In order to understand war one needs to understand the perspective of both sides of the war. The Vietnam War divided the people of the United States into two different groups. The doves were the people who didn’t want the war. They viewed the war as a waste of money on the part of the United States. The doves thought the Vietnam War was a civil war and the people of Vietnam should be solving their disputes without our help.…
The Vietnam War lasted about two decades. The United States was engulfed in a civil war between North and South Vietnam and wanted to assist the south with preventing a hostile takeover by North Vietnam under the Communism banner. The Vietnam War was not only America’s longest War, but also costliest and deadliest. We spent over $150 billion and suffered close to $58 thousand American deaths and nearly 300 thousand wounded. By the time we decided to withdraw from the war, North Vietnam easily swept through the south and unified Vietnam under Communism. Still to this day, one of the most debated topics regarding the Vietnam War is why the United States got involved and why, when and how we should wage future wars. (Dunn, 2001)…
The war in Vietnam was a conflict that started in the 1950s and ended in the early 1970s. During this time period, the United States became increasingly involved in Vietnamese political, economic and military affairs. There were a combination of reasons as to why the United States became more involved, the most important of which in my opinion were the Domino Theory and the growing influence of the National Liberation Front (NFL).…
“Vietnam: A Necessary War” is a summary of a book of a similar name by author Michael Lind. The book addresses the viewpoint that the Vietnam War was both moral and necessary for eventual victory in the Cold War. Michael Lind graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with honors in English and History, received an MA in International Relations from Yale University, and a JD from the University of Texas Law School. In 1990-1991 he worked as Assistant to the Director of the U.S. State Department’s Center for the study of Foreign Affairs. From 1991-1994 he was Executive Editor of The National Interest, and from 1994-1998 he worked for Harper’s Magazine,…
Resulting from the American fear of spreading communism in South East Asia, the Vietnam War was America's longest and most exhausting conflict. President Lyndon B. Johnson inherited this problem of spreading communism in 1964, and was at first somewhat against the prospect of conflict having known it may hurt his reelection chances. However, as conditions worsened in South Vietnam Johnson began to slowly launch the massive war effort beginning with an unrelenting bombing campaign on the Viet Cong.…
The Vietnam War involved many decisions and outcomes, many of which have latter been reviewed with more uncertainty then confidence. With this Michael Hunt, the author uses both American and Vietnamese resources, some which before the book were never heard from. He uses these sources to try to explain how the United States of America was sucked into involvement with Southeast Asia. The overall conclusion of the book does not bring to many new views on why the United States involved itself with the issues of Vietnam but more confirms already believed views that they began in the conflict with comprehension of Vietnam’s problem other than the issue of the cold war.…
Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.…
The American involement in the Vietnam war is a conversial topic because many thing occured during that time that didn't set well in many Americans souls. This war reveal many tragic losses to people livelihood. These losses made certain americans wonder how American involement participation was unjust. The solution to this gruesome war was not agreed on by many americans . Martin Luther King Jr builds his argument on the affect of the felllow americans and the ways american solves the problems in vietnam.…
In the course of the Vietnam War, there have been many different factors why the USA became increasingly involved. One reason included how they believed it would be a ‘simple’ war to fight and for that reason, they would have the ability to easily win plus the war would not continue on for too long. Additionally they desired to contain communism as they believed they might be capable to stop the growth of communism within Asia. In order to help retain communism, they believed in the ‘domino theory’.…
In conclusion, the US’s decision to take part in the Vietnam war was a mistake. They should of remained neutral and let other countries handle their own business instead of encroaching into international affairs. From the Americans citizens perspective, the involvement was unnecessary and it lost the trust of…
As I stated before, America basically turned the conflicts of Vietnam into ones of their own and made it now an American war not the Vietnam war anymore. American officials entered on false assumptions, as many believe. During the time of the Nixon administration, it became well known that the United States spent billions of dollars in military expenditures and held thousands of deaths before the realization that the war was not and could not be won.…
The war in Vietnam in the 1960’s was an extremely controversial topic among the American public. America’s role in the war was questionable, and thousands of young men were drafted into the army against their own personal beliefs. In If I Die in a Combat Zone , author Tim O'Brien argued that the Vietnam War was unjust through his depictions of violent events during the war, how the war affected both the soldiers and innocent civilians, and the inhumane duties required of the soldiers.…
Although the Vietnam War was clearly a detrimental event in the history of America, some still try to argue that it benefited America and or strengthened our nation. They may say it benefited our country because in reality, it was a place where we had the opportunity to test new weapons and learn about many new medicines. When trying to refute my personal claim that Vietnam was a bad war for America to join, these are the only two main reasons others say the war was a good event for America’s history.…
The 1960’s and 70’s were filled with turbulent changes. The US was still reeling from containment and its domino policy, leading it to believe that it had the right to exercise influence in foreign affair. One foreign affair was known as Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the longest war in the nation’s history. This war, from both abroad and at home, drastically changed the society of America, socially, economically, and politically. It caused for much anti-war sentiment and fueled the counter culture movement, it caused inflation and contributed to the stagflation, and brought down Johnson’s reputation and caused for several changes in legislation.…
The Vietnam War is truly one of the most unique wars ever fought by the Unites States of by any country. It was never officially declared a war . It had no official beginning nor an official end. It was fought over 10,000 miles away in a virtually unknown country. The enemy and the allies looked exactly the alike, and may by day be a friend but by night become an enemy. It matched the tried and true tactics of World War Two against a hide, run, and shoot technique known as "Guerrilla Warfare." It matched some of the best trained soldiers in the world against largely an untrained militia of untrained farmers. The United States' soldiers had at least a meal to look forward to unlike the Communist Vietnamese soldiers who considered a fine cuisine to be cold rice and, if lucky, rat meat. The Vietnam War matched the most technically advanced country with one of the least advanced, and the lesser advanced not only beat but humiliated the strongest military in the world. When the war was finally showing signs of end, the Vietnamese returned to a newly unified communist country while the United Stated soldiers returned to be called "baby killers", and were often spat upon. With the complexities of war already long overdrawn because of the length of the war it is no wonder the returning solders often left home confused and returned home insane.…