South of China lies Indochina, or as the natives call it Vietnam. Now a days, the area is know as countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The French had been practicing imperialism over Vietnam for over 100 years. Vietnam did not want French rule. Their leader Ho Chin Minh sent letters to Woodrow Wilson back in 1919 but was not sent a reply. Later on he sent eight letters to Harry Truman, the president, but was not replied again. No one knows if he ever received those letters. In 1945, America had a strong presence when Minh declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He quoted the Declaration of Independence and American planes flew over to celebrate their independence. French didn't want them free. They took advantage of our Red Scare and claimed that Minh was a communist. He had studied communism in Russia. His independent South of China lies Indochina or Vietnam. France had been practicing imperialism over Vietnam for over 100 years. Vietnam wanted to be free. They fought with violence against the French. Ho Chi Minh was their leader and he had been taught in England and knew of western ways. He sent letters to Woodrow Wilson back in 1919 but he never was sent a reply. Later he wrote eight letters President Truman but communism wasn't a threat, he only wanted his country free of outsiders. China gave him the supplies and weapons he needed to make that happen. France after losing 90,000 troops by 1952 asked for the United States and the League of Nations to help them.
Events Leading up to US Arrival in Battle
President Eisenhower did not want to enter the war. He claimed it would be a war we could not win. All of Eisenhower's advisers were "hawks" which meant they were for the war. His direct words were "I'm convinced that no military victory is possible [there]." Then John F. Kennedy was elected president. His advisers were again hawks. We began sending supplies and money to France to help them fight. Soon the war was costing us more than a million dollars a day. Kennedy took one foot and tested it in the water but it wasn't until Lyndon B. Johnson was elected in 1964 that we planted both feet firmly in.
The Gulf Of Tonkin
President Johnson needed an excuse to start the war in Vietnam because he didn't want to look like a coward, luckily for him (but not for anyone else) he found that excuse. Before the war started an American ship was on a secret mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. The wasn't supposed to be there. A torpedo was "spotted" and was never proven true but Lindon Johnsen assumed that a torpedo was fired at us, and sprung on his opportunity he had been waiting for. He brought this to congress' attention and a resolution was passed allowing the war to begin.
The War
The US quickly began bombing North Vietnam (more bombs were dropped on Vietnam than the total bombs dropped on Germany and Japan during WWII) using the Gulf Of Tonkin resolution as their motive. It soon became more violently and much more costly to the US. It was a war we couldn't win. The guerilla fighters of Vietnam had home field advantage. They disappeared into the jungle faster than the Americans could shoot them. We created weapons especially designed for this. Napalm burned everything and forced innocent Vietnam citizens to flee. That didn't stop the guerilla fighters. They kept fighting and winning. The worst part was that president Johnson continued to lie to the American people. He said the war was going well and only a couple more bombs and it would be over. Many didn't believe him and anti-war protests were growing strong back at home. We eventually had to pull out because we just couldn't win.
A "hindsight" look at the war
We had failed and our country was in debt. At home rioting was very strong. We had gone in on false, exaggerated information from the Gulf of Tonkin and were ignorant of what the problem was all about. Our leaders had not been well educated on the problem. Back during the Korean war we had fired our best Asian experts because of the red scare. We had thought they were communists. Perhaps if they were still working, the United States would have not gone into the war. We didn't understand that it was a civil war, Vietnam's civil war, not ours but we made it ours. In the Gulf of Tonkin, information that was never proved gave us enough evidence to jump into the war. It was very similar to the Iraq war of today. In Iraq we jumped in looking for weapons of mass destruction that were never found. Both wars should never had started, but both wars did and we regretted it later.
Killing the Innocence
During the war there were many innocent villages in Vietnam that were destroyed and it's people murdered. G.I.s killed anyone that was in their way, men, women and even children. There were many horrible things like this that happened but the worst was the massacre at My Lai. American soldiers entered a small village called My Lai, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley Jr., they opened fired on anyone they saw. A total of 347 innocent men, women, and children civilians were killed that day. The soldiers went to eat lunch, returned and killed all of their animals and livestock and burned down their homes. The soldiers lied about all of this when they returned home but a journalist (Seymour Hersh) found the truth and exposed Lieutenant Calley. He was the only one convicted and was sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, President Nixon intervened and ended Calley's sentenced after 3 years on house arrest. This incident exposed the evils of the Vietnam war to the public, more and more people were outraged that the war was still going on. After My Lai the was was completely shameful.
