Vietnam and Its Effects

When many people think about the 1960s, Vietnam and President John F. Kennedy (JFK) come to mind, and for a good reason for that period in history changed millions of lives. Faced with the possible spread of communism through Asia, JFK stayed with his word to fight communism, thus the Vietnam conflict as we know today was started. In the early 1900s, France conquered Vietnam and made it a protectorate, which is a relationship of protection and partial control assumed by a superior power over a dependent country or region For about forty years Vietnam had not experienced settled peace, as a result, The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh) was formed in 1941, which sought independence from the French. On September 2,1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent from France. The French government wanted to reestablish their rule in Vietnam but were beaten at the battle of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954. The French Expeditionary Force wanted to prevent the Viet Minh from entering Laos, they made their attack at Dien Bien Phu. Poor planning on the French's part led to their airway support at Hanoi to be cut-off by the Viet Minh. After fifty-five grueling days of battle, the French surrendered. Ho Chi Minh led the war against France and was victorious.

After the war, at the Geneva Conference of 1954, Vietnam was divided into two parts along the seventeenth parallel. North Vietnam was mostly Communist and supported Ho Chi Minh, while South Vietnam was anti-communist and supported by the United States and France. There were still some Communist rebels remaining within South Vietnam, they were known as the Viet Cong. The ruler at the time of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem who was anti-Communist. Also at the Geneva Conference of 1954, Laos and Cambodia became independent states. North Vietnam disliked the division of Vietnam, and wished to unify North and South Vietnam. Since the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia, John F. Kennedy provided military support and economic relief to South Vietnam to prevent a takeover by North Vietnam. At this point in time, Vietnam is in the midst of a civil war, so the United States was not officially involved.

The North Vietnamese opposed the support that the United States was providing to the South Vietnamese, so in retaliation three torpedo boats targeted and fired upon the United States destroyer Maddox on August 2, 1964. The Maddox had been in the Gulf of Tonkin, about thirty miles off the coast of Vietnam. On August 3, 1964, Lyndon B.Johnson (LBJ) gave the right to attack and destroy the North Vietnamese. The order was given, and the United States began air attacks against the North Vietnamese gun boats. The supposed sinking of two more United States destroyers prompted more air and sea forces to be sent in. Up until now, the United States had refrained from direct engagement with North Vietnam. Those events led to the United States formally entering the Vietnam War. The United States did this for two major reasons. We wanted to keep South Vietnam independent, and we wanted to show our commitment to the world on resisting Communism. Congress was still debating about moving military forces into North Vietnam, unfortunately their decision was made clear when the North Vietnamese attacked a United States air base at Bein Hoa. On February 7, 1965, LBJ ordered Operation Rolling Thunder, which were numerous bombing runs over North Vietnam.

Towards the end of 1965, a total of one hundred and eighty thousand Americans were in South Vietnam under the command of General William S. Westmorland . The United States placed its main focus on its military muscle, which was basically brute force of high-end firepower and air support. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, lacking such firepower as the United States, place military emphasis on guerilla warfare, utilizing Vietnam's dense foliage as cover for attacks.

After soldiers began engaging the Viet Cong, they realized that this endeavor was not as clear cut as most thought. At the end of 1968, The number of United States soldiers in South Vietnam reached a peak of 542, 000. Beginning January 30, 1968, The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese began a major invasion against the United States known as the Tet offensive. At the Khe Sanh United States military base, soldiers were engaged in an intense ground battle. By 1969, military combat rapidly dissolved and United States soldiers began to return home.

The United States felt they had to enter the war to stop the spread of Communism in Asia since North Vietnam was a Communist country. Ho Chi Minh who studied Marxism in his younger days, national Communism. During the war with France, he fled to northern