Vietnam War Essay Topics

The Vietnam War Essay
The Vietnam War Of all of the wars fought by the United States, the Vietnam War was by far the
most controversial. After the defeat of French forces, Vietnam was divided into two sections: North
Vietnam, and South Vietnam. North Vietnam became a Communist government under Ho Chi
Minh, and South Vietnam eventually became a Republic under Ngo Dinh Diem. Under Diem's
oppressive rule, the Viet Cong (those against Diem) grew in power, and the U.S. reacted to the
Communist threat by sending in troops and economic aid, and advised Diem to make more
Democratic Reforms. Because it was never actually declared a war by congress, the "Vietnam War"
is technically the "Vietnam Conflict". Nevertheless, it is still called "one of the bloodiest wars of
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The new enemy was the Communists. The U.S. felt that "if South Vietnam fell to communism, all of
Indochina would fall" (16), and it would create "domino effect", that would influence all of
Indochina to become communist as well. The Vietnamese side was different; they believed that the
U.S. was trying to colonize Vietnam as the French had previously done. The people and the
Vietminh (Viet Cong) believed that the government was a "puppet" of the United States. The
American backed ruler of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem, who quickly became a dictator. He
did not allow any opposition in his policies and demanded complete obedience (Olson, 60). He was
from a family that had formerly had a "political dynasty in the tenth century, and then the
mandarinate at the imperial court for centuries" (Olson, 54–55). A Roman Catholic ruling a Buddhist
majority, Diem was known for being very reclusive and very loyal to his family. The only real
shared interest between Diem and the people of South Vietnam was the hope of taking the French
out of Vietnam. Ironically, it seemed as thought they had simply traded in "French despots for a
Vietnamese one" (Mc Namara, 35). People like Truong Nho Tang, a founder of the National
Liberation Front, were , "Organizers... educated, patriotic, embarrassed by Diem– [and] were
nationalists. Some were communists; many were not. Many had not been politically active before.
But Diem's
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Vietnam War Essay
Chapter 10:
A Generation in War and Turmoil: The Agony of Vietnam
It has been known that the Vietnam War affected many American soldiers who were involved in the
war physically and psychologically. The Vietnam War was one of the most memorable wars in
history. Many Americans' lives lost for no objective at all. Chapter 10 informed us about how the
Vietnam War started and what really happened during that time. It also gave us background
information about Vietnam Veterans and nurses who were involved in the war and what they went
through during the war. I had the opportunity to interview a Vietnam Veteran also.
The Vietnam Veteran I interviewed was my grandfather; he was 27 years old during the time of
...show more content...
The war affected my grandfathers' life because he didn't want to see people being killed and he
wanted a better life for himself and for his family. He had a three–year–old son and a two–year–old
daughter and a lovely wife to take care of.
My grandfather believes that regardless of political views, war is senseless. Luckily his younger
brother Rick came back alive after three tours, but he is psychologically affected till this day.
Although my grandfather wasn't physically affected by the war, he was definitely affected
emotionally.
Some of the other interviewees in chapter 10 had the same views as my grandfather had. I believe it
was John who didn't want war also. My grandfather didn't want to be in the Vietnam War because he
thinks it was unnecessary. It wasn't the United States fight anyway. My grandfather thinks that the
United States shouldn't be involved in other country's war because it gets American soldiers killed
for no reason and that people are fighting in a war with no objective. My grandfather wasn't a
protester though. He didn't like protesters. Well, he tried not to associate with the protesters because
he thinks that they rub him the wrong way. My grandfather is patriotic and they shouldn't protest.
This project helped me learn more about the Vietnam War. I knew it happened and that many
soldiers died, but I wasn't aware of the fact that there

