...Vietnam War Taylor Davis MLS 2006 McDonough Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a disaster from the start for America. America was outnumbered and did not have a clear strategy going into the war. Technically, congress never declared war on Vietnam, so America nor did win or lose the war (Triebwasser). Neither America nor Vietnam won the war as it is still considered as stalemate. As Stewart said, “Meanwhile, the war appeared to be in a state of equilibrium. Only an extraordinary effort by one side or the other could bring a decision” (Stewart, 2010, pg. 330). This war did not go according to plan and the outcome of this war did not favor America. Many men were killed in this war and other injured from enemy fire and gases that were used during the war. America lost the fight (war) in Vietnam. Between the Government and the landscape of Vietnam made it difficult for America to win the war. There are many reasons why America did not succeed in Vietnam and lost the war. The effect of the Cold War was the Vietnam War. The war was to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist nation. America was out to stop communist from spreading into other countries. The effect of Vietnam becoming a communist country would not affect anyone in the world except Vietnam itself. As Pagel stated, “The actual value of Vietnam as a territory, economy or political presence on the world stage was insignificant” (Pagel, 2012). As an outcome of the war, Vietnam is still a communist nation. America failed...
Words: 1161 - Pages: 5
...ability to reassess and adapt during the Vietnam War was reflected in how well they combined guerilla and conventional operations to achieve their strategic goal of unifying Vietnam under communist rule. Throughout the conflict, the Viet Cong (VC) were employed to conduct guerilla operations while North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and VC "main force" units were used to transition to conventional operations. Guerilla operations enabled Hanoi to inflict a steady flow of casualties on US forces which increased anti-war sentiment in America. NVA and VC main force conventional operations reinforced the US Army's conventional approach to the fight which caused the Americans to alienate the people of South Vietnam. By alienating the South Vietnamese people, the Americans enhanced the VC's ability to conduct guerilla operations and control rural population centers which weakened the credibility of the Government of South Vietnam (GVN). The combined effects of guerilla and conventional operations supported the North Vietnamese strategy of a protracted conflict that was sure to weaken the resolve of the United States and eventually defeat the GVN. The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy consisted of an armed struggle and a political...
Words: 2534 - Pages: 11
...Finally, Military involvements in wars demonstrate how America cared much more for their influences and motives than being passive. General Westmoreland’s involvement in Vietnam war and his military strategy is a great example, as well as the Tet Offensive event that partook in the war. Once more going back to the Vietnam War, General Westmoreland partook an important role. He was the permanent commander of MACV and given command of all US forces in Vietnam. General Westmoreland perceived the escalation of the conflict and had “535,000 troops under his control when he departed in 1968” (Hickman 1). He was a terror, and to no surprise portrayed by their own media as a hero. Even named “man of the year” by Times magazine at one point. Military Expert, Kennedy Hickman...
Words: 664 - Pages: 3
...Kennedy and Johnson unable to avoid increasing involvement in Vietnam? The United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War proved to be the most controversial episode in American history. There are many influences why the USA stayed so closely involved with Vietnam, including strategic hamlets, secretaries and personal beliefs. In the election campaign of 1960 Kennedy promoted himself as being tough on communism. He supported the Truman Doctrine, and believed in the ‘domino theory’, the idea that communism would inevitably spread from North Vietnam to Laos and Cambodia. His slogan was “Vietnam is the place”, which helped him gain support. Kennedy's failures at the Vienna summit in 1961, and the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba, forced him to stiffen his position on Vietnam, not wanting to lose American citizens support. There was the curse of appeasement, as Eisenhower had not done enough during his time as President. Kennedy needed to prove himself as he was a democrat. The last democrat who was President lost the Korea War. He also had a fear of attack because of this by the republicans, as US citizens thought he was soft on communism. He was seen as a friend of Vietnam. In 1961, Robert McNamara was the Secretary of Defence as was known as a “Hawk”. This meant he was for the war and for military solutions. He was a close confidant with both Kennedy and Johnson, and strongly believed in the USA’s commitment to South Vietnam. He was a liberal intellectual who wanted freedom. However,...
Words: 921 - Pages: 4
...The Vietnam war was an eleven-year conflict between the US and the divided country of Vietnam. The North Vietnamese sought out to reunify the country of Vietnam, while the Americans wanted to controlled the communist expansion by providing aid and soldier to the South Vietnamese. The pentagon spent 77.8 billion in the duration of this war(Bell). In 1961 the south vietnam signed a military economic aid treaty with US. In 1965 the us began air raids on the north vietnamese. By the late 1972 the US had neither the military capability nor political supports to continue the war. The true belief of the mission and goal in the conflict was never entirely clear. The Americans justification of helping the South Vietnamese was never fully understood...
