Us Involvement in Vietnam

Joel Snoke

Mrs. Ronane

Senior English 1st

12/10/04

Thesis: The US involvement in the Vietnam War was justified.

I. Background on Vietnam

A. Vietnam pre WWII

1.French

A. Colonialism

B. Cruelty

2.USA

A. Backing Ho Chi Minh

B. War with Japan

B. Vietnam post WWII

1. Ho chi Minh

A. Early years

B. Political years

2. Diem

A. Anti-communism

B. Brutal police

II. Tet Offensive

A. Viet Cong

1. Miscommunication

A. Delay of message

B. Element of Surprise

2.Failure

A. Giap

B. Media

B. US

1. Prepared

A. Break treaty

B. Units on full alert

2. Fought a larger enemy

A. Aggressive

B. Reason for fighting

III. Justify

1. Humanitarian

A. Troops

B. Food

2. Liberation

A. From dictator

B. From poverty

The Vietnam conflict has been known for being the most unpopular war in the history of the United States. The war of 1812, the Mexican war and the Korean conflict of the early 1950's were also opposed by large groups of the American people, but none of them generated the emotional anxiety and utter hatred that spawned Vietnam. The Vietnam war caused people to ask the question of sending our young people to die in places where they were particular wanted and for people who did not seem especial grateful.

Vietnam has a very rich and cultural diverse background dating all the way back to 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded and paved the way for English colonization. The French had been colonizing since the 19th century. The French role in Vietnams history is critical; they started out by bringing these simple peasants to the latest technology of farming and hunting (Yancey 37). The French helped these people out greatly in the beginning, but like all stories of occupation go they just got worse. They started forcing rules and laws on the people of Vietnam. Thus started the First Vietnam War, also known as the Indochina War between France and Vietnam. "The French possessed military superiority, but the Vietnamese had already the hearts and minds of the country. (38). Even from the beginning the Vietnamese had the odds to there favor. The French looked at the wars in numbers and how many lost on each side. They gathered from all the battles that they were winning because the Vietnamese casualties far outweighed the French; nonetheless they were wrong. To a certain point the French were fighting a game that they could not win at any cost. The French had the military superiority but the Vietnamese had the manpower and the Guerilla tactics. The Indochina War ended with French losing

terrible at Dienbienphu, where a whole French garrison was wiped out.

When Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh and his political organization, the Vietminh, seized control of their independence from France United States Politicians saw it as another communist take over. When really Ho was more a nationalist than a communist. All Minh wanted was for the United States to recognize its independence from France and to send aid to help it reach its nationalistic goals. "Before the Cold War Ho and the Vietminh helped rescue downed American pilots, located Japanese prison camps, and provided valuable intelligence to the United States during World War two (Yancey 14). All Ho Chi Minh was trying to gain from all this was aid and recognition from the United States, but Truman was afraid to give due to the fact he thought of ho as another puppet of the USSR.

Ho Chi Minh was soon known by many people from Indochina as their main spokesman. They were amazed by a person who was not afraid to laugh at the French, yet stood up for the people of Indochina. Many people thought that Ho Chi Minh was no more then a legend. When Sun Yat-sen, leader of China's nationalist army, died in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek of Moscow was put in charge with military strategist Mikhail Borodin. Chiang chose Ho to be Borodin's advisor and interpreter. Ho took this position, but began to secretly plan Indochina's first communist organization, set in Canton(Dudley 45). Most of Ho's followers were young Annamese rebels who were sick of being in the Vietnamese Nationalist party and their leader, Pham Boi Chau. The group set up Chau by hurling a bomb at the governor of Indochina's car. Chau disappeared after this. Ho was soon accused of taking a bribe from the French, in exchange for revealing Chau's whereabouts. Chau was said to be executed, but really died naturally while in jail. Pointing this out got Ho out of trouble for a while. Once Ho's Communist party got going, he set up a training camp for guerrilla techniques. It was called the Whampoa Military Academy. At the academy, the followers were trained in suicide missions. They did strikes