Vietnam War
In the 1950's, the United States had begun to send troops to Vietnam and during the following
25–year period, the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost
3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable
cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2 million people on both sides were killed.
This site does not try to document the entire history of the Vietnam War but is intended as a picture
essay, illustrating some of the incredible conditions under which soldiers from both sides lived,
fought, played and ultimately died. Almost all of the images shown were taken by the legendary
combat photographer, Tim Page; they are nothing short of...show more content...
During WWII, the Japanese government took control of much of the area and set up a puppet
regime that was eventually forced out by the Vietnamese at the end of that war in 1945.
–––After WWII and until 1955, France fought hard to regain their former territories in the region,
but with a poorly organized army and little determination among the troops, their efforts soon
collapsed. The French were finally defeated at Dien Bien Phu on the 8th of May 1954 by the
communist general Vo Nguyen Giap. The French troops withdrew, leaving a buffer zone separating
the North and South and set up elections in order to form a government in the South. The
communist regime set up its headquarters in Hanoi under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Many
North Vietnamese left the country and fled south where the self–proclaimed president, Ngo Dinh
Diem had formed the Republic of Vietnam.
–––Between 1955 and 1960, the North Vietnamese with the assistance of the southern communist
Vietcong, tried to take over the government in South Vietnam, and in November 1963 President
Diem was overthrown and executed. The following year, the North Vietnamese began a massive
drive to conquer the whole country aided by China and Russia.
–––Fearing a communist takeover of the entire region, the United States grew more and more wary
of the progress of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietcong. Communism had become the evil menace in the
United States and with expansion of Soviet rule into Eastern Europe, Korea and

What were the varying responses from the "Allied" troops subject to Vietnam?
The responses from the allied troops were mainly of hatred for the very harsh yet beautiful
environment and an ambiguous response to the Vietnamese people. It is understandable the grudge
troops held against a gruesome environment shrouded with innumerable killings in an alien culture,
but the brutal racial discrimination perpetrated by Americans was still very prejudicial. There were,
however, acts of kindness and charity to Vietnamese, yet at the same time, these glimpses of
humanity were overshadowed by the greater bloody conflict. The varying responses of the allies
were clearly evident through well–known films, stories and writers.
Vietnam's ever...show more content...
This stylistically surreal film (shot in the Philippines) depicts the beauty of Vietnam mixed with the
madness of war. Coppola captures the relaxing white beaches with palm trees and rolling waves, just
so he can jarringly contrast peaceful nature to the suffocating, death lurking everywhere. The scene
of the GI's water skiing disrupting a passing peasant boat metaphorically shows that in fact the
Americans are the out–of–control intruders. Claustrophobic alien jungle has become the hellish
backdrop for the gruesome killing machinery of war as represented by the "insane" Colonel
Walter E. Kurtz who constantly repeats the word, "horror," as he has been blinded by the cruelty
of war. In addition, this film is riddled with racial discrimination towards the Vietnamese with
cruel comments such as, "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after
cow. Village after village. Army after army." Also the stereotypes to Vietnamese as "slopes,"
"gooks," or, "fucking savages," portrays the overall dehumanizing attitudes of the Americans
developed in Vietnam. The merciless scene where the 'grunts' literally rip to shreds the Vietnamese
peasants on a sampan also further shows total disregard or respect for Vietnamese as humans. The
film's most memorable scene of a swarm of attack helicopters riding out of an orange sunrise, with
choppers' loud speakers blaring out Wagner's Ride of the Valkyrie's, shocks with the Americans'
careless disregard as a peaceful village

Vietnam and The Cold War Essay
Vietnam and The Cold War
It is impossible to accurately describe the major events that occurred during the cold war without
mentioning the war in Vietnam. From its start, this war has been very controversial concerning its
purposes and effects on the countries involved. Both sides of this war lost a great number of
soldiers and most of these men and women were not even sure why they were fighting. To this day,
there is still a lot of uncertainty about the events that took place during this heated time in south
Asia. One of the biggest questions raised is why the United States felt it was their responsibility to
ever got involved and what were they trying to gain by sending in their troops. A look at the history
of the cold war and...show more content...
From the beginning of his term, Diem felt that North Vietnam was planning to forcefully take over
South Vietnam. Diem began to arrest anyone who was suspected of being a Communist. Soon after,
North Vietnam began attempting to reunify Vietnam through political means, and not through the
use of violence. After this proved to be an unsuccessful attempt, North Vietnam and the Communist
Party finally approved the use of violence to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diems government. The National
Liberation Front (NLF) was thus developed by the Communists, allowing anyone who was against
Diem and for the unification of Vietnam to join to join their alliance.
After noticing that South Vietnam was on shaky ground, President Kennedy decided to send in a
limited number of troops to aid Diem and his government. However, Diem began to lose popularity
among his people and eventually he and his brother were assassinated. Three weeks after the deaths
of these two leaders, President Kennedy was assassinated. President Lyndon B. Johnson decided
more action needed to be taken in South Vietnam and, after two U.S. ships were destroyed in the
Gulf on Tonkin, Johnson and his administration began to order air attacks upon the North
Vietnamese (the U.S. referred to them as the "Vietcong"). Soon afterwards, the NLF attacked two
U.S. army installations in South Vietnam and, as a result, Johnson orders bombing missions

