Vietnam War essays

Vietnam War essays The Vietnam War took place from 1959 to 1975. The war involved the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front which came into conflict with the United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. Struggling for their independence from France, Vietnam divided into two countries, North and South Vietnam. Being Vietnam was a Communist government, the United States decided to become involved with Vietnam. The United States believed that if all of the country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. This belief was known as the Domino Theory. Under this belief, the U.S. government supported the South Vietnamese government which led to the rebellion in the South because of the repressive policies, therefore, the National Liberation Front was formed into an opposition group with close ties to North Vietnam. General Westmoreland, the American commander, had a variety of strategies he had conceived. His first strategy was to deploy the American troops to protect the U.S. air and supply bases along the South Vietnamese coast. He then would send units to block any attempt made by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong to sweep across to the sea and slice the country in two. With their vastly superior mobility and fire power, the American forces launched a series of search-and-destroy operations that would grind down the enemy. The American soldiers went to Vietnam with a lot of weight of American industry behind them. With the exception of the nuclear weapon, nearly every piece of equipment in Americas hands was sooner or later used in Vietnam. The skies were full of fighters, bombers, helicopters, and other airplanes. There were high-altitude B-52s referred to as Puff the Magic Dragon, a converted DC-3 transport outfitted with rapid fire machine guns able to pump out eighteen thousand rounds per minute. Being so cluttered in a...