Vietnam+War+Abroad—actual+fighting+etc.

Vietnam War: Abroad—actual fighting etc.

__THE UNITED STATES INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM BEGINS__
The United State became involved in Vietnam after war broke out when the Vietnamese communists and the French. China was aiding, and supporting the communists. The United States decided to help the French because they had the fear that communism would spread to most of Eastern Asia. The United States started to help the French in October 1962, and remained in the country even after the French left. The main goal for the United States was to contain communism for three main reason: (1) 70 % was do avoid humiliation over a defeat, (2) 20% was to keep South Vietnam from getting into the hands of China, (3) 10 % was to have the people of the South to enjoy a free way of life. Before the United states entered the actual war we became shocked with some of the extreme movements made by the Buddhists monks in the South in 1963. The monks began committing suicide by pouring gasoline, and then lighting a match. This happened because the South's president Ngo Dinh Diem was putting a repression on the Buddhist religion. The United States was shocked by the serious action taken by the monks. President Kennedy suggested that Diem take his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu should be removed from the government because they are losing the respect of the people. Diem didn't listen to Kennedy's warning, and the situation in the South became worse. Diem soon began to take violent actions by having his soldiers and police capture, torture, and sometimes kill Buddhists minks and nuns. He finally lost the respect of his followers by putting the Martial Law into action. The Martial Law was the stopping of all Buddhists- led movements.

__THE PEOPLE OF THE U.S BECOME DIVIDED__
The start of the Vietnam War caused the citizens of the United States to become the divided. The two groups were the "hawks", and the "doves". The hawks were the people who supported America in going into the war. They believed if others didn't believe in going to war that they were disloyal to the country, and that they wouldn't mind if the communists took over the government. The doves believed that we became involved in the war for all the wrong reasons. One of the reasons is that we didn't understand the culture or history of Vietnam.



__THE DRAFT__
The draft for the Vietnam war was incredibly high. About 26.8 million men turned eighteen years old when the war started. About 2.2 million of those men were drafted, and about 8.7 million joined the armed services. Some draft deferments were enrolling at a college or university, or having children. The deferments didn't last long. In 1971 President Nixon started to withdraw soldiers from Vietnam. He then replaced the draft by having the option of being able to volunteer to serve the country.

__FRAGGING__
The war was hard on the soldiers from the beginning. Fragging became the soldiers would assassinate their officers. The assassinations were caused by racial tension, drug abuse by the soldiers, and the soldiers refusing to engage in combat because their officers were putting them at risk for a medal or honor form the government. Fragging started in 1969, and ended in 1972. The most accidents occurred from 1970-1971. A total of 86 officers were killed, and 714 were wounded. The officers were killed when the soldiers would roll grenades into their officers tents. media type="custom" key="16064838" (Above M*A*S*H episode. Took place during the Korean war but shows an example of fragging without the assassination of the officer. First clip 9:38 to 11:25. Second clip 15:50 to 16: 55. Final clip 220:08 to 21:30.)

__WOMEN IN VIETNAM__
Women played an active part in the Vietnam War. Women in the South worked as secretaries, maids, and servants for the government, and for the American officers. Some of the women in the South protested against harsh government policies, and stop the suppression of traditional religious beliefs.Women in North Vietnam were more active. Those women were farmers, nurses, some were guerrilla warfare fighters, and others were in unions who helped stir up anger against the enemy especially for the Americans because they bombed their homes. Some of the women in the North learned how to fire anti-aircraft weapons, and some acted as surrogate mothers who helped siblings, and orphans escape the bombing and continue taking care of them. There were some women on both sides who served as spies and transporters who carried food, weapons, and supplies to the soldiers. If the spies were captured then they would be treated and tortured just like the men.Women came from American and served as nurses.

