Beginning in November 1955, and lasting through April 1975, the War in Vietnam was a long, drawn out battle that pitted a communist lead regime of North Vietnam and allies against South Vietnam and the United States, lasting a total of just short of twenty years. Though an ally of the South Vietnamese, major United States involvement in the Conflict did not begin until Democratic Republic of Vietnam owned torpedo boats attacked two United States destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. History.com tells us that following this attack, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave then President Lyndon Johnson war-making powers (History.com, 2009). During this time, Air Defense in the United States was experiencing a growth period…
One of our systems proved not only to be combat effective, but also versatile, adaptable, and ready to deploy in austere environments. The United States entered the Vietnam War slowly throughout the 1950s. To prevent communism from spreading, the United States deployed approximately 540,000 troops in 1969 to south Vietnam. Although the United States withdraw their troops by the year 1975, ultimately leaving south Vietnam to fall under control to the north, they learned that they could use their systems as two dimension systems as opposed to the traditional one dimensional. The M48 Chaparral was the first surface-to-air (SAM) operational mobile weapon ever fielded by the United States military.…
Twenty years and 58,286 deaths later, the Vietnam War went down as one of the most significant in United States history. (Source A) The war is more historically remembered as the Indochina War to Americans due to its location and its unforeseeable loss to North Vietnam. Although the United States was just an ally of South Vietnam with hopes to stop the spread of communism, they ended up being the largest foreign military presence which lead to Vietnam schooling labeling it as the American War. Having only been there for three years but still being a contributor to the outcome, the United States was handed their first loss in war.…
Tet Offensive was a major military operation in January of 1968 by the Viet Cong and the People’s Army of Vietnam. It was a surprise attack during the Tet cease fire agreement, that began during the Tet holiday of the Vietnamese New Year. Prior to the surprise attack the LBJ administration was questioning whether the war of attrition was working. General William C. Westmoreland believed that a critical point in the war of attrition had been reached. But this was due to bad information between the command that Gen. Westmoreland ran and the Central Intelligence Agency.…
During the Vietnam War there were many tactics used by either side with varying degrees of success. One of the more distinct methods was the use of a very unconventional style of warfare used by the Vietnamese that was called guerrilla warfare. This baffled the Americans as they had never encountered this style before and were only used to the conventional style of warfare. The Vietcong was a very different enemy to any that the US had ever faced before and would challenge their fighting techniques and methods. It could be argued that guerrilla tactics was the main reason that the Americans lost the Vietnam War.…
The rise of communism in the USSR and China sparked fears in the American government. The U.S. learned of a new power rising in North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh who wanted to gain control of the South making all of Vietnam communist. Through Eisenhower’s tactics (which ran poorly) America lost many of its troops. The domino effect ran through the predecessors of Eisenhower who wanted to continue in his ways. However, each President proved that their policies were faulty and could not withstand the powerful rulings of Ho Chi Minh and the skillful North Vietnamese military.…
Joint operations started way back to ancient era, when the navies often supported the armies when conducting operations on the coast. The naval vessels were often used for transportations of troops and supplies during distant operations. An example would be the Sicilian civil war in 415 BC, where the Athenians sent 27,000 troops transported by 134 ships and some 130 smaller supply vessels. 1 In the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856, the British and French forces were transported by their naval vessels to fight against the Russian forces; and eventually accomplished their objective for Russia to sue for peace.…
Vietnam and World War II were two of the most dramatic wars that America faced. The way America felt about World War II and Vietnam was a dramatic difference once they were both over. Many Americans had come out of the World War II certain that they had won a good war, but that same was not said about the Vietnam. World War II was the Second World War that was considered the “good war” where involving over 60 different countries and 75 million troops coming from all parts of the world. World War II was a major war that brought about leaps to major technology and post-war social changes.…
In, The Columbia History of the Vietnam War, written in 2011, David Anderson states that the Tet Offensive can be seen both as an action of survival to initiate a general offensive before U.S. arms further weakened the People’s Liberation Armed Forces and People’s Army of Vietnam (North) and as an act of political belief that the people of the South would turn on the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the United States. The general offensive did not lead to a popular uprising and instead exposed the Communist forces to enormous losses that they could not afford. Robert J. McMahon, states that the weeks preceding and the months following the initial Tet fighting constituted the pivotal period when the escalation of the American ground…
An analysis of the Tet Offensive reveals stubborn mind sets can lead to strategic intelligence blunders. Many historians and military strategists know the Tet Offensive as the bloodiest time in the Vietnam conflict. Many intelligence professionals could point to certain actions which could have turned the tide of the battle or solidified Allied safety. Setting aside the Status Quo mind set and listening to proven doctrinal concepts fit to adapting to dynamic battlefields could have saved many lives in the early months of 1968. Focusing on both what our enemies are capable of and what they intend to do could have helped predict critical timing advantages.…
One response was to "call [death] by other names (21)." "If it isn't human, it doesn't matter much if it's dead . . . a VC nurse, fired by napalm, was a crisp critter. A Vietnamese baby, which lay nearby, was a roasted peanut (238-239). " This detachment made death easier to handle.…
Mahdin Mohammad Ms.Grindstaff ELA 17 October 2015 VIETNAM WAR Most people in the U.S. thought that involvement in the Vietnam War was wrong. Involvement in the Vietnam War changed many people, because the U.S. wasted many lives, and the U.S. basically lost the war, and it changed many people physically and mentally. The U.S lost a lot of lives in the Vietnam War. “In the Vietnam War more than 58,000 American troops died during the war”.…
The Vietnam War was a controversial war we had entered in 1965. There are many reasons why we entered into the war; one main cause is the threat of communism. This war had many different strategies. The US started with air strikes. Vietnam used methods of attrition and guerrilla tactics.…
In 1954, the theory began when it was first put forth. After this conjecture was put forth America was in very strong support of South Vietnam and pushed them into war and this was become the main reason for the Vietnam War start. They were so afraid and worried of what would happen to the surrounding countries if one of the country fell into Communism. So the U.S theory was there to make sure that no countries fall into Communism and affected other countries most of all the South East…
America didn’t perform to well in protecting South Vietnam. The Americans alienated the people they were suppose to be saving as they chased their enemy. They burned villages they suspected of harboring Viet Cong and sprayed the jungle with chemicals so the rebels can’t use them to their advantage. The rebels didn’t give up. On Tet in the 1968, New Year, when everyone was celebrating troops from the North Vietnam along with the Viet Cong surprised the South with an attack.…