Vietnam

Robert S. McNamara, appointed by John F. Kennedy to the position of U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1961, said about the Vietnam War, "It is important to recognize it's a South Vietnamese war. It will be won or lost depending upon what they do. We can advise and help, but they are responsible for the final results, and it remains to be seen how they will continue to conduct that war," (McNamara 72). Despite these guidelines for assisting in the war, the U.S. would end up doing much more than just advising. The Vietnam War was supposed to be a demonstration of how willing the U.S. was to battle communism, but ended up a personal vendetta against the North Vietnamese as the U.S. escalated its commitment in Vietnam infinitely greater than it had ever intended. After World War II, France returned to Vietnam to reclaim their Indochinese colonies after the Ho Chi Minh had declared Vietnamese independence in 1945 (Goldstein 3). The U.S. had just ended a war started by German conquest in Europe, and now was being asked to help France conquer the colonies it lost control of during the war. The Vietnam Nationalists, the same ones who had supported the U.S. in the war against the Japanese not more than a year previous, sought only to peacefully gain their independence from France (Chant 25). In January of 1950, the Viet Minh gained recognition by the governments of the USSR and China, who supplied weapons and places to train (Chant 25). Because the two Communist superpowers recognized the Viet Minh, the Vietnam war became to the U.S. a struggle between capitalism and communism, especially since the Viet Minh were openly communist themselves. By aiding the French, the U.S. thought they were helping their free-trade ally France fight communism, the Communist Party was very strong in France (Goldstein 3). The U.S. feared that Vietnam would fall to communism, and set-off the "domino effect" for other communist satellites in Indochina (McNamara 76). With weapons and training from Russia and China, the Viet Minh forced France to request help from the U.S. Fearing the spread of communism under Ho Chi Minh's regime, the U.S. was glad to offer France assistance, but even after the French humiliation at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the U.S. continued their involvement in Vietnam (Encarta "Vietnam War"). The Vietnam situation became another indirect way to confront communism, which was a perfect excuse to implement Kennedy's very aggressive policy of "Flexible Response" in the early 1960's, when the U.S. was eager to get into battle (Chant 9). After the French conceded defeat and were forced to withdraw by the Geneva Accords, the U.S. decided to escalate its involvement, believing the South Vietnamese wanted assistance in driving out communism. The U.S. knew of South Vietnam's weak military condition, and became more and more involved despite an uncooperative government. Suggestions the U.S. made were ignored, and the army avoided combat (Chant 38). Without complete involvement and a true desire to win, the guerrilla warfare of the Vietcong was too effective to face in a jungle setting, especially when most Vietcong soldiers were recruited in the South and had much support from the local civilians. Despite all of these problems, the U.S. remained in Vietnam, without any clear goals or objectives, or even a clear strategy for defeating a guerrilla operation.

For almost a century, Vietnam was the colonial property of France, however, it had a taste of independence during World War II when France was unable to maintain control . During World War II, the Viet Minh established itself as the organizational body for the resistance of French control, and went on to assist the U.S. in combat with the Japanese. On September 2, 1945, following the Japanese surrender, the leader of the Viet Minh, Ho Chi Minh, declared the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, France, however, refused to recognize any independence (Chant 25). Ho Chi Minh was a known communist at this time, and President Truman refused to recognize any independence from France (Encarta "Vietnam War"). Instead, he offered France assistance in containing the "communist rebellion," (Chant 22). By October of the same year, the French had returned and regained control in South Vietnam, but the Viet Minh already held strong positions throughout the North Vietnamese jungle (Chant 25). During the first French campaignsto regain control of the country, they captured most major cities, but had no control in the wilderness surrounding them (Encarta "Vietnam War"). The French quickly lost all popular support from local Vietnamese, and Viet Minh recruitment skyrocketed (Encarta "Vietnam War"). With hundreds of thousands of army irregulars assisting in guerrilla attacks, the Viet Minh rivaled France's well trained and better equipped army(Encarta "Vietnam War"). By March 6 of 1946, Vietnam's independence was finally recognized by the Indochinese Federation and French Union, which included Laos and Cambodia (Chant 25). That same day, however, the French launch a swift offensive campaign through North Vietnam, after landing in North Vietnam's largest port city, Haiphong (Chant 25). In a few months, France had reacquired much of the country. Until 1951, control over North Vietnam fluctuated between France and the Viet Minh, but the Viet Minh turned its focus to guerrilla warfare. Attacks on garrisoned towns and cities under French occupation became more frequent, and subsequently, more costly for the French (Chant 25). France was losing its foothold in the North, but the slow French defeat was the catalyst for the slow escalation of U.S. involvement. The USSR and China had announced their official recognition of the Viet Minh in January of 1950, thus beginning the introduction of Soviet weaponry and Chinese military training techniques into the Viet Minh army (Chant 25). The French were being trapped inside garrisoned towns and villages, and no longer had the means for victory against their strengthened opponent. Thus, they made a plea to the U.S. to increase their assistance "against the Communists" (Chant 25). Increased aid started in March of 1953, with increased allocations for economic aid and more military equipment and supplies, but not any U.S. troops or aircraft (Chant 25). By October of 1953, though, the Viet Minh had plenty of preparation to launch a major offensive which would finally end the next May at Dien Bien Phu. Dien Bien Phu was France's last stand in Vietnam (Chant 25). Of the fifteen-thousand French troops defeated there, five-thousand were killed and the other ten were captured by the Viet Minh, who themselves lost over twentyfive-thousand men (Chant 25). The French were humiliated, and back home, French citizens demanded peace (Encarta "Vietnam