__GUERRILLA WARFARE__
The tactic of using guerrilla warfare was used by the North Vietnamese soldiers. Guerrilla warfare takes place in the jungle were the soldiers would hide in trees, bushes, and underground tunnels then attack the enemy when was closer. There were several groups of guerrilla fighters. One was the the Vietcong or South Vietnamese traitors who fought for the North. Another group were teenagers who were inspired to fight because of idealism, but they were less confident in fighting against the American soldiers. North Vietnam was helped by China. China supplied the North Vietnamese army with medium machine guns, heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, and recoil-less rifles.

__NIXON'S DECISION__
President Nixon had a very big decision to make during the Vietnam War. He needed to make the decision on whether or not to use nuclear weapons on North Vietnam. He decided that the decision would be a consequential idea because the North had both China, and the Soviet Union to help them. Nixon decided not to use to use nuclear weapons because it could result in World War 3. Both Former President Johnson and President Nixon agreed that the growing conflicts in Asia would become more severe. Nixon did consider withdrawing the American soldiers from South Vietnam, but he decided not to because it would appear that the United States was losing the war. During the time that the decision was being made, the American soldiers were helping the South Vietnamese government.

__THE BOMBING OF CAMBODIA__
President Nixon wanted to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia. He wanted to expand the war into Cambodia because the communists soldiers were using the dense jungles for guerrilla warfare. Nixon decided that the bombing campaign should be open to the American government, and public. The bombing campaign became known as Operation Menu, which started on March 17, 1969, and lasted for a year and two months. From 1969-1973 American planes dropped about 110,000 tons of bombs on the country of Cambodia. Some believe that the United States bombing of Cambodia only made the threat of the communism starting in Cambodia even stronger. Cambodia was involved with the Vietnam war until the North Vietnamese took over the South Vietnamese forces.

__IMPACT OF THE VIETNAM WAR__
The impact of the Vietnam War fell into communist favor. After the American soldiers left South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese forces captured the South resulting an end to the war. With every war comes casualties. The United States had about 304,000 wounded soldiers. About 74,000 of the wounded men survived with amputations to the legs, arms, or both, but some of the wounds of the soldiers were emotional. Many suffered from Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). From 1959-1975 the United States lost 58,151 men who were killed in action, and lost 8 women. The causalities for North and South Vietnam are not official. There were over 1.5 million deaths but the number could be higher due to guerrilla warfare. Many of the American soldiers who were killed in Vietnam were twenty one years old or younger. Both of the Vietnamese forces suffered such heavier loses, and the numbers could be higher or lower.



__SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VIETNAM WAR__
The significance of the Vietnam war is that it was the first time in history that the United States lost a war. It showed that the United States has strong forces, but that every war is going to have different actions, and consequences. The Vietnam War showed that the policy of containment doesn't work. When the North took over the Southern forces, the government later became communistic. The United States feared that it would spread to other countries in Asia besides China, and in the end their worst fear cam true. The Vietnam War affected the United States mentally, and physically as well as it did for Vietnam. To this day Vietnam has a communistic government, and people will remember the fight that tried to prevent it.

__IMPORTANT DATES__

 * October 1962- US involvement in Vietnam increases
 * July 1965- 150,000 Us troops dispatched to South Vietnam
 * April 1970- Nixon extends the war in Cambodia
 * January 1973- Cease fire between North Vietnam and US
 * April 17, 1975- North Vietnam wins

__CITATIONS__
"Cold War: Involvement in Vietnam." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al.Vol. 8:1970-1979. Detroit:Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

"draft." The Vietnam War. Jeff T. Hay. Ed. Charles Zappia. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. 79-80. The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

"Fragging." Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. Gale World History In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

Hillstrom, Kevin, and Laurie Hillstrom. //Vietnam War Biographies//. 2. Detroit: The Gale Group, 2001. 243-248. Print.

Hillstrom, Kevin, Vietnam War Almanac. 67-71. Print.

McNaughton, John. "U.S. Interests in Vietnam, 1965." The Vietnam Era. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

"Vietnam Causes: How did the United States Get Involved in the Vietnam War?" History in Dispute. Ed. Robert J. Allison. Vol. 2: American Social and Political Movements, 1945-2000:Pursuit of Liberty. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 263-269. Gale U.S. History in Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.