Many stated after that they, one day would like to go back to Vietnam and help rebuild the country that the helped destroy. Even though America was and still is seen as one of the world’s most prevailing superpowers, the withdrawal from Vietnam was inevitable. There was no clear way for the military to secure their victory in the War without having to lose thousands of soldiers. The War ended with the exact opposite of what all soldiers had spent the majority of their life fighting for. Vietnam succumbed to the communist rule and the rest of the world watched in
The Vietnam War changed America forever. Lasting 18 years, it was the longest war ever fought in the history of American wars. The war had also affected the lives of the American people. This was the first war that showed the disasters of the battlefield on television. This was the war that had etched permanent memories onto the minds of the people of the United States.
But one of the hardest battle’s for the US was to keep their own countries support. In this essay I will be exploring the main factors of the Vietnam war between 1960-1975, looking at how they changed before, during and after ORT. Before ORT took place the aims of the US Government were to stop communist taking over South Vietnam (SV). As they feared that the Domino Theory would affect countries who were still capitalist. The rise in communist countries was increasing as other countries close to each other would follow the same route as nearby countries.
The hawks and doves were complete opposites, the hawk’s argument concluded that America must win the war in Vietnam in order to contain communism in Southeast Asia and preserve the nation’s prestige (Davidson-Gienapp-Heyrman-Lytle-Stroff, 2005). The doves on the other hand wanted the conflict in Vietnam ended immediately and the troops returned home. The political and social outcomes facing the United States because of the conflict in Vietnam ranged from a growing distrust of the decisions being made by the political leaders to the ever increasing cost of the conflict in Vietnam. The growing distrust helped to fuel the student unrest because the younger generation decided to voice their opinions and take a stand for those
To go to war in Vietnam was a risk the US felt it had to take in order to contain Communism, thus securing its economic prosperity and worldwide dominance. Though US casualties were large and its psychological effects profound, the Vietnam War was an absolute necessity in order to maintain the greater interests of America for generations to come. Hoffman et al. Major Problems in American History Volume 2: Since 1865. Houghton Mifflin Company,
The Vietnam War Heather Cameron Axia College of the University of Phoenix The Vietnam War Every good American, before the war in Vietnam, held their political leaders and Congressmen in high regard. It was during the 1960's that this viewpoint began to change as the American death toll began to rise. One major viewpoint, eerily similar to today, was that though the intentions of entering into the conflict were good, the fact that it seemed to be a losing battle and the costs seemed to be too high; it was time to pull out of Vietnam. The other side of that coin was that there was a purpose for going into Vietnam and we should not leave until the job was done (Schulzinger, 1999). It had not been since the early 1940's that the
This was the type of warfare that the American’s were not use to fighting in. they were use to conventional wars were you could see the opposition, not hiding in the forest. They also used booby traps that were everywhere so a lot of American troops got injured. However, the failure of the American tactics could be classed as another reason that the American forces pulled out of Vietnam. The operation ‘search and destroy’ failed, as the idea of it was to go into villages and interrogate the villagers and torch their homes.
Weaam Shawesh Final Assignment Source one is a letter to The Times newspaper written anonymously on November 23, 1916. It tells us about the physical and psychological impact of the war on soldiers on the Western front for more than two years. Physically, the soldiers were worn away, facing more dangerous threats as time passed. Psychologically, their energy and hope was worn out as tragedies built on top of each other day by day. They also suffered from shell shock which could take a lifetime to recover, majorly affecting their abilities.
The Vietnam War affected millions of veterans and showed the United States that even though they had the most powerful and best military in the world they could still lose a war. Many veterans all across the United States came back from the war with hatred and psychological problems. America’s society had changed after the war, people were not willing to go to war any more and America as a society saw the tragedies that occurred in
The Vietnam War or Vietnam conflict to some was perhaps one of the most intriguing conflicts in the history of modern America. Some suggest it was justified in stopping the spread of communism, while others feel that it was a waste of American lives that encourage an age of civil rebellion. To first understand the war one must first understand, the history leading up to the conflict. Prior to Americas involvement in the war in 1960 the French occupied what was then called indo-china up until 1954. In 1950 communist nations such as china recognized the Vietminh state, which in turn gave support to the viet-cong.