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Introduction to the Vietnam War

By USHistory.org
2016

The Vietnam War began on November 1, 1955, and ended on April 30, 1975. It was fought
between North Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies), and
the government of South Vietnam (supported by the United States, the Philippines and other
anti-communist allies). As you read, identify why the United States entered into the Vietnam War
and what effects U.S. involvement had.

[1] The Vietnam War was the longest and

perhaps most unpopular war in United States
history. It lasted twenty years, from
November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. Despite
the decades of resolve,1 billions of dollars,
nearly 60,000 American lives and many more
injuries, the United States failed to achieve its
objectives.

The U.S. Enters the War

The Vietnam War was fought between the

"U.S. Marines in Operation Allen Brook in
pro-Communist North Vietnamese2 and the
1968" by U.S. Marines (Official Marine Corps
anti-Communist South Vietnamese.3 The
Photo #371490) is in the public domain.
United States entered the war to support
South Vietnam in order to stop the spread of communism4 and the threat of the communist

1. Resolve (noun) a firm determination to do or accomplish something

2. This is a reference to the inhabitants of North Vietnam, officially known as The Democratic
Republic of Vietnam. The DRV was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976.
The state began when Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh declared independence from
France on September 2, 1945, and announced the creation of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.
3. This is a reference to the inhabitants of South Vietnam, officially known as the Republic of
Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam was a state governing the southern half of Vietnam from
1955 to 1975. It received international recognition in 1949 as the "State of Vietnam"
(1949–55), and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" (1955–75).
4. Communism is a way of organizing a society in which the government owns everything that

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 revolutionary Ho Chi Minh. At the time the United States decided to enter the war, Ho Chi Minh
had risen to become a popular leader in North Vietnam. He used his army to defeat the French,
which had colonized Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh declared that he wanted to push out the French and
unite all of Vietnam under Communist rule. He got the support of the Soviet Union, an enemy
of the United States.

On August 2, 1964, gunboats of North Vietnam allegedly fired on ships of the United States
Navy stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin.5 When reports came in that further firing occurred on
August 4, President Johnson quickly asked Congress to respond. At the time, the United States
subscribed to the “Domino Theory” of communism — a communist victory in Vietnam might
lead to communist victories in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Such a
scenario was unthinkable to American diplomats.

So, with nearly unanimous consent, members of the Senate and House told Johnson to "take all
necessary measures" to repel North Vietnamese aggression. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution6 gave
the President a “blank check” to wage the war in Vietnam as he saw fit.

A Difficult Battlefield

[5] Between 1965 and 1968, the fighting escalated. Thousands of American soldiers were sent to
fight in the unforgiving jungles of Vietnam, which had been booby-trapped by the Viet Cong, a
pro-communist guerilla7 force led by Ho Chi Minh. The Viet Cong was hard to identify because
they were not a conventional army force. They blended in with the native population and struck
American forces by ambush, often at night.

Operation Rolling Thunder

In February 1965, the United States began a long program of sustained bombing of North

is used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is
no privately owned property. Many Americans saw communism as a threat to capitalism –
in which individuals own their own property – and thus their way of life. Many Americans
feared that if communism spread, it would make capitalism less powerful, therefore
undermining Americans' power and influence in the world.
5. The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water located off the coast of northern Vietnam and
southern China.
6. The resolution granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast
Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist
aggression."
7. A guerilla is a member of an usually small group of soldiers who do not belong to a regular
army and who fight in a war as an independent unit.

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 Vietnamese targets known as Operation Rolling Thunder. At first only military targets were hit,
but as months turned into years, civilian8 targets were also hit.

The United States also bombed the Ho Chi Minh trail, a supply line used by the North
Vietnamese to aid the Viet Cong. The trail meandered9 through Laos and Cambodia, so the
bombing was kept secret from the Congress and the American people. More bombs rained
down on Vietnam than the Allies used on the Axis powers during the whole of World War II.

The United States used defoliating agents such as Agent Orange and napalm (essentially
gasoline in gel form) to remove the jungle cover. However, this intense bombardment did little
to deter10 the communists. They continued to use the Ho Chi Minh trail despite the grave risk.
They burrowed underground, building 30,000 miles of tunnel networks to keep supply lines
open.

An Unpopular War

One factor that influenced the failure of the United States in Vietnam was lack of public
support. Night after night, Americans turned on the news to see the bodies of their young flown
home in bags. Young men were drafted11 to fight in the war, many of them having to defer a
college education. The average age of the American soldier in Vietnam was nineteen. As the
months of the war became years, the American public became impatient for a resolution. Some
young people took to the streets to protest the war, and others — although only a very small
percentage — came to sympathize with the Viet Cong.

[10] By the late 1960s, many began to feel it was time to cut losses and leave Vietnam. Even the
iconic CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite questioned aloud the efficacy12 of pursuing the war. He
said, “We should be very careful believing that what we think is right in America is necessarily
right for the rest of the world.”

