The War Of The Vietnam War

2022 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: history of vietnam

f you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind. David Giffy (Vietnam veteran)
Vietnam War lasted from 1959 until 1975 and had grave consequences that influenced greatly not only the history of Vietnam itself but of other countries as well. It was a civil war where the belligerents, South Vietnam and North Vietnam, were supported by such world powers as the USA and the USSR and their allies respectively. Though the main aim of the war was to unify Vietnam as a state, with time the war started to be accepted, especially by Americans, as another battle against the communist regime. That is why, at first, all the deeds of the Government were backed by American public.
For the United States it was a hard war and a useful lesson for future reference. Americans were dispatched to the South Vietnam in order to defend local insurgents, who by strength and quantity excelled American troops. Besides, as American leaders admitted later, they did not know the might of their enemies and could not correctly assess it, they did not know the potential of the country and of the people. So American participation in the war was doomed to failure. Being aware of it, it is even more awful to realize how many our compatriots perished there, fighting for South Vietnam but, in fact, not having gained any goal.
As any war Vietnam War was cruel and devastating; it carried away lives of...

... middle of paper ...

...am Veteran’s Memorial Wall in particular, is a more specialized monument and is devoted only to the Americans who died or were missing during the war. Assuredly, such kind of patriotic monuments should always be in countries but, nevertheless, they should not educate nationalistic views among the contemporaries and future generations. People should regard wars from the point of view of their pernicious impact and disasters they bring, not from the perspective of their use for a concrete nation.
To make a conclusion, I am inclined to believe that any activity, directed at the cultural and historical memory, is essential for people. Unfortunately, wars are a part of our life, they carry away human lives. That is why it is our duty to remember those who died for the sake of us. The Vietnam War was not successful for America, still it gave us a good lesson for the future.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Vietnam War

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was known for the thousands of lived that were lost and the billions of dollars in debt that destroyed the US economy. To this day, it is debatable as to whether or not US involvement in the war was worth the devastation it caused to the country.

    Read More

  • The Iwo Jima Memorial

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    The memorial grew out of a need to heal the nation's wounds as America struggled to reconcile different moral and political points of view. In fact, the memorial was conceived and designed to make no political statement whatsoever about the war. The Memorial is a place where everyone, regardless of opinion, can come together and remember and honor those who served. By doing so, the memorial has paved the way towards reconciliation and healing, a process that continues today.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Always To Remember: The Vision Of Maya Ying Lin

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    The text states that, “The memorial...would have to show the names of every man and woman killed during of missing in the war.” All 58,000 U.S servicemen and women who have been killed or have gone missing in the Vietnam War deserve to be honored by having all their names engraved in the memorial. When soldiers came home from the war, nobody respected them for what they did not have a choice to do. This evidence suggests that the author wanted everyone who was part of the Vietnam War to be recognized and didn’t want anyone to be forgotten. Furthermore, the author chose these words for the title in memory of all United States soldiers killed and missing.

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Research Paper

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.

    Read More

  • A Brief History of the Vietnam War

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam war started in December of 1956, and lasted until April of 1975. The war was between the U.S., and Vietnam. This war was a very gruesome, and tragic war. In Vietnam their leader Ho Chi Minh came back after a 30 year trip to explore around the world. When he returned his country was occupied by two major countries, Japan and France. Ho Chi Minh had a plan to run them out of his country, but he needed the U.S. for it to work. U.S. was still in the Cold war with Russia and there was fear of communism there. So the U.S. decided not to help Vietnam and send military aid to help the French and Japanese forces, in order to stop communism. Thus begun The vietnam war!

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Impact

    3269 Words  | 7 Pages

    Vietnam’s involvement in the Vietnam War impacted Vietnam in various significant ways. The Vietnam War was a very crucial war in Vietnamese history and changed Vietnamese society. The war was enduring and lasted for twenty-one years. It began in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war commenced due to disagreement of communism in Vietnam. The war was between North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and The United States. North Vietnam supported and encouraged communism in Vietnam. On the other hand, South Vietnam and The Untied States opposed communism and tried to prevent communism from spreading throughout the country. This eventually led to the chaotic Vietnam War. The war gained national attention and created pandemonium worldwide. The war impacted Vietnam in major ways and also impacted vital factors such as health, life in Vietnam, and economy. The leaders of North and South Vietnam also impacted all the involvement that took place in the war. The Vietnam War changed Vietnam greatly. The war left Vietnam in shambles and the war was also a calamity.

