...The Vietnam War started in 1955 after the Ho Chi Minh rose to power. More than three million people died in the war (History). The Vietnam War proceeded over a long period of time. The war changed the United States’ role in the world because it was the first time that people argued that Americans “lost” (English). Soldiers all over America either volunteered or were drafted into the war. It was a war between North and South Vietnam. The United States was trying to keep the South from becoming communist. The Vietcong were successful because they were on their homeland, the United States had not jungle combat experience, and the Vietcong were skilled at using Guerilla Warfare and booby traps. At first, Americans thought it was a good idea to...
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...Running head: VIETNAM Vietnam: Its Impact and Lessons Learned . Prof. Carol Scott Contemporary International Problems – POL300 March 14, 2010 Vietnam: Its Impact and Lessons Learned Introduction The Vietnam War, also known as the Vietnam Conflict and the Second Indochina War to most was considered brutal and unwarranted; it did not accomplish anything and caused a massive death toll. This war was fought between the communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. Communist North Vietnam was supported by its communist allies while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and the other nations that were against communist. This was a war fought with the use of guerrilla warfare on hostile soil with an enemy, known as the Viet Cong. Guerrilla warfare is combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army. The Viet Cong used anything at their disposal to stop the United States from changing their way of life/religion. The Viet Cong was a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist controlled coalition. This made it impossible for anyone to benefit from an invasion of this country. The warfare used played a major role in the outcome of this war. The United States entered the war to prevent the takeover of South Vietnam and the spread of communism in that area. The impact has placed a tremendous hardship on the returning soldiers and the...
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...Vietnam War Vietnam had been part of a French colony in Indochina. French Indochina was established when France took control of northern Vietnam following their victory over China.1 The northern part of Vietnam was controlled by Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party.2 The Vietcong was a political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the U.S and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War. ith the W Cold War intensifying, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 Presidentwight D. Eisenhower D had pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam.3 John F. Kennedy sent a group to south vietnam and advised a build up of American military. U.S politicians believed in the domino theory which is the belief that if one country fell to communism, its neighbours would follow.4 The U.S was depending on this theory and by the time the military grew. The U.S was trying to get rid of communism and with this the U.S and other countries took part in forming the SEATO ( Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). The purpose of SEATO was to prevent communism from gaining ground in the region.5 The USS Maddox was a destroyer ship and in August 1964, MADDOX was one of the leading actors in the Tonkin Incident that eventually lead to the Vietnam War.6 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by congress to promote the maintenance of peace and security in southeast asia...
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...Conflict in Vietnam, 1963-75 Revision Notes Part 1; Reasons for the US involvement in Vietnam What was the background to the Vietnam War? • Vietnam was ruled by the French till 1954. Then it was divided into two countries. • The communist ruler of North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, wanted to unite the North and South under his control. He supported the Vietcong in South Vietnam. • President Diem ruled South Vietnam. He was strongly anti-communist, but was also a brutal and unpopular leader. Who were the Vietcong? • The Vietcong (or the National Liberation Front) were the communist guerrilla soldiers fighting to overthrow President Diem and his government. • By 1964, there were over 100,000 Vietcong in the South and they were killing thousands of South Vietnamese officials every year. Diem's army could not get rid of them. Why did the Americans get involved? • America said it wanted to ‘save’ the South Vietnamese people from the evils of communism. • But, remember that this was the time of the Cold War. Americans were obsessed with stopping Communism, both abroad and at home in the USA. • The Americans wanted to "contain" (stop) the spread of Communism in the world (the Truman Doctrine). The USA wanted to support non-Communist governments which were threatened by Communists. It knew that the USSR and China, both Communist-ruled, were sending aid to Communist North Vietnam. • The Americans also believed...
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...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...
