The Vietnam War was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The war began in 1954 (though conflict in the region stretched back to the mid-1940s), after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam, and continued against the backdrop of an intense Cold War between two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. After the French lost power over Vietnam and left, there was a power vacuum that resulted in the war. Due to the terrain of Vietnam being a jungle, the US had many difficulties preventing the Soviet Union and China from sending in weapons to arm North Vietnamese against the South Vietnamese. Nevertheless, the CIA then turned to the Hmong people to help during the Vietnam War against communist during the war. The US has had little success in bringing down the North Vietnamese as the Hmong were losing to the uprising of the Vietnamese army and the tactics of warfare used against the US soldiers in Vietnam. There were enemies everywhere and they were all hard to take out because a majority of the enemy did not have …show more content…
The CIA then trained the Hmong soldiers to fight for them in the war as their main ground troops against the North Vietnamese. The some of the main things that US had the Hmong soldiers target mainly on was the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Ho Chi Minh trail was a route that enabled the delivery of weapons to the North Vietnamese because of its spider web-like route that made it hard to track and destroy, which is another reason the CIA recruited the Hmong soldiers because they needed the soldiers to destroy the roads and bridges so that weapon could not be transported to aid the
The Hmong people were recruited by the CIA to help aid american soldiers in jungle missions because of their familiarity with their surroundings in vietnam. CIA also recruited the
Like a moth to a flame, the United States has always been attracted to international affairs. In this particular case communism in Vietnam was the flame that leered American bugs in, not knowing that they would be brutally burned by communism in the end. From 1953 to 1961, all the initial decisions involving Vietnam were made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who once served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe as well as the first Supreme Commander of NATO. Thus, Eisenhower was very knowledgeable about war issues and was prepared to tackle pending conflicts and avert the dispersal of communism when he came into office. Communism was an immense fear of this great patriot, who witnessed to the “Red Scare” during the
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
“On October 17, 1973, Arab oil producers declared an embargo that drastically limited the shipment of oil to the United States” (OPEC 1). Arab countries refused to sell oil to the United States because of the Yom Kippur War, a war between Egypt and Israel. In this war, United states was backing up Israel by supporting them and giving them weapons, which angered Arab leaders. Arabs started limiting the shipment of oil to the United States. The embargo, however, brought crisis to the US with unequal proportions. US citizens were very panicky because of the shortage of gas and oil. Ultimately, the US economy slowed down, leaving its’ citizens to to be dependent on domestic resources. Shipment of oil in the country dropped by 1 million barrels,
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 U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War helped for the South Vietnamese for a while,
Before the famous Vietnam war started, America promised we would keep communism from taking over. When Eisenhower and Kennedy were in office they continued to supply weapons, funds, and military advisors to South Vietnam. America stepped in when North Vietnam began to take over South Vietnam. We stepped in to help South Vietnam because they are our allies and they couldn't take on North Vietnam alone. This action taken by the United States government to step in created many problems within our own country.
Going over to Vietnam was a decision made by the U.S. government to go over and stop Communist from taking over South Vietnam. This resulted in a long and costly war. Sending over 500,000 Americans over to help fight this Communist battle. According to The Vietnam War Statistics web page, there were only 1,728,344 men drafted but only 38% of the men actually served. The death toll for Americans was up to 58,000 people, meaning that one in every ten people died.
France was giving Vietnam the independence and self-determination that they were seeking, but the U.S would not agree to that because they could not risk having Vietnam turn communist. Consequently, Eisenhower chose to invent a government in South Vietnam, taking control over the French; thus more evidence that supports French Colonialism. By 1954, the U.S had invested nearly $3 billion dollars in funding France’s effort against the Viet Minh, who rapidly became U.S enemy. Once the Viet Minh became a direct U.S enemy, U.S efforts increased and their involvement grew more. After France’s withdrawal, concern about the stability of the region grew, and the U.S became directly committed to the war in
The Vietnam War was first derived from the gradual oppression of the communist party of the north over the region of South Vietnam. The North Communist party was supported mainly by China and the Soviet Union whiles the Anti-Communist party of South Vietnam was supported by United States and France. The communist party group, as known as the Viet Cong, was recognized for their guerilla war strategies within the region of South Vietnam, intended to fully expand and unify Vietnam under Communist rule. U.S. involvement with the Vietnam War starting in November 1, 1955, develops from the theory of the domino effect, stating that if one country falls into communism, a threat that can develop into the encouragement and spread of communism throughout the world in the future. It is basically viewed as a potential harm to the welfare of the United Sates. Therefore, due to the conflicting forces of the historical, political, economic and cultural nature of the war itself, it is known to be the longest enduring war in United States history that altered many lives of the Vietnamese and American community, leading to suffrage and acts of courage.
