Vietnam War (nov 1, 1955 – apr 30, 1975)

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The Vietnam War is arguably the most infamous influential and talked about event in the Cold War. One of the biggest military failures seen by the American public up to that point was the Vietnam War. The traumatizing warfare combined with no real goal, besides stopping the spread of communism, for the American public to back tanked support for the war.
The conflict started in 1955 however about a year earlier North Vietnam defeated French colonialists and secured their independence. The North’s wish was to unite Vietnam under full communist rule however the South wished to keep closer ties to the West. When the war started in Vietnam, mostly advisors made up the military presence of the United States in South Vietnam and the Soviet presence in North Vietnam. In 1955 a time of regrouping and mustering of strength started in both the North and South, The north headed by Ho Chi Minh needed time to recover from the previous war of independence before being able to fully consolidate control over Vietnam: and the United States and South Vietnam needed time to set up a strong central government and military in the south. While the South Vietnamese government headed by Ngo Dinh Diem had a good start and was successful by 1959 the country had fallen into disarray due to corruption and bad leadership by Diem. During this time resistance to Diem's corruption had begun in the form of the Viet Cong. The ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) had plenty of equipment supplied by the U.S. however was ill-equipped to deal with the VC in the jungle or mountains of Vietnam. By 1959 North Vietnamese-supported elements in the south had essentially started a new war. In 1961 The U.S. headed by John F. Kennedy increased their presence in the region expanded their shipments of weapons and added more advisors and military personnel to Vietnam. After the Diem regime fell a series of unfortunate events unfolded, North Vietnamese full military involvement along the Ho Chi Minh trail and inadequate governments weakened South Vietnam to the point of collapse. And in 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson decided to commit U.S. troops to the war in South Vietnam. Despite stopping the imminent collapse of the South Vietnamese government and military the success of the American military was questionable, especially for the American public. Over time as casualties mounted support waned. After multiple back-and-forth attacks from the Vietcong in the Tet Offensive which raised casualties on both sides and hurt morale back home. Talk of American withdrawal from a seemingly pointless war had started and in 1969 the first troops would be ordered to withdraw from Vietnam a full 25,000 and then 150,000 over the next year. To replace the withdrawal the U.S. began the “Vietnamization” of the war effort, which included training of the Vietnamese military of American weapons. After negotiations and compromises the United States agreed to withdraw on the condition that no North Vietnamese troops would be reinforced within South Vietnam. After the full withdrawal of the U.S. troops in 1973, the two sides violated the terms of the treaty and in 1975 after a full invasion of South Vietnam, the country was united into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In the end, a total of 282,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died 58,220 of them being United States soldiers, a total of 444,000 to 666,000 North Vietnamese and Vietcong died, and 405,000 to 627,000 civilians died, a total of about 1,353,000 casualties.

Spector, Ronald H. “The Fall of South Vietnam.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 7 Feb. 2025, www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/The-fall-of-South-Vietnam.

National Archives. “Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.

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