict, which the United States involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. The basis of the conflict was simple enough: Communism vs. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the Vietnam War was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. The struggle between North and South had an almost inevitable outcome, yet the Americans entered the War optimistic that they could aid the falling South and sustain democracy. The American intentions for entering the Vietnam conflict were good, yet when the conflict went horribly wrong, and the resilient North Vietnamese forces, or Viet Cong' as they were known, refused to yield, the United States saw they were fighting a losing battle.
Prisoners of War (POWs): In international law, term used to designate incarcerated members of the armed forces of an enemy, or noncombatants who render them direct service and who have been captured during wartime.1
What did the United States lose in Vietnam? The United States lost many valuable resources in Vietnam , examples being people, their mental health, money. We lost respect, reputation, and pride from the war or “police action”. The United States did not leave the war without sacrifice, though we deserved most of what happened for our stupid decision in entering the war through police action. Losing people, money, respect among many other things is not anyone else's fault.
The United States lost a few important things in Vietnam. They lost their support system, military, Politics, and Resources. Without these things they were pretty much helpless. Basically they had nothing left to show for. They were incapable to succeed, weak, and powerless after they lost these things.
What did the United States lose in Vietnam? Before the Vietnam War, communism in the Vietnam was spreading like wildfire, it was spreading at an alarming rate. Pretty much, this is why the U.S went to war with Vietnam, to stop communism. The South Vietnamese absolutely lost their war with North Vietnam.
Within one generation, The United States have experienced The Second World War, The Korean War and fifteen years of The Cold War crisis. The Vietnam War was the last drop into the cup of American patience. The costs of The Vietnam War were intolerable, because they contravened traditional American values and hopes.
The ear in Vietnam had ended and on the 30th April 1975, the NLF took
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.
aware of the war and its cost in lives." This is a quote from the
The longest war in the history of the United States of America has taken place in Vietnam during the Cold War. “The US fear of a communist Europe led them to intervene in a war that was not seen in a vital importance or that would not be in the country`s interest to gain any advantage” (Bernstein 1987/8, p. 86). One of the main reasons why the US lost the war in Vietnam was the lack of preparation and understanding of the Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese fighters had several advantages due to the countries geographical location and language barrier. Furthermore, the insurgency in Vietnam was almost impossible for the US
The United States intervention in Vietnam is seen by the world as America’s greatest loss and longest war. Before the start of the war in Vietnam, the thought of the United States losing this war was unheard of because America was technologically superior, no country in south East Asia could contend with them. Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not be the president to allow South East Asia to go Communist . Why the United States lost the war has been a huge debate since the end of the war, because there were so many factors affecting why they lost; the war was a loss politically, after losing support from not only the American public but also the South Vietnamese and losing a political mandate for the war by 1973, when the last
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.