The Vietnam War was a typical proxy war that occurred during the cold war period. It involved both the Soviet Union and the United States and in some ways China was also involved. The American involvement in the Vietnam War started just like most proxy wars do. President Truman and President Eisenhower sent military advisers to the region along with economic aid to support the French and South Vietnamese in their actions against the North Communists. Eventually, more and more aid and military advisors were sent to Vietnam under President Kennedy, who believed that the war was the place to help restore American Credibility. Kennedy was a strong believer that he as President had to contain communism and in his first speech as President he
Let’s start from the beginning, the start of the Vietnam War started way before the fighting and war actually happened. The start of the Vietnam War really started at the end of WWII. Tension grew between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union were a communist government, and the United States was very firmly against that. The United States had a fear of communism growing and that sparked the urge to get our foot in the door, and stop it. (Vietnam at War, Bradley) Northern Vietnam was also a communist government which of course meant they sided with the Soviet Union, which means we did not agree with North Vietnam. South Vietnam was not a communist government and they did not agree with the rules and the intentions of North Vietnam. This is where problems began.
The Vietnam War (1955- 1975) was the most conflict and controversial war in the U.S history. It was the longest war in the U.S history. The war was referred as the Second Indochina War. It was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Soviet Union, China and also including other communist allies. The South was supported by anti-communist countries such as America, South Korea, and others allies. The war starts as a civil battle that contends the North and South Vietnam. Communist rebels are known as the Vietcong against the non-Communist South Vietnamese. The purpose was to abolish the South Vietnamese government and unite Vietnam as a communist state. The U.S. sees the threat when Communist started to support
The longest, most unpopular war fought by the United States, the Vietnam War (Caputo 4), claimed 50,000 of its lives (Samuels 4). The Viet Minh, a resistance group, conducted a campaign in 1946 with the intent to Vietnam, a French colony, into two separate countries. Known as the “domino theory,” the fear of communism spreading throughout Vietnam frightened the United States. (Samuels 4) The United States decided to intervene when “North Vietnamese military action forced a French withdrawal from Vietnam.” Beginning March 8-9, 1965, President Johnson sent the first round of troops to South Vietnam. Although the troops landed in 1965, their assistance to Vietnam began much earlier when they promoted the rulers of colonial
The Vietnam War was a long, immoderate furnished clash that hollowed the socialist administration of North Vietnam and its southern partners, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its chief associate, the United States. The war started in 1954 after the ascent to force of Ho Chi Minh and his socialist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam, and proceeded against the background of an exceptional Cold War between two worldwide superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million individuals (counting 58,000 Americans) were murdered in the Vietnam War; more than half were Vietnamese regular citizens. By 1969, at the top of U.S. association in the war, more than 500,000 U.S. military work forces were included in the Vietnam struggle. Developing restriction to the war in the United States prompted astringent divisions among Americans, both previously, then after the fact President Richard Nixon requested the withdrawal of U.S. strengths in 1973. In 1975, comrade strengths seized control of Saigon, consummation the Vietnam War, and the nation was bound together as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the next year. Amid World War II, Japan attacked and possessed Vietnam, a country on the eastern edge of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia that had been under French organization since the late nineteenth century. Enlivened by Chinese and Soviet socialism, Ho Chi Minh framed the Viet Minh, or the League for the Independence of Vietnam, to battle both