The conflict that America could never be victorious
The United States entered into Vietnam in 1965 and fought there until 1975. The U.S. got involved because North Vietnam was trying to take over South Vietnam and make them part of the communist North Vietnam. Due to President Johnson and congress believing that if they didn’t engage in this war that the domino effect (which is where one country becomes communist and this causes other countries to fall victim to the same fate) that this would happen. For the first time in the history of any war, the American public was extremely disrespectful to the soldiers coming home from war. The war was extremely costly for the United States and the loss of life was too great. So many lives were lost over there in a conflict that was never to be won. Three very important reasons why the United States should not have
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Because of this fact, American soldiers were not able to use all the equipment that would normally be used in a war. The fact that the North Vietnamese would hide in the jungle, the soldiers had trouble knowing where they would attack. This was a major disadvantage to the American soldier. The government definitely believed that they had a right to invade Vietnam. Even though the potential loss of life would be so high, the United States still decided to invade Vietnam.
The third and final reason why America should not have been involved in the Vietnam War was due to the cost of the entire war. According to Suzanne McCabe, the war was extremely expensive “the total cost to the U.S. was more than $100 billion” (McCabe 19). Even in those times $100 billion dollars was an insane amount of money to spend, the President and Congress could not have imagined what the cost to America would be. With this amount of money, American’s government could have taken care of their own
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam.
The Vietnam war, lasting from November 1st, 1955 to April 30th, 1975 was a 20 year war that altered American history forever. Previously, the United States had faced down social, economic, and political ruin, along with fighting valiantly in many wars, including one for its own independence. However, during the conflict in Vietnam, the US that fought was nothing like the US that opposed the British, or even the more recent US that helped topple Hitler and restore Europe. The United States was most decidedly not the victor in this war, and many would claim that this was the starting point of America’s decline (History.com). How could such a powerful nation lose to an insignificant relatively unknown force?
Second, the Americans were not willing to make an all-out commitment to win. And another reason or answer what the U.S would have lost in the Vietnam War is; If United States continued to prop up South Vietnamese government with military forces, it is conceivable that the entity could have continued into the 1980s, thus bringing it closer to when the Soviet Union collapsed and most communist nations in the world ceased to exist. However, the American public had grown tired of the loss of American lives and of the war itself, meaning that there’s was no way that U.S. military involvement in the region could
There were many reasons for the continued involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War. One idea that greatly influenced America's
(Lecture notes, March 16) Half of Vietnam wanted to be communist the other half wanted to be independent and Americans got involved in a war that had nothing to do with us out of fear that if we did nothing communism would spread until it threatened the American way of life. Many Americans wanted out of the Vietnam War, including President Johnson, but were afraid to pull out without just cause because as Johnson said, “America had chosen the path of containment with open eyes.” and to pull out would make Americans look weak and cowardly to the rest of the world. (Brands, pg.
Throughout history, there have been multiple wars that have all contributed to build the society we live in today. An example of one of these wars is the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War occurred between 1962 and 1975, and was fought between communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. United States was one of the nations that was involved in the conflict, and as a result, suffered due to its involvement. It is still argued today why America was involved in the war, and is believed to be because of their fear of the “domino theory” and the idea that Communism would spread from nation to nation. United States suffered socially, economically and politically, and the impacts of their involvement include suffering veterans and American
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
The purpose of this paper is to identify the true reason or reasons why the United States felt the need to fight in the The Vietnam War and to express whether the reason/s justify the consequences. This paper will explain how the U.S. struggled during this time of war, and furthermore, to inform the reader of the devastating tragedies that the Vietnam War left on the American people. This war was one of the least needed wars that the United States should have partaken in. In this research paper, I will walk you through several interesting facts that make this statement true. Starting with the primary reason, the fear of communism, this paper will give some actual events that took place during the war and how it impacted our country. And lastly,
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.
Also one reason is the unwinnable part. North Vietnam had more troops than the south and us combined. Another reason is that there were a lot of deaths that it wasn't worth fighting when most everyone dies in the end. The cost of the war was a major part of why we should not have joined the war, although war "helps" the economy we are still in debt. In conclusion to this topic I believe that if we hadn't engaged in the Vietnam War our country would have been
“Defeat in Vietnam has left the United States deeply divided” (Hallin, 1986:3). The Vietnam War became a major Cold War conflict in the 1960s period. This essay will evaluate the following question; what are the main reasons for the United States (US) defeat in the Vietnam War? The research was done through the qualitative research method which included books, journals and articles. This essay will argue that the main reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was because of their inefficient tactics, inexperienced soldiers, and both international and home pressure. This research is important because the question has not been answered to its fullest extent. Additionally, it provides evidence that countries with powerful nuclear weapons and
The Guerrilla warfare was definitely the main Vietnamese benefit. The US battalions faced plenty of difficulties while trying to reach their foe due to the fact that the Viet Cong army had no uniforms, front lines and it consisted of a few hundred men. The biggest issue for the American commanders was not how to defeat the enemy, but how to locate them. The US tactic “search and destroy” puts thousands of American troops searching the Viet Cong army into the jungle. The purposes were to find and destroy as much as possible enemies and capture their resources .By occupying these main points the Americans were able to weaken the foe. Plenty of the war experts and the officials argued that the western superpower forces should have used counter-insurgency strategy, which allowed to put guerrillas in to a conventional war.
Reasons for United States' Involvement in Vietnam In this essay I will be writing about why America got involved in the Vietnam War, between the 1950s to the 1960s. This was a steady and slow process with many deaths all because of communism. It was very costly and bloody. This essay will focus on political reasons, military reasons and economy reasons.
The Vietnam War was one of the worst wars in the United States history. The reason for the United States involvement was due to the start of communism in North Vietnam. The citizens in South Vietnam feared the control of North Vietnam and were worried that the north would take control of the south. The communist North Vietnam had support from the Soviet Union and China, making the South Vietnamese vulnerable to the north. In their time of struggle the South Vietnamese were able to receive aid from the United States. The North Vietnamese had set up a series of radar stations along bays and islands on the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 1, 1964 the U.S.S. Maddox was posted on a surveillance mission to study the North Vietnamese defenses
The Vietnam War ended without a specific winner on the battlefield. Although there was no military victory it does not mean the war ended with no clear victor. North Vietnam are considered the winners of the war since Communism was never overthrown in Vietnam. The United States and South Vietnam lost the Vietnam War due to their military policies, The plethora of advantages the North Vietnamese had, and the shortcomings of the United States government to win over the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people.