Essays On The Vietnam War

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
...show more content...
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 was so significant to the United States partly as it would be the first war they would lose.
It also had a tremendous financial impact on the country and the casualties were also more in the
public eye than ever before due to the media. They learnt that:
"a long war for limited objectives, with its steady stream of body bags, will not be supported by the
American people" (Martino, 1996, p37).
Some suggest that the US should have avoided any involvement in the war. However, it is important
to consider the political climate of the time when passing judgement. The aim of this analysis is to
explore...show more content...
Ho was determined to achieve independence for the region. The French wanted to regain power and
took badly to Ho's proclaiming the former Indochina as 'The Democratic Republic of Vietnam' in
September, as the British had persuaded the allies to return power to the French in October (Palmer,
1984).
At this time bi–polarity was not yet fully entrenched and Ho appealed to the U.S. in his September
speech to the masses, drawing on The American Declaration of Independence (ibid.). America
influenced the celebrations and professed its friendship to the new state. However, this did not last
and reasons for America's turnaround are many. During WW2 the US had viewed Indochina as of
limited importance but they began to reassess the situation (Herring, 1986).
France responded to Ho's proclamation by enlisting Britain's help in expelling the Vietminh from the
south of the country, creating a division between Ho's North Vietnam and FrenchSouth Vietnam.
This was followed by fruitless attempts to negotiate an agreement between the French and Vietminh
that lasted over a year. For the Vietminh, unification was vital for the country's survival as food
production was mostly in the south, but the French refused to budge. Hostility increased until, in
November 1946 France shelled Haiphong killing 6000 civilians, tragically beginning the Vietnam
War (ibid.)

Essay on The Vietnam War
The united front had long and historic roots in Vietnam. Used earlier in the century to mobilize
anti–French forces, the united front brought together Communists and non–Communists in an
umbrella organization that had limited, but important goals. On December 20, 1960, the Party' s
new united front, the National Liberation Front (NLF), was born. Anyone could join this front as
long as they opposed Ngo Dinh Diem and wanted to unify Vietnam.The character of the NLF and its
relationship to the Communists in Hanoi has caused considerable debate among scholars, anti–war
activists, and policymakers. From the birth of the NLF, government officials in Washington claimed
that Hanoi directed the NLF's violent attacks against the Saigon regime. In a...show more content...
Instead of a large–scale military buildup as the White Paper had called for or a negotiated
settlement that some of his advisers had long advocated, Kennedy sought a limited accord with
Diem. The United States would increase the level of its military involvement in South Vietnam
through more machinery and advisers, but would not intervene whole–scale with troops. This
arrangement was doomed from the start, and soon reports from Vietnam came in to Washington
attesting to further NLF victories. To counteract the NLF's success in the countryside, Washington
and Saigon launched an ambitious and deadly military effort in the rural areas. Called the Strategic
Hamlet Program, the new counterinsurgency plan rounded up villagers and placed them in "safe
hamlets" constructed by the GVN. The idea was to isolate the NLF from villagers, its base of
support. This culturally–insensitive plan produced limited results and further alienated the peasants
from the Saigon regime. Through much of Diem's reign, rural Vietnamese had viewed the GVN as a
distant annoyance, but the Strategic Hamlet Program brought the GVN to the countryside. The
Saigon regime's reactive policies ironically produced more cadres for the NLF. Military Coup
By the summer of 1963, because of NLF successes and its own failures, it was clear that the GVN
was on the verge of political collapse. Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, had raided the Buddhist
pagodas of South Vietnam, claiming that they had

The Vietnam War
From the outset, the Vietnam War manifested itself as a conflict that could only be settled by
prolonged engagement. Because the war was fundamentally an ideological struggle between the
democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist bloc of the U.S.S.R. and China, the strategy
formulated by both democratic and communist advisory forces in North and South Vietnam
conformed to accepted Cold War military practices. However, while initially similar to the war in
Korea, the war in Vietnam soon outgrew and exceeded the expectations of U.S. strategists, evolving
into one the longest and most bitterly contested campaigns in U.S. history. The reasons for this
relative loss of control on the part of the American...show more content...
Despite the praise given the United States, however (perhaps most evident in the inclusion of certain
passages of the U.S. Declaration of Independence in the Vietnamese document of the same name),
the reversal of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's policy calling for the liberalization of colonial
rule during the administration of Harry S. Truman and the subsequent U.S. support of French
colonialists after World War II succeeded in alienating Vietnamese nationalists, specifically the
Vietminh and those in the largely communistic North . Thus, the roots of the Vietnamese resistance
to American power were already taking shape, and it was a movement fervently dedicated to
subverting what was perceived – most especially after the final defeat of the French at Dien Bien
Phu – as a new form imperialistic aggression on the part of Ho Chi Minh's former friend and ally, the
United States. Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh resolutely resisted the French; the U.S., upon
supplanting their European ally, became the new enemy, one not greatly distinguishable in the eyes
of freedom fighters from earlier French oppressors.
This resolute commitment to resistance was duplicated in