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...1. Blah 2 Vietnam- Part of Indochina -France gains control in 1885 and all of Indochina under French control by 1893. -Japan controlled Indochina during WW2. - Ho Chi Minh fought against Japan - Ho Minh advocated for Viatnamese independence all of his life. Wanted to talk to Pres. Wilson at the Versailles Conference about Vietnamese independence. He was a communist who was educated in communist universities in the Soviet Union. Much stronger nationalist (wanted Vietnam free from France. - Ho formed a government in North Vietnam due to his successful guerilla attacks that drove ou the Japanese. -Guerilla attack means you hit and run an enemy and live off the land. -French attempted to reassert control- At the end of ww2, France attempted to reassert control over its colonial holdings. America tried to negotiate with Ho to form a provisional gov. The French refused and Ho returned fighting for Vietnamese independence. - America assists with funds- America helped the French with Marshall plan funds. The French used funds to rebuild their nation to fight Ho. -Dien Bien Phu- French Defeated- Ho’s forces surrounded them (Indochina- fall of military) causing them to surrender. France realized they couldn’t keep the area in their empire 3.Geneva Conference - Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam formed- (from Indochina) -Vietnam divided into North and South Ho and communists in the north -Ngo Diem in...
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...The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrendous instances to ever take place during any of the wars the United States fought in. A United States Army battalion directed by William Calley, entered then My Lai village anticipating to discover participants of the Vietcong. Instead, the Charlie Company killed approximately 500 innocent civilians brutally. This massacre was not stopped until Robert Thompson, a helicopter pilot saw all the lifeless bodies and flew down to figure out what transpired. Calley claims Ernest Medina ordered him to execute the killings. When Calley was indicted for murder the nation broke out in a "Free Calley" movement claiming he was innocent. William “Rusty” Calley was born June 8th 1943 in Miami, Florida. His father was a United States Navy veteran from World War II. He attended Palm Beach Junior College for a year, but had to drop out due to...
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...Vietnam War Essay During 1968, the Vietnam War was a defining moment in American History. It was caused by many factors that contributed to the warfare in Vietnam during the years. Most factors were the beliefs held by people who wanted or to prevent Vietnam becoming an independent country. Many people suffered due to these beliefs and policies and that the Vietnam War is now considered as one of the most distressing moments in the 20th century. During this time, fear and suspicion were prevalent due to the decisions of the government, and battle occurring in Vietnam. The Vietnam War had evolved from a civil war to a guerrilla war, and then ultimately became a total war. The Vietnam Conflict started out as a civil war, because after the French left the colony of Vietnam county divided into two rival factions, North and South. The communist nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh, whose ideals were based on communist China, led the north. The south was empathized the ideals of a democracy. Because of this difference, at the Geneva conference, they decided to split Vietnam into two different countries: North and South Vietnam. After the United States became involved on the side of the south, the North Vietnamese or the Vietcong fought guerrilla warfare. Ho Chi Minh and his people did not have the money or the weapons to fight a total war. The Vietcong used their strengths to fight the war against the South Vietnamese and the United States by using their knowledge of hit and run guerrilla...
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...Gabriella Hatzopoulos War & Society Uniting Tactics, Divisive Consequences Rape, torture and murder against innocent civilians- what could cause someone to do such a thing? The My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War was a result of a war tactic that continues to be utilized today: racism and dehumanization of the enemy. This strategy, employed by the Armed Forces and facilitated by the media back on American soil has proven to be dangerous in that it causes both soldiers and civilians to treat an entire group as subhuman and unworthy of empathy. We can see this in the My Lai Massacre and through the persistent hare crimes against Muslims during the United States’ current “war on terror.” On March 16 1968, 140 men of the American Charlie Company entered the village of My Lai and were ordered to kill whoever they saw. There was the belief that the province of Quang Ngai where My Lai was located was a stronghold for Vietcong guerillas. After increasing frustration with losing their soldiers and not progressing in the war as much as they’d like, the group took their anger out on what was thought was a village of Vietcong enemies. It was the first chance they had to meet the enemy face to face instead of through grenades and booby traps and finally get even. Lieutenant William L. Calley ordered a search and destroy mission and urged that anyone in My Lai was to be considered connected to the Vietcong in some way, and should be killed. Though no guerillas were found when...
