Why Is The Vietnam War Important

“I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service” (“John F. Kerry Quotes."). The Vietnam War, although not a war since congress has not declared war since 1941, occurred from 1955 - 1975. What does that quote mean though? It says something very interesting about this conflict. That is that the Vietnam conflict was one of the most influential conflicts of recent history. The following will show the aspects that made this conflict so influential.

The first main reason the conflict was so influential is because of the protests to the war. The protests affected what went on during the time period and how the war was received. They got very violent
The US used herbicides in the jungles to destroy the tree cover that the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese soldiers were hiding in. Agent Orange was the name of the herbicide that they mainly used. There were many side effects of using herbicides like Agent Orange including that when it was sprayed, it affected thousands of people including civilians and as a result both sides lost many men. Agent Orange is now outlawed after this conflict. The Viet Cong had some interesting weapons. Most of their weapons were Soviet versions of US weapons. The Viet Cong also used captured US weapons because they were always running low on weapons. One of the Viet Cong’s most famous strategies was the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive had the Viet Cong lure US and South Vietnamese troops to Khe Sanh. With the US and South Vietnamese troops occupied, the Viet Cong attacked 36 of the 40 provincial capitals, 64 districts, 5 of the 6 major cities, and 24+ airfields and bases. Even though this may sound very effective it was not because the US and South troops recovered fast. The Viet Cong lost many soldiers and supporters. The US was led in combat by General William Westmoreland. He said the US troops could best fight in less populated areas and the US government and him insisted that the conflict was being won with this strategy. The American Public was very skeptical though. General Westmoreland’s strategy was tactically successful but politically unsuccessful. He was also a huge critic of how the US handled the disengagement of the troops in Vietnam. Westmoreland asked for only about 200,000 more men and he thought he could win and end this conflict but the new Secretary of Defense denied this