Essay on Vietnam
Vietnam
The war–torn country of Vietnam is once again in the midst of a revolution. Only this war is not
being fought with soldiers and tanks; rather, it is being fought and won with businessmen and
free–trade. This new on–slot of foreign business in the formerly closed country have completely
rejuvenated the Vietnamese economy. For the first time since the re–unification of Vietnam in 1976,
the doors of the market place are opened to the outside world and Vietnam is aggressively taking a
stance for further economic development.
Before any International firm attempts to conduct business with, or in Vietnam, it is extremely
important to not only know your potential consumer, but to understand him as well. Vietnam has a
unique...show more content...
Particular attention is devoted to the people who make up the society, their origins, dominant beliefs
and values, their common interests and the issues on which they are divided, the nature and extent of
their involvement with national institutions, and their attitudes toward each other and toward their
social system and political order.
GENERAL INFORMATION 1
Official Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam Capital: Hanoi
Location: A republic of Southeast Asia, bordered by China on the north, the South China Sea on the
east and south, and Cambodia and Laos on the west (see Appendix A).
Land Area: Its area is 329,707 sq km (127,301 sq mi); larger than Virginia, North Carolina, and
South Carolina combined.
Terrain: Varies from mountainous to costal delta.
Climate: Tropical monsoon.
GOVERNMENT 2
A constitution enacted in 1992 assigned to the Communist party a leading role in Vietnamese
government and society, but curbed some of its administrative functions. The constitution also
increased the powers of the National Assembly. The Communist party acts through the Vietnam
Fatherland Front, which includes representatives of the nation's political parties, trade unions, and
social organizations.
Executive
Under the 1992 constitution, the head of state is a president, elected by the legislature from among
its members; as commander of the armed forces, the president chairs the Council on National
Defense and Security. The president

The Vietnam War is truly one of the most unique wars ever fought by the Unites States of by any
country. It was never officially declared a war (Knowll, 3). It had no official beginning nor an
official end. It was fought over 10,000 miles away in a virtually unknown country. The enemy and
the allies looked exactly the alike, and may by day be a friend but by night become an enemy
(Aaseng 113). It matched the tried and true tactics of World War Two against a hide, run, and shoot
technique known as "Guerrilla Warfare." It matched some of the best trained soldiers in the world
against largely an untrained militia of untrained farmers. The United States' soldiers had at least a
meal to look forward to unlike the Communist Vietnamese soldiers...show more content...
A large portion of Vietcong troops were killed, and major Vietcong outposts were discovered. Most
of the overtaken cities, including Saigon, had been regained. Unfortunately for the United States
the timing of the Tet Offensive couldn't have been worse. For the past three years the Americans at
home had been promised a swift defeat of the (so called) nearly destroyed Communists, which,
after the retreating of the French, had become the main goal of the United States. Worst of all,
election year was approaching, and the incumbent Richard Nixon was promising a swift plan of
"Vietmenization" in which the war was supposed to be placed in the hands of the South Vietnamese
and allow for the retreat of American soldiers. Johnson was so unconfident he didn't run for
reelection. Finally, in 1972 the last United States foot soldiers were removed from Vietnam, and in
1975 the North Vietnamese over took Saigon, renaming it Ho Chi Mien City after their brilliant
military leader. At this time the United States Embassy was surrendered, marking the end of the war
(Winthrop, 861–865).
As the soldiers returned home they had to adapt from a war in which over one million people were
killed. There were no banners or celebrations, and as the news of events such as the My Lai Massacre
spread, they were seen as ruthless killers. When these soldiers risked their lives every minute for a
reason they were not told and seemingly was purposeless, and then returned to a

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

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Essays On The Vietnam War