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The vietnam war quizlet
The vietnam war quizlet
Why did us become involved with vietnam
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The Vietnam war is such a controversial topic in America’s history. Some veterans that served in the war won’t even talk about it still to this day. The Vietnam war was a war that started in 1954, and lasted for about 20 years until 1975. America decided to join this war because they did not like the spread of communism and wanted to stop it at all cost. During this war, America had 4 different Presidents, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Many people believe that the United States should have gotten involved in the war, while other people believe that the United States should not have involved themselves in the war. The three topics this essay will discuss are the problems that the United States created in Vietnam and also the …show more content…
In one of the pictures we looked at, it portrayed a group of American troops carrying a body through a swamp in the jungle. The Americans look scared and frightened to be there and looked like they were not equipped to be fighting in this war because of the jungle conditions, and the hidden booby traps. If one of your kids was fighting in this war would you be happy to see them like this, not knowing if they were going to die in the jungle? Another piece of evidence we looked at was a video of when the Americans dropped the napalm bomb on South Vietnam. Napalm is a flammable substance that burns anything it touches immediately. In the video we watched a village of innocent people being burned to death because of this substance that we, Americans had dropped on their country. Can you even imagine the pain, suffering, and hardships that the people of South Vietnam had to face. The South Vietnamese survivors still deal with emotional and physical issues today. Last but not least, we looked at a video of Operation Rolling Thunder. This operation was negative towards the war because when the United States dropped a ton of bombs on North Vietnam, it left many Vietnamese people homeless and many innocent people
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.
Vietnam War (1954-1975) is considered as one of those big wars of the modern world that has been acknowledged and studied by countries in the world. Especially, in regard to the United States, starting and ending war in Vietnam was an unforgettable experience that has left a priceless lesson in its foreign policy, and of course a lot of loss, physically, mentally, and property. “The Legacy of Vietnam” article of George Herring basically summarizes how the Vietnam War led to an end in failure of America and what consequences it left behind.
Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.
The Vietnam War was a war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1st 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. This war was fought between the North Vietnamese Viet Cong and the government of South Vietnam. The criticism of the war in Vietnam started out as a reaction to President Johnson’s policy of fighting for a limited purpose and a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Criticism is valuable because it helps to correct communal procedures. That is a great advantage of exposed societies. But criticism works only if those in control have a sufficient intellect in order to recognize when a policy has gone wrong. The Vietnam War and its leaders is a "monument to the failure of that necessary wisdom" (Lewis). The supporters were known as “hawks.” As the President escalated the war effort, and became a hawk himself, his chief critics who disagreed with the war became known as “doves,” which included college students, faculty, and several other people who felt that the war was corrupt, was promoting no advantage for the US, and was increasing the number of casualties. But the Doves’ access to this goal is restricted: the war drags on. Many disaffected doves adapt to this situation by rebellion. They reject societal goals and means
Even with these contradictions, the results are obvious. The question that must be posed is whether these results make the American soldiers involved that day “guilty”. There is the fact that the environment of the Vietnam War made it very confusing for the soldiers to know exactly who the enemy was, as well as providing pent-up frustration due to the inability to engage in real combat with the enemy. If this is the case, though, why did some soldiers with the same frustrations refuse the orders and sit out on the action? Why did some cry while firing, and why then did one man go so far as to place himself between the Vietnamese and the firing soldiers?
It is understandable that some Americans strongly opposed the United States getting involved in the Vietnam War. It had not been a long time since the end of World War II and simply put, most Americans were tired of fighting. Mark Atwood Lawrence is one of the people who opposed our involvement in the Vietnam War. In his essay, “Vietnam: A Mistake of Western Alliance”, Lawrence argues that the Vietnam War was unnecessary and that it went against our democratic policies, but that there were a lot of things that influenced our involvement.
Perhaps no event in recent history has so profoundly affected the political, sociological, and philosophical outlook of the American people as the Vietnam War. George Bell, Undersecretary of State from 1961 through 1966, called Vietnam the “greatest single error that America has made in its national history” (Legacies). As the first war the United States had ever lost, Vietnam shattered American confidence in its military supremacy and engendered a new wave of isolationist sentiment in the country. Mistrusting their government and retreating into a state of general disillusionment, the public demanded to know what went wrong. The people needed a scapegoat. Some groups blamed the military commanders for failing to adapt to Vietnam’s unique circumstances; some condemned politicians for not fully supporting the military effort; while still others upheld that victory was never possible in the first place.
“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”
The Vietnam War was a very confrontational issue amongst numerous Americans during the 1960’s and 70’s. Many young Americans did not agree with fighting in the Vietnam War. In the essay “On the Rainy River,” by Tim O’Brien explains the struggle of a 21 year old American man who has been drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. The essay proposes the narrators predicament of not wanting to go to war and displays his reasons why. The narrator states that “American war in Vietnam seemed to [him as being] wrong [and he] saw no unity of purpose” (40). One main reason that the narrator and many Americans did not see any importance of the Vietnam War is because know one had a clear understanding of the reasons why the United States of America was fighting it. O’Brien creates a strong argument of why the 21 year old man does not want to go to war because of its strongly supported use of values and emotions, credibility, and logical reasoning.
i. Difficulties faced by soldiers due to the nature of fighting in the Vietnam War - Personnel had difficulties with transportation supplied with adapted vehicles back seat faced rear to provide additional fire power (Source A) – It appears as if the government didn't worry enough to supply men with safe and capable equipment - Threat of traps led to fear as vehicles had to be parked on street at night (Source A) o Check for traps each morning became a daily ritual particularly in fuel tanks (Source A) o A request for a locking fuel cap was denied because weren’t entitled to one” (Source A) • What circumstances would have needed to arise for them to be entitled to one? The Offensive full guard was set up (24hrs a day), personnel got no sleep and were constantly on alert (Source A) – How significant would this have been in the personnel’s mental frame of mind?
The speech that I chose to analyze and critique is from John Forbes Kerry “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In this speech he did not represent himself, he represented the group of 1000 veterans that feels the same way he does about the war.
people of northern Vietnam. The conflict in Vietnam was sparked by a desire to combine the two separate countries that were separated by this imaginary line. When north Vietnam showed its perfidiousness nature towards southern Vietnam many tensions arose. North Vietnam thought it was their usufruct to control south Vietnam as they desired. This and many other tensions combined lead to the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war, although many lives were lost, turned out to be a vital step to extinguishing the communist rule in Vietnam.
The Fall of Saigon took place from April 27, 1975 to April 30, 1975. This happened in the capital of South Vietnam, which is Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City. The Fall of Saigon happened here because the city was being captured by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. This capital is also called Ho Chi Minh City because North Vietnam had a big victory over South Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the North for several years. The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, where the Presidential Palace was destroyed. (Trueman 7) The capital was captured by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. The Fall of Saigon happened because the U.S pulled their troops out of the Vietnam war with the signing or agreement of the Paris Peace Accords. (The Learning Network 3) This agreement created some controversy between the North and South Vietnam.
The Vietnam War brought many tears and casualties to both the United States and Vietnam. Millions of soldiers lost their lives in the time consuming battle. On February 8, 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a letter to Ho Chi Minh, Dictator of Vietnam at the time. President Johnson’s letter expresses his hopes of ending this conflict that has gone on so long in Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh replied back on February 15, 1967 stating that it had been the United States that prolonged the wicked war. President Ho Chi Minh’s reply to President Johnson was the more persuasive of the two letters, because he appealed more to pathos, used stronger and bolder diction, and asked an important rhetorical question.