The Involvement of the United States in Vietnam
The single most important factor in understanding the United States involvement in Vietnam is fear. In the years leading to the Vietnam Conflict the United States was immersed in paranoia toward Communist Russia and the communist movement as a whole. This paranoia has its roots in the depression of the nineteen thirties and was fueled by the exploits of men like MacCarthy and other politicians who saw this as an opportunity to further their careers or push policies. This paranoia was the most important factor in the entrance of the US into the conflict in Southeast Asia.
The Vietnam War was an extremely controversial war that took the lives of many Americans and resulted in America’s first losing campaign. The U.S. was involved in Vietnam since World War II supporting Ho Chi Minh and his Communist forces against Japanese occupation. After the result of an incident involving two US vessels, President Lynden Johnson ordered jets to bom...
The Vietnam War was an event that occurred between 1974 and 1975. The United States became involved in the Vietnam War because they wanted to help their ally, then South Vietnam, to help them prevent North Vietnam, which was Communist, take over. However, it was a loss for the United States, and North Vietnam took over South Vietnam to make it a Communist nation. Many citizens did not support the Vietnam War. Haug remembers that people were very negative when it came to discussing the Vietnam War. Several reasons that citizens were not in support of it is due to the fact that the United States should not have spent the money on the war, since the Korean War led up to it, and one other reason is
It is quite important to note that there was a time where the majority of Americans did not see involvement in Vietnam as a mistake. According to a Gallup poll conducted in August of 1965, 24% of Americans believed it was wrong to have US combatants in Vietnam. These numbers steadily rose throughout the years. It was not until August 1968 did a majority of Americans, approximately 53%, feel we made a poor decision. What caused this discontent with our involvement? Overall, the American public was seeing many young men die for a cause that they could not articulate. The futility of these losses was frustrating. There were other specific events that added to hatred of the War in
There were many events that lead up the Vietnam War, it started in 1945 with the hostilities between the French and Vietminh. “Geopolitical Strategy, economics, domestic US politics, and cultural arrogance shaped the growing American involvement in Vietnam” (Anderson 1). As a matter of fact, the Vietnam War was several wars, but it was not until 1962 that America had their first combat mission, however, Americans were killed during ambushes by the Vietnamese before the first combat mission. There is much controversy over the reasons for the Vietnam War, supported by the several different books and articles written about the war. “The most famous atrocity occurred in a tiny hamlet called My Lai in March 1968” (Detzer 127). History shows that the reaction of many Americans to the attack by US soldiers on the village of My Lai during the Vietnam War was opposition, and the actions of the US soldiers during the My Lai Massacre will be forever remembered as a significant part of the Vietnam War and American History.
The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War spanned from 1964-1975, and is an example of U.S. foreign involvement drawn out to an unnecessary extent. Throughout The War there were many decisions that the American citizens, and eventually the South Vietnamese, began to resent. Much of the Vietnam controversy could have been avoided if America had acted in a quick manner. America’s involvement in the Vietnam War lasted a total of eleven years from beginning to end making it, “the longest war in which the United States took part in” (Vietnam War). America went into the war to protect South Vietnam from the North Vietnamese Communists. The U.S. entered the war because of the Truman Doctrine, “Truman had declared that the United States must help any nation challenged by Communism” (Vietnam War). The Domino Theory, the idea that if one country fell to Com...
Throughout the Vietnam War, American involvement was wanted by some and hated by many. America got involved to prevent communism in South Vietnam. America wanted to help the South Vietnamese. This is portrayed in both movies, The Ugly American and The Green Berets. Sometimes our help was not wanted, but other times the Vietnamese appreciated our assistance. Both The Ugly American and The Green Berets help portray America’s involvement assisting the South Vietnamese; however, The Ugly American portrays the Vietnamese not wanting nor appreciating America’s involvement while The Green Berets portrays the Vietnamese accepting America’s positive involvement.
America's Involvement in Vietnam
From the early 1800’s up until 1931 Vietnam was controlled by France,
Frances rule was then ended as they were forced to pull out of Vietnam
due to the start of WW2, France left a ‘puppet ruler’ named Emperor
Bao Dai. This left Vietnam vulnerable to invasion which was an
opportunity Japan could not refuse and took advantage of Vietnam’s
situation by invading. This sparked the return of a well known
Vietnamese communist, Ho Chi Minh who was an exile during Frances
rein, but thanks to WW2 was able to stage his return and help battle
the Japanese and regain Vietnam’s freedom. The Marshall Plan was the
main way in which the United States for the reconstruction of Europe
following WW2. Between 1948 and 1951 the USA contributed $13 billion
(equivalent to nearly $100 billion in 2005) to 16 European Countries.
The events that led to the United States entering the Vietnam War began when the French conquered Vietnam in the late nineteenth century. After Vietnam was conquer, they formed the League for the Independence of Vietnam in hopes of seeking independence from the French. With great effort on September 2, 1945 Ho Chi Minh proclaimed their independence from France. However, the French opposed Vietnam’s independence for approximately nine years and wanted to reestablish their rule over them. However the French were beaten at the battle of Dien Bien Phu because they were not careful and allowed the Vietnam to cut off their airway to Hanoi. After a fifty-five day siege, the French surrendered.
Engaging in the war in Vietnam brought a whole different set of "American Views" to the topic of war. This time the country did not support the war like we've seen in the past. Mostly by young people, the war effort was criticized and Americans staged massive protests. The Vietnam War's controversy spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself.