Essay/Term paper: Vietnam

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

In the early 1960’s, North Vietnam wished to unify North and South Vietnam

through military force. Since the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia,

John F. Kennedy provided economic and military aid to South Vietnam to prevent the

takeover by North Vietnam. At this time, this was still a civil war. The United States

were not yet officially involved.

The North Vietnamese resented this intervention by the United Sates and so, three

Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the U.S. destroyer, " Maddox " on August 2nd, 1964.

The " Maddox " had been in the Gulf of Tonkin ( international waters ), thirty miles off

the coast of Vietnam. On August 3rd, 1964, President Johnson gave the right " to attack

with the objective of destroying attacking forces ". Retaliation air attacks began on

August 3rd. Their aim was to destroy North Vietnam's gunboat capability. As two more

United States destroyers were supposedly sunk, more air and sea forces were sent. Up

until now, the U.S. had refrained from direct combat. This is when the United States

formally entered the Vietnam War. The U.S. did this for two reasons. We wished to

maintain the independence of South Vietnam and we had to prove to allied nations that

we would help them resist Communist takeover. As Congress was about to vote whether

or not to allow the combat to move into North Vietnam, the North Vietnamese attacked a

major U.S. airbase at Bein Hoa. On February 7th, 1965, Johnson ordered retaliation

bombing on North Vietnam. Rolling Thunder was the name of this operation. It's purpose

was to put pressure on Hanoi and convince them that Communism could not and would

not win.

At the end of 1965, one hundred and eighty thousand Americans were in South

Vietnam under General William S. Westmoreland. The U.S. mainly depended on

superior firepower and helicopters. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese depended on

surprise attack and concealment.

The United States soldiers realized that the war would last for many more years

and wondered if the U.S. war effort could succeed. At the end of 1968, The number of

American troops in South Vietnam reached it's peak of 542,000 men. The Viet Cong and

North Vietnamese launched a major invasion against the United States called the Tet

offensive from January 30th to February 25th, 1968. At the Khe Sanh U.S. firebase, there

was a major ground battle. There was a siege from January 21st to April 14th. It was

thought to be the " American Dien Bien Phu ". The United States turned it around

however, with their victory at Hue. By 1969, combat decreased rapidly and American

troops began to return home.

The role of Communism was extremely important in this conflict. Communism

was one of the main reasons of why the United States entered the war in the first place.

The U.S. " had " to enter the war to stop the spread of Communism in Asia since North

Vietnam was Communist. Had North Vietnam succeeded in converting Vietnam into a

Communist country, it could become very powerful and go on to " persuade " other

countries to become Communist. The U.S. believed that Vietnam could become

powerful. They were amazed that France, an Allied power, had been beaten by the

Vietnamese.

North Vietnam was a Communist country. The man who had proclaimed

Vietnam independent, Ho Chi Minh, was a Communist. During the war with the French,

Ho Chi Minh took refuge in northern Vietnam and settled there with his followers. He

founded the Indochina Communist Party and the Viet Minh. He became the president of

North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. North Vietnam was a poor area and was cut off from

the agricultural benefit of South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was forced to ask assistance

from major Communist allies - the Soviet Union and China. Both aided North Vietnam

before and during the war.

The North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam. They wanted to use military

tactics to force unification. The United States did not allow their unification. The U.S.

knew that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese wished to establish one ruling

government, the Communist Party. This led to the Vietnam War and U.S. intervention.

On January 27th, 1973, South Vietnam Communist forces ( Viet Cong ), North

Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States agreed on many things during the Paris

peace talks. The talks lasted over two years before any agreements were made that suited

all of them. The forces involved agreed that U.S. troops would gradually withdraw from

Vietnam and all prisoners of war would be released. They also agreed that South

Vietnam had the right to choose their own future, whether or not to unite with North

Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops were given the right to remain in South Vietnam but

they could not be reinforced. President Nixon finalized the accepted treaty and began to

remove United States troops.

After the peace talks, fighting continued between the North and South

Vietnamese. North Vietnam went against all that was outlined at the peace talks after the

majority of American soldiers left.