Essays on Vietnam War

This was a proxy war in the Cold War-era, which took place in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos between 1956 and 1975. It came after the First Indochina War and was a battle between North Vietnam that was backed by the China, Soviet Union, as well as other communist allies and the South Vietnam government that had the U.S. backup together with other anti-communist nations.

The Viet Cong, common front from South Vietnamese communist that was directed by the North, battled a guerrilla war against forces of anti-communism in the area. The North Vietnamese Army was involved in a more conventional battle, sometimes ...

- Introduction

- The Vietnam War is known by many names. The most prominent of these is “The American War. It is the longest war that was ever fought by the Unites States of America on foreign soil. It spanned from November 1955 to April 1975; just over 17 years. The Vietnam War was overseen by four American Presidents; Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The roots of the Vietnam War date all the way back to pre-World War II era. This paper answers crucial questions on the origin, execution, result and aftermath of the ...

All over my life, my interest in conducting a research about the Vietnam War has been intensive. Vietnam War was a long struggle between the nationalist forces who were attempting to unite Vietnam under the government of communism while the U.S was trying to inhibit the spread of communism in the country. The U.S lost the support of the public in the war and ever since the war ended, it has become a benchmark for the act that should never be repeated in all the future United States foreign conflicts. I commenced my research on this interesting topic at the start of ...

Beattie, K. (1998). The scar that binds: American culture and the Vietnam War. New York: New York University Press.

Daum, A. W., Gardner, L. C., & Mausbach, W. (2003). America, the Vietnam War, and the world: Comparative and international perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Hagopian, P. (2009). The Vietnam War in American memory: Veterans, memorials, and the politics of healing. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

Hagopian, in his book, records the history of how the veterans and those who were seriously involved in the war, were affected. He recounts the ordeals that the veterans went through, and some of his assertions are direct interviews with the veterans. The veterans restate how they went through the ordeal, the harsh conditions they were subjected to, and the inhuman characters and governments, who handled them. According to them, it took long for them to heal because some were permanently affected physically. Today, many families in America still feel the same effects, especially having family members, who felt ...

Impact of Vietnam War on American Culture

- Although decades have passed since the occurance of the Vietnam war, the American culture, which was partly born as a result of this war, is celebrated today. - Body - The War changed the views of the American people on their constitutional rights, the media and the government. - The war created many stereotypes that referred the veterans as drug addicts, bitter, struggling to readjust in society and psychologically devastated. - The chemical weaponry that were used on the Vietnam vegetation had an adverse effect on the people in a way that even after three generations, ...

Nixon was elected the president of United States of America 1968 on the promise that he would take a different approach to end the Vietnam War. Consequently, halting American engagement in Vietnam was his greatest challenge. Having known that Vietnam Wars was his greatest burden, Nixon explored diplomatic options that attracted positive public opinions. He orchestrated a peace talk that led to the withdrawal of US soldiers from Vietnam. This reduced the number of American casualties in the war. The war ended in 1974 when the South Vietnamese forces were defeated by the North Vietnamese troops (Young & Buzzanco, 2002).

Whether ...

Kaiser, D. (2000) American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War. Cambridge, Boston, MA: Belknap Press.

This book explores the origins of the Vietnam War, with specific focus on the clash of the two ideologies of socialism and capitalism. The book makes an in depth look in the American society prior to the start of the war, the key individuals involved in the decision to engage in the military campaign and the horrors suffered during the war. The book makes an important deviation from the operation of the war to the growing resentment towards the government and its war machinery in Vietnam at home. It explains in detail the political situation as it changed ...

Holcombe, A. (2010). Politburo's Directive Issued on May 4, 1953, on Some Special Issues regarding Mass Mobilization. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 2010), pp. 243–247.

In this directive, the use of propaganda against the spread on capitalism and the defence of socialism are clearly shown in the directive.

Kaiser, D. (2000) American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War. Cambridge, Boston, MA: Belknap Press.

This book explores the origins of the Vietnam War, with specific focus on the clash of the two ideologies of socialism and capitalism. It looks into ...

Calloway, C. (1995). 'How to tell a true war story': Metafiction in The things they carried. Critique 36(4): 249.

In this article, O'Brien's work is examined as a piece of metafiction; the style and structure of the work frames the stories into epistemological tools with which to view the Vietnam war, life in America, gender issues and more through the lens of different viewpoints. The amount of autobiography found in many of the stories creates a metafictional link between O'Brien's experiences and the contents of these stories. O'Brien also notes unique ways to involve the reader in creating their own interpretations of the text - Calloway examines several places in the book where the author ...

Introduction

The Vietnam War will always be remembered throughout much of the history of the United States (US) as a mighty assertion by the nation of its status as a reckonable political and moral influence in the international community. Democracy has since been the driving force of the US in its pursuance of goals in the Asia-Pacific region – an area the nation sought to contain against communism by the former Soviet Union (USSR). Indochina, geopolitically adjacent to communist-led China through its location in mainland Asia, stands as perhaps the area in the Asia-Pacific region that is most affected by communism. Under the ...