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...Use Sources A,B and C and your own knowledge; How far was the North Vietnamese government, in the years 1964 to 1968, responsible for the escalation of the war in Vietnam? (24marks) Following the assassination of Kennedy and Diem in 1963, the Vietnam War began to escalate at a rapid rate. This escalation can be blamed on the North Vietnamese in Hanoi as they coordinated attacks and through use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail which had no limit on the expansion of the trails use. However the escalation cannot only be blamed on the North Vietnamese as at this time the situation in South Vietnam was very volatile and this caused the us officials to believe escalation was necessary to keep Vietnam under control. The North Vietnamese Government were not responsible for the escalation of the Vietnam War in the years 1964-1968 as the threat from the North continued and the South remained weak especially due to its chaotic government in place at the time with corrupt military officers who were appointed for political rather than military reasons. The US believed that it ad to strengthen its resources there to be able to achieve success, in 1965 Johnson authorizes an additional 100,000 troops to be sent to Vietnam. Another reason explaining why the North Vietnamese weren’t responsible for the wars escalation was that Johnson believed that ground troops were key to the strategy and beating the North and the US would win as long as the US remained strong and to go back on this policy...
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...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...
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...The Vietnam War Karthik Rao AP World History 3/28/14 The Vietnam War, fought between 1959 and 1975, was one of the most controversial and debated wars in American history. The war was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist or democratic government. The Vietnam War was part of the Cold War, during which the United States and the Soviet Union were in a sustained state of political and military tension. U.S. involvement in Vietnam created tension among the America public, leading to debates about some of the horrific acts of war that the United States army committed against the civilian population of Vietnam. Authors Nick Turse and James Westheider, provide very different points of view regarding the war. Turse’s novel, Kill anything that moves: The Real American war in Vietnam, draws upon emotion and particularly sympathy for the Vietnamese civilians. His novel describes the unjust military actions that the U.S. army committed against the Vietnamese public. On the other hand, Westheider’s novel, The Vietnam War, provides a point of view showing sympathy for the United States soldiers fighting a war facing horrid conditions. Overall, both books provide different views of one of the most controversial wars fought in the 20th century. The war in Vietnam was perhaps one of the biggest military failures in the United States. Between 1954 and 1964, the United States was merely providing aid to the forces of...
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...special abilities, training, and equipment that allow them to do jobs that deliver highly accurate rifle fire against enemy targets which can't be attacked by regular riflemen due to variables such as visibility, range, the opportunity, size, or location. Statistics compiled from the Vietnam conflict estimate that the average number of rounds used per kill by United States Army Soldiers were 200,000 however the average number of rounds used per kill by United States Army snipers in Vietnam was only 1.3 (History). From the days of Leonardo da Vinci to Gunny Sergeant Carlos Hathcock II days in the Vietnam conflict, the development and use of snipers in combat has significantly contributed to successful warfare. Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the earliest rifle snipers in history. He reportedly defended the walls of besieged Florence with a rifle that he designed himself (Henderson, xii). Elite air-riflemen were trained to shoot knights for France's Louis XIV and were considered the first modern snipers. Some authorities claim that their use made the use of knights obsolete. Snipers had from the beginning of their history have proven their effectiveness. The outcome of the American War for Independence may have been very different had it not been for a decision made (or rather not made) by a British Army sniper, Colonel Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson's "Shot Never Taken" refers to an incident near Germantown, Pennsylvania when Ferguson had a chance to take a shot on a...
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...plans regarding Vietnam?” The essay will compare and contrast how the United States reacts to Vietnam before and after the Tet Offensive, while also evaluating any other factors that might also had a role. Since the Tet Offensive is a series of events, the essay will analyze all effects since the start of the offensive through the end. Source 1: “Tet” section of “Vietnam: A history” by Stanley Karnow Stanley Karnow worked for Time, Life, the Washington Post, and NBC to cover Asia from 1959-1974. He started to write this secondary source book when he arrived in Vietnam on July 1959. The book serves to...
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...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,...
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