The Vietnamise War and general communism
The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 1954–1973. Usually, it refers to the period when the United States and other members of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) joined the forces of the Republic of South Vietnam in contesting communist forces comprised of South Vietnamese guerrillas and regular-force units, generally known as Viet Cong (VC), and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The U.S. had the largest foreign military presence and basically directed the war from 1965 to 1968. For this reason, in Vietnam today it is known as the American War. It was a direct result of the First Indochina War (1946–1954) between France, which claimed Vietnam as a colony, and the communist forces then known as Viet Minh. In 1973 a "third" Vietnam War began—a continuation, actually—between North and South Vietnam but without significant U.S. involvement. It ended with communist victory in April 1975.
The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history, until the war in Afghanistan that began in 2002 and continues to this day. It was extremely divisive in the U.S., Europe, Australia and elsewhere. Because the U.S. failed to achieve a military victory and the Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam, the Vietnam experience became known as "the only war America ever lost." It remains a very controversial topic that continues to affect political and military decisions today.
The war was fought to cause as much destruction and carnage to the enemy as possible, this was the case for both sides, but the carpet bombing of the American Bombers using high explosives and the infamous napalm was utterly disgraceful as they obliterated villages and towns causing over 415,000 civilian casualties. They suffered heavy losses to the Viet Cong’s guerrilla attacks losing over 58,200 soldiers and the NVA suffered many losses too with over 400,000-1 million military dead. And over 500,000 wounded.
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The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history, until the war in Afghanistan that began in 2002 and continues to this day. It was extremely divisive in the U.S., Europe, Australia and elsewhere. Because the U.S. failed to achieve a military victory and the Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam, the Vietnam experience became known as "the only war America ever lost." It remains a very controversial topic that continues to affect political and military decisions today.
The war was fought to cause as much destruction and carnage to the enemy as possible, this was the case for both sides, but the carpet bombing of the American Bombers using high explosives and the infamous napalm was utterly disgraceful as they obliterated villages and towns causing over 415,000 civilian casualties. They suffered heavy losses to the Viet Cong’s guerrilla attacks losing over 58,200 soldiers and the NVA suffered many losses too with over 400,000-1 million military dead. And over 500,000 wounded.
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