The Vietnam War is understandably considered to be one of the most controversial wars ever. In the beginning of the war, most of it took place in the south of Vietnam. As the war went on, it expanded northward and eventually into Cambodia and Laos. It started on November 1, 1955, up to April 30, 1975, lasting 19 years. The United States joined because the government, under Dwight D. Eisenhower, saw it as a way to prevent the spread of communism in South Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, the first U.S troops arrived in Vietnam, however, America had been involved way before then.Vietnam was apart of the French Empire. The United States sent aid to the French fighting, because we were allies. The people of Vietnam took a chance to establish their own government under the rule of Communist Ho Chi Minh. When he defeated the French, the U.S became officially involved, fearing the spread of communism.The main countries involved in the war were North and South Vietnam, with South Vietnam backed by anti-communist nations, including the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Khmer Republic, and Taiwan. Guerrilla and attrition tactics were used during the Vietnam War.Guerrilla warfare is when small combats use the element of surprise to kill the opponent, sneaking up and attacking the enemy. In my opinion, the Vietnam war was unjust. It sent Americans right into a danger zone and led to many deaths, including innocent civilians in Vietnam. That truth right there, indicates an unjust war.
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| Mickey in Vietnam. DisneyTube. 13, August, 2013. |
The Vietnam War went on for 19 years, so it lasted during several presidential terms. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to become involved. Once the Geneva Accords were put into place by the United Kingdom, France, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union, Vietnam was separated into north and south. That pushed Eisenhower to put together the South East Asia Treaty Organization in 1954, which served to stop communism from spreading in Southeast Asia. The President used SEATO as a cover to build up a democratic nation in the South that fought against the communists in the North.
The Republic of Vietnam was barely born in 1955, because the French ruled them before. During that year, Ngo Dinh Diem served as the first president for the new Republic. John F. Kennedy became the second U.S President to become involved in 1961 and provided extra aid to the Diem regime in 1961. He didn’t send troops, but he did send more advisors and machinery to South Vietnam, and accepted a plan to overthrow the North Vietnamese leader in 1963. The Gulf of Tonkin incident took place that same year.The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by Congress on August 7, 1964 and enacted three days later on August 10th, which gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the chance to have more power when it came to joining the war. Thus, Johnson sent the first American troops to fight in the Vietnam War in 1965, after there was an attack on a U.S air base in Pleiku, a central city of Vietnam. Shortly after this incident, the military draft was put into place, causing an uproar of anti-war protests. While Richard Nixon was in office in 1969, he expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia and Laos to try to get rid of Communist food, weapons and other supplies through the Ho Chi Minh Trail to South Vietnam. In 1972, Nixon directed the Christmas bombing to try to convince South Vietnam to give in to the peace treaty. The following year, the Paris Peace Accords was signed, which ended U.S involvement in the war.
The U.S draft was used to enable 4 wars, including the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, which included the Korean and Vietnam Wars.The draft was used to fill in spots in the armed forces that couldn’t be filled with volunteers, and was put into place for the first time in U.S history on March 28, 1862 by Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate. For the Vietnam War, one third of the American men who fought were required to by the draft. The Selective Service collected the names of men between the ages of 18 and 26 and if the man’s name was drawn, he had to report to the local draft board to check his status. President Kennedy’s wish was that the men who were married and had children would be put at the bottom of the list. Above them would the men who were just married. Many citizens opposed the war with burning their own draft cards and even going to the extent of fleeing to Canada to avoid fighting. There was also a lot of controversy when it came to who was picked. When people looked at the reality of who was serving in Vietnam, they suspected that the local draft boards were being unfair. Although it seemed unfair, the draft was considered to be constitutional, as long as it was written in place with American’s two other world wars, which let some men pose objections as to why they could not serve.
The Vietnam War not only wasted over 50,000 American lives, but also many innocent civilian lives. Let’s say the United States never became involved. That would have saved the lives of almost 1,475,000 military men on both sides, as well as the 4 million civilians. The Vietnam War not only affected the people, but also the land. Because of the war, 15% of Vietnamese farmland will not be able to be used for 200 or more years. American Presidents used some sneaky tactics that Americans did not know about.The war went on for many more years than it should have. The U.S did not save anyone by involving themselves.
Citations:
"Vietnam War." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.
Zelizer, Julian E. "How Congress Helped End the Vietnam War." The American Prospect. N.p., 6 Feb. 2007. Web. 16 May 2016
"Statistic Brain." Statistic Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.
"What Was the Role of Each Individual President in the Vietnam War?" - Quora. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.
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