Essay On The Vietnam War
The Vietnam war took place between November 1, 1955 and April 30, 1975. During the time period
of the 1950's, high tensions had risen in America due to the ever–growing spread of communism
throughout Asia. In order to free Vietnam from France's control and to be an independent nation,
Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh attempted to reach out to America on numerous of occasions, all of
which failed to be successful. Eventually, Minh turned his attention to the Soviet Union for aid,
causing alarm to the American government. The US. believed that if Vietnam were to inhabit
communist ideals, that it would reflect the Domino Theory and eventually cause other countries
within Asia to fall into communist hands. The US's involvement in the Vietnam War changed
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more content...
After the WWII, communism spread to countries through the world under the influence of the Soviet
Union (USSR) and China. The recent occurrence of the Korean War heavily influenced the belief
and importance of the Domino theory within the US. Beginning in 1950 and ending in 1953, the war
between the north and the south of Korea resulted in the draw between the Republic of Korea, who
sided with the US, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who sided with the USSR and
China. America, in turn, failed to prevent the expansion of communist influence and North Korea to
eventually fall into communist control. The failure within Korea exemplified the Domino theory
and emphasized the idea that the US needed to support Vietnam in order to prevent further countries
within Asia to fall into communism. Within published transcripts from 1964, President Johnson
states Johnsons, when discussing observations of the Vietnam war with Robert McNamara, clearly
states that the US had a strong commitment to South Vietnam and that it would fall into communist
hands if they refuse to take action, relating back to the idea of the Domino theory. In an international
history of the war, distinguished British professor Ralph Smith argued

Essay The Impact of the Vietnam War
For many Americans it is common knowledge to know about the Vietnam War; however, for some
Americans the Vietnam War is ancient history, dishonorable, but irrelevant nonetheless. If people
do not physically see the many horrors of war it is easy to forget; although maybe it is something
we try to forget. However, there are some who may be able to forget there will be some, like
politicians, that will not forget. The Vietnam War had a terrible impact on both the United States and
Vietnam, and more importantly it would affect foreign policy for many years to come. It is highly
debatable for what the reasons were for the Vietnam War beginning but for the most part the reason
was to stop the spread of communism. Communism was on the rise and...show more content...
When Rolling Thunder failed to weaken the enemy's will after the first several weeks the purpose
of it began to change. Bombings then tended to be directed at the flow of men and supplies from
the north (Karnow). Damaging as it was to the north, Ho Chi Minh still maintained the same
course. Operation Rolling Thunder was a desperate attempt to convince the North Vietnamese to
initiate negotiations and hopefully a ceasefire. This operation showed that LBJ was ineffective
and ignorant. He was blind to the fact that the North Vietnamese were obviously going to retaliate
because of Operation Rolling Thunder. The TET offensive was the retaliation of the North. The
north surprised attacked many of the cities and therefore making it so that we had to activate our
reserves. It was a political and psychological victory for them (Karnow), because it dramatically
contradicted claims by the United States government that the war was all but over. This offensive
may have been insignificant because it was a failure but it did send an intense message. Due to the
ongoing offensives, controversy over the war raged on. Tensions were not only rising in Vietnam but
they were also rising on American soil. Opposition to the war escalated as the casualties grew, which
created divisions among people of the American society. The United States government

Vietnam War Essay Topics

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Vietnam War Essay Topics