Entering+Vietnam

==**Were we (the US) right in entering Vietnam or not? **==  //Created by: LL-SOTH, EL-OS, KW-OS, AW-OS // //"We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening." -Former President Ronald Reagan, 1964 //




=Why is this important to U.S. History? =   I think the U.S was not right to enter Vietnam. I think that if we entered Vietnam with a plan and were there to help them, then it would have been okay. We went into Vietnam to help them but it just caused more problems and more violence. It made a huge impact on the states too. It caused antiwar motions throughout the country. They asked us to come in, but then we left their country damaged. I think it would have been better if we did not enter Vietnam. (EL-OS)

I think that the U.S.A. had all the rights to enter vietnam. After they attacked us we could not just stand around and watch what was happening. If we would have waited for another attack it could have cost us even more than the thousand of lives that it did. (KW-OS)

I think that we ruined our reputation when we left Vietnam to fend for themselves. If we had entered with more of a plan, things could have turned out better. The Vietnamese people, literally, put there lives into our hands. Yes, I believe it right that we entered Vietnam, but its not okay that we left them. <span style="font-size: 90%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> (AW-OS) <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Vietnam War was a great loss for the United States, and in many more ways than just the number of lives lost. When US troops pulled out of Vietnam, it demonstrated to the world that the US was not determined enough to carry through in the fight. It portrayed us a people who just give up when things get too hard--which is not an image we want as a country. When speaking about the Vietnam War, Former President Ronald Reagan said: "...those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening." The US had a lot to lose in this war, especially if communism would have spread farther than it did, and we pulled out before the fight was won. By pulling out of the this war early, we caused consequences not only to ourselves, but to the South Vietnamese. (LL-SOTH)

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<span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">A Brief History of the Start of the Vietnam War <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The US entered Vietnam after the Navy ship, the //USS Maddox// was attacked by North Vietnamese insurgents, known as the Viet Cong. At the time, Vietnam was divided as communist North Vietnam, and South Vietnam, which had beliefs similar to America's. The two fractions of Vietnam had been fighting even before America entered the conflict. When word of the assault on the //Maddox// reached Washington DC, another US ship was sent to Tonkin Gulf, where the incident occured. After this attack on America, President Lyndon B. Johnson had a choice to make: he could either send troops to Vietnam on behalf of the South Vietnamese, or he could ignore the incident. Johnson confronted congress with the problem, and his solution to enter Vietnam and drive off the Viet Cong that had been oppressing and attacking the South Vietnamese. Congress overwhelmingly supported his plan. This is known today as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. (Vao Nam Letters and The Tonkin Gulf Resolution)

The US had bases near Saigon, the South Vietnam capital, that were assaulted by Viet Cong shortly after the Tonkin Gulf incident. American troops fought with the South Vietnamese army against the Viet Cong until the fighting became too much for the US to bear. Troops were recalled in 1973. (American Response to the Geneva Conventions) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We try to help people when they are in times of need, like we did in the Vietnam War. Our goal in Vietnam was to drive out communist insurgents so that the people of South Vietnam could live in peace. We had every right to enter Vietnam. The South Vietnamese wanted our help and the Viet Cong had attacked us at Tonkin Gulf and Saigon. Had we not acted, even more lives would have been lost. If we had allowed the Viet Cong to rise to power, South Vietnamese innocents would have been murdered on mass scales. If we as a country had the resources to stop that from happening and refused to do so, we might as well have killed those innocents ourselves. By entering Vietnam, we stopped mass murder from taking place. (LL-SOTH)

=<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> = <span style="display: block; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> <span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">PRIMARY SOURCES (LL-SOTH): [|The Vao Nam Letters] [|The American Response to the Geneva Convention] [|The Tonkin Gulf Resolution] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

<span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The Vietnam War lasted from 1954 to 1975 between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The [|USA was supporting the South] and was against the North. The USA entered Vietnam after a navy ship was attacked by the North Vietnamese. Fighting and conflict had been in Vietnam long before American entered the country. President Johnson sent troops into Vietnam to help the South win. <span style="display: block; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">In the USA [|President Richard Nixon] first expanded the war to Laos and Cambodia, but finally stopped US involvement. His national security adviser Henry Kissinger created a peace treaty in 1973 with North Vietnam, which soon captured South Vietnam and united the nation. The country was was now not divided into the North and South.

Some 200,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, 1 million North Vietnamese soldiers, and 500,000 civilians were killed. Over 55,000 US soldiers were killed in 1961 through 1975. Cambodia, a neutral neighbor, was bombed by the USA 1969–75, with 1 million killed or wounded. The total was about 5.4 million people killed in the war. The problem was solved, but so many lives were lost and many people were grieving. (EL-OS) <span style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think that the U.S.A. was right to enter Vietnam and engage them in warfare. After the torpedo hit us, our country had to do all that it could to protect us. =====

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">On August second 1964, a [|US destroyer was attacked]by North Vietnamese torpedo boats off the Gulf of Tokin. Congress voted an overwhelming 502-2 for the president- Lyndon B. Johnson, to take necessary measures to protect our country. He had the power to stop an armed attack against the USA., to prevent more attacks. =====

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Vietnam however, made [|more attacks on U.S. naval ships]in international waters. So president made an air raid on gunboats in the ocean. During this attack, the U.S.A. lost two aircrafts. =====

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After all of this had happened, we eventually started The Vietnam War. In my opinion that was the right move. If America had not entered Vietnam and fought back then we would have kept on losing ships and aircrafts. Though many lives were lost, America gained a victory, that in my opinion strengthened us as a nation. (KW-OS) =====

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Vietnam was one part of America’s struggle with worldwide communism. The United States had committed itself to helping other countries fight communist rebels. It’s hard to appreciate the Cold War today, but at the time America felt it was important to fight the communists and their Russian sponsors wherever they threaten America’s interests.

The United States had been supporting South Vietnam with advisors not military forces and we were not planning on becoming involved in the communism. On August 2,1964, the North Vietnamese attacked a U.S. destroyer. Because of this Congress Passed a resolution stating that President Johnson could do whatever it takes to defend South Vietnam.

President Nixon refused to stop the war for fear of being humiliated. He never wanted to leave the South Vietnamese helpless. On January 23, 1973 the settlement ending the war was reached. Later in 1975, the North Vietnamese crushed the South Vietnamese government. (AW-OS)

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