Words: 987 - Pages: 4
...some people on the left to make comparisons to the American experience in the Vietnam War. These people argue that the United States has put itself into an in-extractable “quagmire” from which there is no feasible withdrawal. This type of reasoning by historical comparison is not wise because no two historical events are completely alike. In the case of Iraq and Vietnam, extreme caution should be exercised in comparing two wars so far apart in historical circumstances, geography, and time. It becomes pretty obvious that the differences between the two conflicts greatly outnumber the similarities. This is especially true in the strategic and military dimensions of the two wars. There is simply no comparison between the environment, the scale of military presence, losses incurred over time, the quality of enemy resistance, the role and scope of enemy allies, and the duration of open warfare style combat. There are, however, two political parts of the Iraq and Vietnam wars that are similar in nature: our attempts at nation-building in a foreign culture, and our trying to sustaining domestic popular support in a long and drawn out war against insurgents. Policymakers should have an understanding of the reasons for U.S. political failure in South Vietnam, as well as for the Johnson and Nixon administrations’ failure to sustain popular support for the accomplishment of U.S. military objectives in Vietnam. A repeat of those failures in Iraq could have uncalculated consequences for...
Words: 3524 - Pages: 15
...United States pulls out of Vietnam Nkiruka Bridget Ofunne Chamberlain College of Nursing Identification of Vietnam War Between 1858-1884, France invades Vietnam and makes Vietnam a colony. The United States pledges $15 million worth of military aid to France to help them fight in Vietnam. South Vietnam declares itself the Republic of Vietnam, with newly elected Ngo Dinh Diem as president. South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is executed during a coup. Cause of Vietnam war In 1964, North Vietnamese attack two U.S. destroyers sitting in international waters (the Gulf of Tonkin Incident). In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. A sustained U.S. aerial bombing campaign of North Vietnam begins (Operation Rolling Thunder). In March 1965, the first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam. Historical Interpretation of the war Why did the United States government finally decide to leave Vietnam? What was our exit strategy? What happened to the troops that came home? What happened to those we left behind? No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. "Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic." (Nixon) Nixon and Kissinger quickly agreed upon two premises about American policy in Vietnam. First, the war in Vietnam was not "winnable" in any conventional...
Words: 445 - Pages: 2
...The American Revolution and the Vietnam War were lost because of poor leadership, political restraints, lack of public support and failure to seize the initiative. There was no clear strategy, little awareness of the type of fight that the enemy was waging, no understanding of the enemy's culture, and terrain where the fighting was taken place. The enemy had the upper hand, with the pace, where to fight, the length and the duration of the engagements. The Soldiers were put in a difficult situation, they had no local source of manpower, or replenishment. The insurgents lived among the people, helped them in their everyday chores, so they were willing to help them when needed. In some instances these Peasants and Colonists were themselves the...
Words: 266 - Pages: 2
...of the war because the American strategy from the start would have inevitably caused the loss of the war anyway; the U.S media just helped to speed up that defeat. The Vietnam War was the first televised war. According to the now retired Lt. Gen. Phillip B. Davidson "The war was literally piped into the living room, bedroom, and kitchen of most Americans”. Furthermore the former U.S. Commander in South Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland noted that Modern technology "provided the press a means of indirectly involving the American public with the war on an almost hourly basis." Despite initially positive media coverage of the war, it soon became increasingly negative, in some cases falsely so. It has been suggested that the media coverage of the Tet Offensive was an exaggeration of the true course of events that helped shock the American Public. But did the media coverage of this major battle really change public perception leading to America withdrawing from the Vietnam War? With the outbreak of the Tet Offensive the Vietnam War had hit the urban areas and had subsequently become more reported on than at any other point previous in the war. Many of the Journalists had not experienced war at first hand to such a scale and were shocked by what they were seeing and the ferocity of the attacks. The surprise nature of the attack coupled with the warfare inexperience of many journalists present in Vietnam saw many of them change their verdict on this war in Vietnam. They...
Words: 1195 - Pages: 5
...The 1970’ in criminal justice administration were influenced by various national and political events surrounding situations like the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal. Those were the concerns that brought public mistrust in the government, economic downturns, and social equity to the forefront of campaigns in the public sector. The American public was becoming increasingly concerned with the extent of the damage that the Vietnam War was causing for the troops and the economy. The United States spent an estimated one hundred and twenty million dollars on the Vietnam conflict from 1965-73. Not to mention the estimated fifty-eight thousand troops that were killed or went missing during the war. American soldiers...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
...French colonial war: The French colonial war was a series was a clash associated with France and its total colonies and other surrounding nations. U.S. support of Diem and opposition of Ho Chi Minh: Ho Chi Minh, had spent his life following Vietnamese independence from France. The U.S support had been given to the French and Indochina was exchanged to a state of French colonial rule much to the disquiet of the Vietnamese people. When this occurred the French installed even more restrictive control in Vietnam, and millions died of starvation while Vietnamese rice was transported to France. In 1940 Ho Chi Minh and other Vietnamese leaders made continuously claims to Truman and other American officials to help them receive independence from french colonial rule. These rules had been ignored though. Ho tried every possible...
