When asked about the United States’ involvement in Vietnam Charles de Gaulle responded by saying, “I predict… that you will, step by step, be sucked into a bottomless military and political quagmire” (Wills 29). The Vietnam War should have been negotiated to an end and troops removed directly following the Tet Offensive, because by that time, it was made evident that further fighting would only cause more unnecessary harms.
Often in history nations try to justify their actions any way they can whether they are valid or not. Vietnamese intervention was reasoned to be necessary because of the possible implications of the domino effect. Just as it happened in Eastern Europe, so could communism spread to the United States if it went unhindered. These ideals were embodied through concepts like containment and brinksmanship. Both were designed to increase tension between the Soviet Union and United States by means of fighting at the periphery of the communist bloc. Obviously, increased apprehension on both sides would become a contributing factor in the starting of the war—one that could have been avoided. Furthermore, by the Tet Offensive the United States had a heavy investment in Vietnam and continually relied on its insistence that the war was nearly over. According to officials like General Westmoreland the Vietnamese, “were about to run out of steam” (Wills 39). These conclusions were drawn upon conventional warfare reminiscent of the Korean War or World War II. Like so many other nations of history, the United States used outdated tactics that relied upon taking urban centers like Saigon to defeat the Vietcong. Although taking Berlin in World War II was an effective strategy, applying the same concepts to the well en...
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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.
E-History (2012, N.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/essays/battlecommand/index.cfm.
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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 the longest and most expensive war in American History. The toll we paid wasn't just financial, it cost the people involved greatly, physically and mentally. This war caused great distress and sadness, as well as national confusion. Everyone had that one burning question being why? Why were we even there? The other question being why did America withdrawal from Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to answer these two burning questions, and perhaps add some clarity to the confusion American was experiencing.
and the VC during the Tet cease-fire (6). The cease-fire was a peaceful and hospitable
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.
In fact, the Tet Offensive broke out on the Tet's Eve - in the early
U.S.A Involvement in Vietnam War Direct U.S. military involvement in The Vietnam War, the nation's longest, cost fifty-eight thousand American lives. Only the Civil War and the two world wars were deadlier for Americans. During the decade of Vietnam start in 1964, the U.S Treasury spent over $140 billion on the war, enough money to fund urban regeneration projects in every major American city. In spite of these enormous costs and their accompanying public and private disturbance for the American people, the United States failed, for the first time in its history, to attain its stated war aims. The goal was to preserve a separate, independent, non-communist government in South Vietnam, but after April 1975, the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) ruled the whole nation. (Wittman, Sandra M. "Chronology of the Vietnam War." Vietnam: Yesterday and Today Oakton Community College. Skokie, Illinois. 16 May 1996: n.p.) The initial reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam seemed rational and compelling to American leaders. Following its success in World War II, the United States faced the future with a sense of ethical rectitude and material confidence. From Washington's perspective, the principal threat to U.S. security and world peace was monolithic, tyrannical communism emanating from the Soviet Union. Any communist anywhere, at home or abroad, was, by description, and enemy of the United States. Drawing equivalence with the unsuccessful appeasement of fascist dictators before World War II, the Truman administration believed that any sign of communist aggression must be met quickly and vehemently by the United States and its allies. This reactive policy was known as containment. The Vietnam War proved devastating...
The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war.
The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy consisted of an armed struggle and a political struggle. The armed struggle began with Stage One hit and run guerilla tactics to “decimate the enemy piecemeal and weaken then eliminate the government’s administrative control of the countryside...
Anderson, D. (2002). The Columbia guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press.
The United States involved themselves in Vietnam for four main reasons: they wanted to contain communism, prevent the domino effect, support a very weak South Vietnam, and get retaliation for being attacked. After seeing China fall to communism in 1949, Lyndon Johnson did not want to watch the same thing happen in Vietnam. He decided that the United States must fight to contain communism in Vietnam and prevent the domino theory. The domino theory simply stated that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would soon follow suit, falling like a set of dominos. Essentially, Americans believed that if South Vietnam fell, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand would follow. Also, South Vietnam could not stand against the Vietcong alone because they were too weak and ill-equipped to fight. The United States believed that with good government, a large scale and ...
The Vietnam War was one of the most outrageous and long-drawn out wars in history. The other name for the Vietnam War was called Cold-Era proxy War. The war had been battled in order to stop the spread of invasion from communism in the southern parts of Vietnam. The American played the role of a supporter to the southern part of Vietnam, trying to prevent communist from approaching the southern part of Vietnam. The Americans was influenced by the French government to help with the war. France did not support communism due to their loss to the communist previously in the Indochina War, resulting in the French loosing its colony. Later, both of the countries ended up strongly, supporting the southern part of Vietnam. The length of the war, the high number of United States casualties, and the exposure of U.S. involvement portrayed a strong hatred by the U.S population on the Vietnam War.(www.ebscohost.com) Southern Vietnam was supported by the United States, while North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of North Vietnam, who fought to liberate his country from Japan and France. He was the person who successfully unified North and South Vietnam. The United States first involvement in the Vietnam War began when the U.S supported France financially in the first Indochina War in 1946, which was under the power of President Eisenhower. Later, the two US Navy vessels gave the next President; President Johnson more power to fought against the Vietnam War. In 1968, a huge, crucial attack known as the “Tet Offensive” threatened the Un...
Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.