The End of the War

President Nixon signed a ceasefire in January 1973 that formally ended the hostilities. In 1975,

8. Civilian (noun) a person who is not a member of the military, police, or firefighting force
9. Meander (verb) to move in a direction with a lot of curves instead of going in a straight or
direct line
10. Deter (verb) to cause someone to decide not to do something or to prevent something from
happening
11. Drafting is when a person is ordered to serve in the armed forces, versus signing up
voluntarily.
12. Efficacy (noun) the power to produce a desired result or effect; effectiveness

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 communist forces from the north overran the south and unified the nation. Neighboring
Cambodia and Laos also became communist dictatorships.

At home, returning Vietnam War veterans struggled to readjust to normal life; many suffered
from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).13 Tens of thousands of Vietnamese people lost
their homes and were shipped to refugee camps in the United States. In Vietnam, those that
survived the war struggled to overcome the effects of Agent Orange, which, according to the
Red Cross of Vietnam, caused health problems, disabilities, and birth defects in nearly 1 million
people. The use of Agent Orange also destroyed 5 million acres of forests and crops,
contributing to widespread famine and leaving hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people
malnourished or starving.

"Introduction to the Vietnam War" by USHistory.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

13. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event.
Symptoms include anxiety and flashbacks.

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 Text-Dependent Questions
Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete
sentences.

1. Which of the following statements best describes a central idea of the text?
A. Although the U.S. was victorious in the Vietnam War, the American
experience was long and painful.
B. The war was catastrophic for the Vietnamese, and the U.S. failed in its
mission to halt the spread of communism.
C. The American public did not know what was happening during the
Vietnam War, so people widely supported it.
D. The Vietnam War had serious implications for the Vietnamese people,
though it remained popular with the American public.

2. PART A: Which of the following best describes the relationship between public
support of the war and the war's outcome?
A. As public support for the war increased early on, the U.S. made mistakes
that would cost them a final victory.
B. After public support for the war ended amid protests, the U.S. was forced
to surrender.
C. As public support for the war decreased, the U.S. was forced to end the
war without a decisive victory.
D. As public support for the war increased later on, the U.S. acted more
aggressively, leading to a victory.

3. PART B: Which phrase from the text best supports your answer to Part A?
A. "Night after night, Americans turned on the news to see the bodies of their
young flown home in bags." (Paragraph 9)
B. "Some young people took to the streets to protest the war, and others —
although only a very small percentage — came to sympathize with the Viet
Cong." (Paragraph 9)
C. "By the late 1960s, many began to feel it was time to cut losses and leave
Vietnam." (Paragraph 10)
D. "President Nixon signed a ceasefire in January 1973 that formally ended
the hostilities." (Paragraph 11)

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4. According to the text, which of the following factors was a risk posed by "the threat of
the communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh" (Paragraph 2)?
A. the "Domino theory" of communism
B. French colonization of Vietnam
C. separating North and South Vietnam
D. the rise of support for capitalism

5. How does the quote by Walter Cronkite in paragraph 10 contribute to the central
ideas of the text? — "'We should be very careful believing that what we think is right
in America is necessarily right for the rest of the world.'"

it clarifies the authors beliefs about thinking that one country, due to power or influence,

is inherently right in their actions. the author believes that power isn't a fair measurement

of morality, even though the possession of power is the way that moral aw is enforced.

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 Discussion Questions
Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be
prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.

1. In the context of this article, what makes people go to war? Why? Cite evidence from
this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.

I think that human anthropocentrism and self-righteousness leads to us believing in our own
causes while degrading the beliefs and motives of others, and when the "others" fight or
attempt to spread their beliefs, we have a strong tendency to have a fear response to the
unknown.

2. According to the case of the Vietnam War, what do you think is the role of media in
influencing public opinion? Do social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and
Instagram play a unique role? How has the media impacted public opinion of wars
going on in the world today?

the Vietnam war was an early example of media directly effecting the opinions of the masses,
similarly to how media sources like TikTok have effected the younger generations opinions on
current wars like Palestine against Israel. except that in the 21st century, the speed of content is
significantly faster.

3. Given what you now know about Vietnam, how do you think other countries might
feel about our approach to foreign relations? Does this differ from or mirror opinions
you've heard from your friends or at home?

The US's stance on its imperialist influence on the world is rightfully controversial, and I have
already noticed gen Z's tendency towards a resistance against the US funding or helping with
wars that we are not actively involved in.

4. Do you agree with Walter Cronkite? Should we "be very careful believing that what
we think is right in America" is right for everyone else? Have you ever questioned
whether our government and way of life is the right way? Why?

I may be an outlier, but I personally believe that the current division of humanity into countries and
cultures is pointless and harmful to the potential of the human species, and by staying separate we
only harm and slow what humanity could accomplish. 7