Vietnam War
In the 1950's, the United States had begun to send troops to Vietnam and during the following 25-year period, the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2 million people on both sides were killed.
This site does not try to document the entire history of the Vietnam War but is intended as a picture essay, illustrating some of the incredible conditions under which soldiers from both sides lived, fought, played and ultimately died. Almost all of the images shown were taken by the legendary combat photographer, Tim Page; they are nothing short of stunning. I have tried to minimize the download time, but please be patient, as the images have been optimized for a 1024 X 768 pixel resolution in "True color". The site has also been optimized for Netscape 3.0 and Explorer 4.0 and upward. Obviously you can still view the pictures regardless of the browser you are using, but you may find that the navigation and sounds do not work as intended.
Please be advised that strict copyright laws protect this site and under no circumstances may any images be copied or used in any form. All of the images on this site are digitally marked and therefore cannot be reused. Please see the acknowledgment section for more details about the pictures and this site. Finally, if you have come here to ONLY look at blood and gore you have come to the wrong place, a soldiers facial expression can be just as terrifying.
---For much of Vietnam's history it has been under foreign rule, primarily by the Chinese. In 1860, France began its domination of the area and had, by...
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...ale quickly started to fall. For the first time, people in the US resisting the draft were given acceptance although still not by the majority of citizens. Riots and demonstrations against the war became the norm in the US, with numerous veterans taking part in the efforts to stop the war, strengthening the issue. Finally, the US government saw that that it was in a no-win situation and began making plans to withdraw.
---After great efforts by the US to withdraw, and the establishment of a cease-fire on January 27th, 1973, American soldiers began leaving Vietnam for good. The North Vietnamese finally conquered South Vietnam in early 1975, totally ignoring the cease-fire and on July 2nd, 1976, North and South Vietnam were officially united as a single communist state. It had cost an estimated 2 million lives and the injury or disablement of many millions of others.
Those who were not chosen by the draft to fight overseas were left back to fight on the homefront in an effort to bring about the American soldiers return home. College students played a large role in the anti-war movement, as the soldiers fighting in the war were their peers to whom they could closey relate their predicaments. During this time many colleges shut down completely while students and faculty voiced their opinions.
In 1954, French involvement in Vietnam ended and led to the Geneva Conference where a ceasefire agreement was negotiated. From the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided into two portions, North and South, at the 17th parallel. At the time, North Vietnam was communist and was gaining followers quickly (Rogers). The United States had previously created something called the Truman Doctrine, a policy to counter communism and allowed the US to provide political, military, and economic assistance
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was called Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the South was the Republic of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. On August 2nd, 1964 the USS Maddox was on a secret intelligent mission on the North Vietnamese coast where in the Gulf on Tonkin they were attacked by torpedo boats. The USS Turner Joy was attacked in the same area two days later. Due to the second attack Congress declared the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which led to air strikes.In 1959 there were 5,000 guerilla fighters and in 1964 the numbers jumped to 100,000. At Pleiku on March, 1965 U.S Marine barracks were attacked causing the three stage escalation bombing of North Vietnam to begin. The 3 year lasting bombing was used to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the "National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam" by destroying their industrial infrastructure and Vietnam's air defenses. Unfortunately this did not stop the North's support for the NLF. The U.S. Air Force bases were constantly being attacked so the U.S. on March 8, 1965 the 3,500 U.S. Marines was deployed to South Vietnam. At this point in time, the U.S. public supported the dispatch because the Vietnam War had been portrayed to the American people as a war against the spread of Communism. Johnson was president at the time and he kept adding more and more troops as the war went on. As the draft quotas increased, the American public protests started. When Nixon came into presidency his policy towards the Vietnam War was "peace with honor" in other words he wanted to widen the war. After more bombing and fighting, on January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords was signed, restoring peace in Vietnam and U.S. forces pulled out. Nixon stopped all American attacks on Vietnam. The condensed summary of the Vietnam War is to see what presidents were involved in this war (Johnson, and Nixon) and what foreign policies were taken towards Vietnam mostly before the protests began.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
... the Viet Minh. However by April it was clear that the French forces were losing the battle, and it was now it was clear that the French were putting their last remaining efforts in to Dien Ben Phu. It was an all or nothing situation. The French high command had hoped that Giap would throw his army in to the will of the occupying French forces and in the end be forced to retreat and regroup with a battered down weak force. However this was not the case and by May 7th the remaining French forces at Dien ben Phu will surrender. Peace talks between the French and Viet Minh open up in May of 1954. The agreement at Geneva would once again split Vietnam in to two. The North would be a pro Communist government at Hanoi led by Ho Chi Minh, and the South a pro democratic government backed by the United States out of Saigon. By 1956 the last remaining French forces would leave Vietnam, and a new struggle would begin in the South. The beginning of the American War in Vietnam was just around the corner. The Viet Minh had defeated a major European power, however it would be another 20 years before the reunification was complete.
