Americas Involvement In Vietnam And The Vietnam War Essays Examples

The Vietnam War (1959-1975) was one of the murkiest episodes and solemn conflict in the whole of modern history. It was one of the longest and most unpopular wars that America took part in without proper justification. The war influenced the lives of the next generation of Americans after the scission of the nation. After French’s withdrawal from Vietnam in 1956, democratic elections were to be held in an effort to unite Vietnam under one government. The U.S turned down the idea of doing the election since it feared that the communist would win. U.S’s involvement in Vietnam started in 1964 when Vietnam was still a French colony.
South Vietnam and the U.S signed a military and economic aid treaty in 1961 that led to the arrival of military troops and formation of military support command. The situation in South Vietnam worsened and on 7th August 1964 the Tonkin Gulf resolution was passed by the U.S senate increasing military aid in Vietnam. Additionally, American civilians and journalists contributed to the intensification of the war by engaging themselves in the war.
The U.S started air raids in communist-controlled zones in the South and North Vietnam in 1965. By the end of 1966, there were approximately 190,000 U.S. militias in South Vietnam. Similarly, the Soviet Union and other Marxist nations continued supporting North Vietnam by providing arms and technical support. The U.S conducted massive bombing and increased its troops in South Vietnam to 550000 in 1969. The Tet Offensive was later launched to defeat American and the North Vietnam government. Although South Vietnam witnessed a little of political stability in 1967 after the election of President Nguyen Thieu, America’s support did not help it conquer the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong powers. Military reports in 1968 indicated that America had incurred huge costs in the war and the American taxpayers considered it a waste and misuse of their hard-earned money.
In 1969, after concealing defeat, America started withdrawing its forces from Vietnam as part of the Vietnamization policy. The policy was aimed at reducing America’s involvement in the war and shifting the duty of combating the communists to the forces of South Vietnam. The war continued despite the signing of the Paris Peace Accord in 1973. After witnessing the devastating effects of the war, a huge anti-Vietnam Warfare association emerged in the U.S. The movement was against U.S’s involvement in the war since it was clear that U.S was getting over involved in other countries affairs unjustifiable ruining America’s reputation. The anti-Vietnam war movement aimed at refuting the 1960’s US culture of perceiving itself as a superior state both culturally and economically. On August 15, 1973, the U.S. Congress passed the Case–Church Amendment that ended direct U.S military involvement in Vietnam. After U.S’s withdrawal, North Vietnamese Army captured Saigon in 1975, ending the war. North and South Vietnam reunited the following year.
The American government viewed its participation in the war as a way of inhibiting the communist from taking-over South Vietnam. It was part of the wider contained domino strategy of preventing the spread of communism since U.S feared that if Vietnam becomes a communist, many states will follow. In this way, U.S’s influence in the global arena would decline significantly. Viet Cong and North Vietnam were fighting to reintegrate Vietnam under communist policy. The American troops were poorly equipped as compared to the Viet Cong forces. The Viet Cong forces could easily attack and escape through complex underground tunnels, routes that were beyond the understanding of the U.S’s troops. As elucidated above, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War only worsened the situation in America as well as Vietnam.