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War Memorial

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War Memorial. It is a wall, but it is also a monster that many avoid, and many are nervous to visit. In truth, all it is though is facts. It lists the names of all the soldiers that died in the conflict that was staged in a small country in Asia. All the names. There are so many names. Names that go on and on. There are over fifty-eight thousand of them, and every single one of them is a real person. A real man. A real woman. A real person. A real soldier. A real American. It was probably a man who considered whether or not to even serve his country. He probably left his crying mother behind, and when he arrived in the hell that would serve as his home for many miserable days, months, years. A hell that eventually would serve as his funeral home. Maybe he came back in plastic, or maybe he did not come home at all, as several thousand GI's turned into MIA's or POW's, which then changed into names on the wall. Those brave boys, not men, boys who gave their lives for a cause that they didn't understand were reduced from ambitious citizens in the greatest country in the world to names on a wall.

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Essay

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War is one of the most controversial subjects in American politics. The US went to the war under the guise of the domino effect, as they believed that if Vietnam fell, the surrounding countries would fall as well. President Johnson said “If you let a bully come into your garden, the next day he’ll be on your porch, and the day after that he’ll rape your wife” One thing that is not controversial is that we lost the war. Lots of different factors contributed to the United States unsuccessful trip to Vietnam. Among many reasons, one of the two biggest factors in the lose of the war was America’s foreign policy how and how bad the US underestimated how important freedom and independence was to the people of Vietnam. On top of that the US used the wrong military strategy, instead of focusing on limiting collateral damage the US used heavy artillery that killed citizens and alienated would be supporters. There was political corruptness in South Vietnam governments, which meant that they could not build an alternative to the NLF. At home, the public opinion of the war was decreasing at a constant rate and demonstrations were at an all time high. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and these problems all contributed to a Vietnam tour that went horribly wrong and an attitude among the American people that was growing ever doubt full of their government.

    Read More

  • The War that Changed America Forever

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a war that changed America forever. It was a long, costly war between Communist North Vietnam, with the aid of the Viet Cong, and Capitalist South Vietnam, aided by the United States. It was a controversial war at the time, but today, it remains embedded in America's history as a war to be remembered.

    Read More

  • The Man I Killed, by Tim O'Brien

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most expensive wars in American history. It started from 1955 till April 30, 1975. This war lasted for almost 20 years. According to the article "How the U.S Got Involved In Vietnam" by Jeff Drake the U.S attacked Vietman and this wasn't supposed to happen. This war could have been avoidable. The 58,000 Americans didn’t have to die, nor did the 2,000,000 Vietnamese. The U.S government was responsible for their deaths. What the government told the public from the very beginning was that they were going to war because they had to stop the communist menace in Vietnam or other countries would follow suit; that they had to defend the democratic South Vietnamese government against the gathering Red hordes. While other people say it was an attempt by the U.S to suppress a heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement that had driven French colonialism out of its country (Drake, 1993).

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The American Civil War

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam Veterans Memorial recognizes and honors the men and women who served in one of America's most divisive wars. The memorial was conceived and designed to make no political statement whatsoever about the war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a place where everyone, regardless of opinion, can come together and remember and honor those who served. By doing so, the memorial has paved the way towards reconciliation and healing, a process that continues today. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial accomplishes these goals through the three components that comprise the memorial: the Wall of names, the Three Servicemen Statue and Flagpole, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

    Read More

  • Should We Continue To Commemorate Wars?

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think that commemorations should be an opportunity for all people but especially the young to thank and be grateful for the service of the forces and civilians during both the world wars. The sacrifices made and that are still having to be lived with by some should never be forgotten

    Read More

  • Effects & Aftermath of the Vietnam War

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States approached military action and helped establish the role of the United States within the new world order.

    Read More

More about The War Of The Vietnam War

Open Document