The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
The Vietnam War began in 1956 after the French Indochina war, which was an anti-colonial war against the French. The French attempted to regain control of Vietnam after World War II, but despite their efforts, Vietnam and the other Indochinese countries gained their independence in 1954 (The Americans, 731). Vietnam’s independence brought a division between the anti-communist south and the communist north. This caused the United States to support of the South’s government because of their democratic ideology. Escalation continued as the Viet Cong led attacks on the South and President Lyndon Johnson sent air strikes and ground forces to the north in hopes of trying to stop the communist spread. By 1968, more than 500,000 American soldiers were
The beginning and end of the war is still disputed over today, but it is widely seen to have started in November of 1955. Prior to this, Vietnam was colonized by the French and under their rule. The trouble in French Indochina began when Vietnam declared their independence and raged war against France. The anti-colonial war lasted from 1945 to 1954 with Americas monetary support (Overview of the Vietnam War). The French received 2.6 billion dollars from the U.S. but eventually lost the battle. The final French defeat was in Dien Bien Phu and was followed shortly by a peace conference that took place in Geneva (Overview of the Vietnam War). The entire French Indochina area had won independence, but North and South Vietnam had only just started a greater war. The two sides remained divided with the North being led by the communist regime. The guerrillas running the North were known as the Viet Cong, whose leader was Ho Chi Minh. South Vietnam was democratic and refused to unify with the North. The United States backed the south fully and even sent thousands upon thousands of
The Vietnam War was a lengthy and fairly costly armed conflict involving the communist North Vietnamese regime known as the Viet Cong, South Vietnam and the United States. The war began in 1954 although the area was in Conflict since the mid-1940s after North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and his political party; Viet Minh took power during the Cold War. During the escalating standoff between the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union; and at the end of the Red Scare, the United States attempted to stop the spread of Communism. The Vietnam War was never officially declared a war by Congress, but rather deemed a “conflict.” The “Conflict” began as a “proxy war” under President Eisenhower and Kennedy, but fully escalated under Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. Although the American people wanted end the spread of Communism, the Vietnam War received a vast amount of opposition in the States, along with tons of media coverage and journalists reporting on the war. Unfortunately the Vietnam War was perceived as a failure due to many contributing factors such as the numerous unnecessary casualties inflicted on both sides (History.com).
The Vietnam War began in the year 1954, after the ascension to power of Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist leader in North Vietnam. The leader was spreading communism, and because the United States wanted to stop the spread, it sent military troops to aid South Vietnamese to stop this vice. The war saw about 3million people die with the inclusion of 58,000 American soldiers. About 150,000 people were wounded during the war. In 1975, South Vietnamese government surrendered the war after the communist forces forced them to surrender. Vietnam unified communism and became a Socialist Republic. Although decades have passed since the occurrence of the Vietnam war, the American culture, which was partly born as a result of this war, is celebrated today.
While the Vietnam battles began in the 1950’s, America did not become involved until 1965, under the command of President Lyndon Johnson. Right away the decision was met with mixed reactions. World War II had ended about 20 years prior to the deployment of U.S. troops in Vietnam, and many were not exactly excited to jump into another war. Right away protest groups formed across the nation, and many people began to let ...
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.
From the 1800 's until World War II, the French ruled Indochina, which contained Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. During World War
Vietnam has a very rich and cultural diverse background dating all the way back to 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded and paved the way for English colonization. The French had been colonizing since the 19th century. The French role in Vietnams history is critical; they started out by bringing these simple peasants to the latest technology of farming and hunting (Yancey 37). The French helped these people out greatly in the beginning, but like all stories of occupation go they just got worse. They started forcing rules and laws on the people of Vietnam. Thus started the First Vietnam War, also known as the Indochina War between France and Vietnam. "The French possessed military superiority, but the Vietnamese had already the hearts and minds of the country. (38). Even from the beginning the Vietnamese had the odds to there favor. The French looked at the wars in numbers and how many lost on each side. They gathered from all the battles that they were winning because the Vietnamese casualties far outweighed the French; nonetheless they were wrong. To a certain point the French were fighting a game that they could not win at any cost. The French had the military superiority but the Vietnamese had the manpower and the Guerilla tactics. The Indochina War ended with French loosing terrible at Dienbienphu, where a whole French garrison was wiped out.
War in Vietnam had no real beginning and was just escalation of fighting that was going on for centuries. In 1954 Vietnam became independent from the control of French Regime. The two parts of V...