Vietnam War

Introduction

One of the longest fought and emotional wars that the U.S. Armed Forces have ever engaged is the Vietnam War. It is considered as the most unpopular military conflict in U.S. history. There is unprecedented lost in suffering, sorrow, and a national turmoil that can never be appeased with disgust (Johnson, 1988). Such participation in the war was a saw America so divided. And for many of the more than two million American veterans of the war, the inflicted wounds of Vietnam will never heal. This war was brought about by a military struggle spanning for almost 16 years that began from 1959 until 1975. The battles fought involved two warring factions namely the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) who were opposed and in conflict with the United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. The Vietnamese people were no stranger’s to turmoil and killings. They have been history tested by time with a thousand years of slavery to the Chinese; a hundred years of domination by the French, and twenty years of civil war which will be aptly labeled as the American war.

I. U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

The entry of the US in the Vietnam War was a matter of conglomeration of internal events. The year beginning 1946 until 1954 was the struggle of Vietnam to gain independence from France that happened during the First Indochina War. This proved very divisive because it divided the country into North and South Vietnam. The former was under the control of the Vietnamese communists that are hard core oppositionist against France. If they gain liberation, their primary goal was to build a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. On the other hand, the south was controlled by Vietnamese who were with the side of the French men (Johnson, 1988).

The U.S. took the opportunity in deploying large numbers of troops to South Vietnam. Moreover, even U.S. allies gave their support by sending forces to quell the North Vietnamese regime. The following years saw American troops bloat from a number of 500 to a contingent numbering to 16,000 combat troops.

The U.S. forces succumbed to the military strategy utilized by the North Vietnamese. They were able to defeat the U.S. soldiers through guerilla attacks. The U.S. countered by conducting massive aerial bombing important locations and logistical areas of North Vietnam. At the same time, the U.S used large quantities of chemical defoliants from the air to open up the forests and therefore make the enemy as easy targets. The North Vietnamese did not loose its resolve with continuous attacks. Soon the U.S. forces sent for U.S. marines to further intensify ground war. According to Johnson, the support being exerted by U.S. was guided with the premise that Vietnam was part of a global struggle against communism (1988). The North Vietnamese forces were stubborn as they pronounced “if the Americans want to make war for twenty years then we shall make war for twenty years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to afternoon tea”(Johnson, 1988).

In spite of the raging battles, the war took a long time. Soon, the South Vietnamese government fell in spite of reinforcements sent by the US troops to prevent its collapse. By the year 1975, Vietnam was reunified as a communist country.

II. Machinations of U.S. Forces in Internal Conflicts in Vietnam

There have been historical accounts pointing to the invasion done by North Vietnam to the South. However, the real story that explains the matter was that the U.S. took unpublicized and provocative actions against North Vietnam.