Lies and Ignorance: the Story of the Vietnam War
Indochina
South of China lies Indochina, or as the natives call it Vietnam. Now a days, the area is know as countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The French had been practicing imperialism over Vietnam for over 100 years. Vietnam did not want French rule. Their leader Ho Chin Minh sent letters to Woodrow Wilson back in 1919 but was not sent a reply. Later on he sent eight letters to Harry Truman, the president, but was not replied again. No one knows if he ever received those letters. In 1945, America had a strong presence when Minh declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He quoted the Declaration of Independence and American planes flew over to celebrate their independence. French didn't want them free. They took advantage of our Red Scare and claimed that Minh was a communist. He had studied communism in Russia. His independent South of China lies Indochina or Vietnam. France had been practicing imperialism over Vietnam for over 100 years. Vietnam wanted to be free. They fought with violence against the French. Ho Chi Minh was their leader and he had been taught in England and knew of western ways. He sent letters to Woodrow Wilson back in 1919 but he never was sent a reply. Later he wrote eight letters President Truman but communism wasn't a threat, he only wanted his country free of outsiders. China gave him the supplies and weapons he needed to make that happen. France after losing 90,000 troops by 1952 asked for the United States and the League of Nations to help them.
Events Leading up to US Arrival in Battle
President Eisenhower did not want to enter the war. He claimed it would be a war we could not win. All of Eisenhower's advisers were "hawks" which meant they were for the war. His direct words were "I'm convinced that no military victory is possible [there]." Then John F. Kennedy was elected president. His advisers were again hawks. We began sending supplies and money to France to help them fight. Soon the war was costing us more than a million dollars a day. Kennedy took one foot and tested it in the water but it wasn't until Lyndon B. Johnson was elected in 1964 that we planted both feet firmly in.
The Gulf Of Tonkin
President Johnson needed an excuse to start the war in Vietnam because he didn't want to look like a coward, luckily for him (but not for anyone else) he found that excuse. Before the war started an American ship was on a secret mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. The wasn't supposed to be there. A torpedo was "spotted" and was never proven true but Lindon Johnsen assumed that a torpedo was fired at us, and sprung on his opportunity he had been waiting for. He brought this to congress' attention and a resolution was passed allowing the war to begin.
The War
The US quickly began bombing North Vietnam (more bombs were dropped on Vietnam than the total bombs dropped on Germany and Japan during WWII) using the Gulf Of Tonkin resolution as their motive. It soon became more violently and much more costly to the US. It was a war we couldn't win. The guerilla fighters of Vietnam had home field advantage. They disappeared into the jungle faster than the Americans could shoot them. We created weapons especially designed for this. Napalm burned everything and forced innocent Vietnam citizens to flee. That didn't stop the guerilla fighters. They kept fighting and winning. The worst part was that president Johnson continued to lie to the American people. He said the war was going well and only a couple more bombs and it would be over. Many didn't believe him and anti-war protests were growing strong back at home. We eventually had to pull out because we just couldn't win.
We had failed and our country was in debt. At home rioting was very strong. We had gone in on false, exaggerated information from the Gulf of Tonkin and were ignorant of what the problem was all about. Our leaders had not been well educated on the problem. Back during the Korean war we had fired our best Asian experts because of the red scare. We had thought they were communists. Perhaps if they were still working, the United States would have not gone into the war. We didn't understand that it was a civil war, Vietnam's civil war, not ours but we made it ours. In the Gulf of Tonkin, information that was never proved gave us enough evidence to jump into the war. It was very similar to the Iraq war of today. In Iraq we jumped in looking for weapons of mass destruction that were never found. Both wars should never had started, but both wars did and we regretted it later.
Killing the Innocence
During the war there were many innocent villages in Vietnam that were destroyed and it's people murdered. G.I.s killed anyone that was in their way, men, women and even children. There were many horrible things like this that happened but the worst was the massacre at My Lai. American soldiers entered a small village called My Lai, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley Jr., they opened fired on anyone they saw. A total of 347 innocent men, women, and children civilians were killed that day. The soldiers went to eat lunch, returned and killed all of their animals and livestock and burned down their homes. The soldiers lied about all of this when they returned home but a journalist (Seymour Hersh) found the truth and exposed Lieutenant Calley. He was the only one convicted and was sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, President Nixon intervened and ended Calley's sentenced after 3 years on house arrest. This incident exposed the evils of the Vietnam war to the public, more and more people were outraged that the war was still going on. After My Lai the was was completely shameful.