Words: 514 - Pages: 3
...Windou Mimy November, 24th2014 Vietnam: a 20th Cent. Experience HIST-415N-71123 Donald Burnette President Johnson’s Rules of Engagement During the Vietnam’s War, President Johnson has implemented the Rules of Engagement (ROE) in order to maintain control of the war and also to prevent its escalation into global nuclear warfare. The Rules of Engagement precisely dictated who and when the American soldiers were supposed to attack. Thus, from the first junior rank and up to the chain of command, a specific set of rules were enacted. Indeed, rules of engagement training at all level of leadership has allowed each officer to make responsible choices in the battlefield in a conventional war. Unfortunately, Vietnam was no conventional warzone and the Vietcong do not abide to this rule of engagement. It was easy for Washington to set these rules but they have greatly affected the field soldiers and the military through the chain of commands. A look into this rule of engagement (ROE) will show how it has paralyzed the soldiers from carrying out their mission in Vietnam. Moss (2010) confirms that “the rules of engagement paralyzed the soldiers from attacking even when they were shot at because the rules stated that they must be sure that their target was real and not terrified civilians.” The American soldiers were only allowed to attack those in combat uniforms and carrying weapons. They were to follow these rules which prevented them to effectively defend themselves...
Words: 1009 - Pages: 5
...Thomas Zervas Vietnam Wars 4/29/12 Final Essay Winning The Vietnam War When most people think about winning a war they usually base their opinions on death counts and conquered territories. When looking at the Vietnam War, it is clear to see that the Vietnamese had a larger death count, however this does not mean that the United States was victorious. The United States entered the war to reach an objective, and that objective was to stop communist expansion. The goal was not achieved; therefore, the United States lost the war. True, there were more casualties in the North, but that does not determine whether or not they lost, especially when considering the superior technology and training of United States forces. When looking at the Vietnam proxy war fought between the United States and Soviet Union, the United States was impacted a number of ways, both domestically and internationally. There was a huge lack of public support for the stagnating war effort combined with a lack of support for soldiers that adversely affected the morale of the troops. There were body bag counts on the evening news showing the large numbers of lost soldiers to the population. There were also many protests, which created much tension and heavy scrutiny on the United States government. On a global scale, the United States began to look weaker than the Soviet Union, which created many more issues for the United States. The North Vietnamese won the Vietnam War through a combination of factors...
Words: 1721 - Pages: 7
...I & I L Capstone: War and Culture Abstract Statement Although culture is a key topic in the purview of theoretical discussions, the concept of war and culture is a new notion that has not been engaged by many analysts. Indeed Adrian Lewis underscores the importance of war and culture in "The American Culture of War in the Age of Artificial Limited War" when he posits that culture decisively influences the way nation-states conduct war (Lewis 226). This work aims to shift focus from the traditional focus on culture as a method of analysis and instead examine various commentary on the military and its application as a form of cultural activity. America's Self-Imposed Cultural Attitude Towards War There have been widespread calls to consider the normative cultural interpretations of war. Most notably, the works of Adrian Lewis as demonstrated in his treatise The American Culture of War, are a classic pointer of the dynamic and contested nature that culture assumes in the interpretation of war. Lewis poignantly articulates the need to apply such cultural interpretations in a deterministic fashion (Lewis 225). In writing The American Culture of War, Lewis depicts war as a systematic orchestrated phenomenon, which in essence is a prolongation of culture through other techniques (Lewis 227). To prove this argument Lewis presents two cardinal subjects. First he provides an explicit analysis of the transformations that America has undergone since...
Words: 2206 - Pages: 9
...On The Vietnam War My grandfather is a Vietnam War veteran. That alone drove me toward choosing this topic for this research paper. A few months ago, my grandfather had let me read his manuscript that he wrote when he had gotten home from his twelve year service for the United States. This novel he wrote is increasing my interest in the Vietnam War each page I turn. People often ask me whenever we’re talking about the war, which side I’m positioned on. I say that we shouldn’t have “helped” in the war. Because in my opinion, we could have done better for the country if we would have kept our noses out if the excitement but as for people like my grandfather, he opposes that perspective. I do have a firm grip on both paradigms of the war but as you can tell, I want a world with no war possible but honestly, who doesn’t? I guess you can call me a dreamer. But I know I’m not the only one. I thank John Lennon and my Mother for that lesson. I love my mother and my grandfather just as much. But, like I said, because of that, I know and understand two, very different opinions or viewpoints of the Vietnam War. My Mom is somewhat a flower child from when she was just a teenager. That all began because she never really got along with my Grandfather all that well. My Grandfather (my mom’s step dad) was the stereotypical; stern but fair, strict yet loving, harsh yet respectful step-father. Due to that reason my Mom was a rebel to the degree of a flour child. She is always opposing war any which...
Words: 1254 - Pages: 6