Vietnam War

Vietnam War The Vietnam War is the most famous and significant US external affairs that will remain in the history of US. In essence, it is arguable whether US lost the war or to some extent; it won. Often than not, it appears that the US lost the war as it withdrew from the battlefield before achieving its agenda. The war had a significant economic, social and political impact on the people of US. The US government was overspending on this war; thousands of soldiers were being killed and protest and thus ‘no need of drama’ (O’Brien, 2014 p ...

The movie “Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”, is a documentary expressed through the viewpoint of U.S Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara, who worked during Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. In the movie, McNamara describes the reasons for the Vietnam War, Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crises. Regarding the cold war, the movie expresses the domino theory, which explains that if a state in a country is ruled by communism, then the neighboring countries follow the domino effect. Throughout the movie, it is understandable that war occurs because of a conflict between two groups due to ...

Introduction

The Vietnam War took place between 1961 and 1975. The technology of helicopters goes back to the 20th century. The US army had acquired experience on the effectiveness using helicopters during the World War II. Mobility set the pace of the war. Time, policy, politics, and circumstances converged with technology and adequate funding to create the Vietnam War. The US army entered Vietnam in May 1965 to find they were fighting a different kind of war than that for which they had been trained. However, they did not enter blindly. There were a large number of army officers already serving in ...

The United States has a proud tradition of military accomplishment and support. Federal holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrate the men and women who have fought and died in battle for American freedom. Historians have coined terms like the “Great War,” and the “Good War,” to describe the proud feelings of America’s participation in modern wars. After World War II, the country experienced an unprecedented economic growth and increased political power throughout the world, leading some to label the decades after World War II “the American half-century.” However, the memories of one American war stand in stark ...

In the mid of the 1960s were many events that had impact on the history of United States. There were events that impact both domestic and foreign policy. One of these events was attack on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964. You can ask me why exactly this event? Let’s analyze it. The Vietnam War was one of the largest and the bloodiest conflict of the second half of XX century. For the United States it is the bloodiest war after Second World War, the casualties of US Armed Forces estimated in 58, ...

Vietnamization was a policy that established by President Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War. It was tailored to bring to an end the US involvement in the Vietnam War and therefore expand, train, as well as equip the Vietnam military forces so as to assign them with increasing combat responsibilities. The same gradually reduced the number of the United States combat troops. This investigation is aimed at examining the efficiency of the Nixon’s Vietnamization policy since the year 1969 towards the end of the year 1975. In a bid to evaluate this policy, this investigation will reconnoiter the core events ...

The Vietnam War (1959-1975) was one of the murkiest episodes and solemn conflict in the whole of modern history. It was one of the longest and most unpopular wars that America took part in without proper justification. The war influenced the lives of the next generation of Americans after the scission of the nation. After French’s withdrawal from Vietnam in 1956, democratic elections were to be held in an effort to unite Vietnam under one government. The U.S turned down the idea of doing the election since it feared that the communist would win. U.S’s involvement in ...

Introduction

The Vietnamese War, fought from December 1956 up to April 1975, is one of the Cold War-era proxy wars fought in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Although, on paper, the war was fought between North and South Vietnam, allies of the two antagonists were also involved in the war. For example, North Vietnam was supported by its communist allies (such as China), while South Vietnam was supported by anti-communist allies (such as the United States and France). Up to date, there is no consensus about whether the war itself was necessary, and whether objectives of the war were achieved.

Background

In ...

1. The most important man of the twentieth century, according to Charles Kaiser was Martin Luther King Junior. He was important for spearheading the civil rights movements that were advocating for social justice between the blacks and the whites. 2. The Diggers were a group of radical activists where were considered as left wings and operated from Haight-Ashbury within the proximity of San Francisco, in additional they were also improvisational actors who had guerrilla kind of a group that was referred to as San Francisco Mime Troupe. The original founding member was Peter Coyote (Perry 284). 3. At Monterey ...

Book report: Fields of Fire

It is said that experience is the best knowledge which can be shared with others. James Henry Webb a former representative from Virginia in the United States’ Congress and a combat veteran of the War in Vietnam expressed personal experience in his book ‘Fields of War’ which came out in 1978 describing the events of the year 1969 during the Vietnam War. Having served as a Commander of a Platoon for four years, he retired in the rank of the first lieutenant with exceptional awards such as the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and a Navy Cross, being the second decoration in the ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

Core Associated press Photo from Vietnam in 1968 Source: The New York Times The above photo taken during the Vietnam War, where a wounded soldier signals to an unseen helicopter to a place where other injured comrades are waiting to be rescued, describes in a nutshell what this war meant for the USA – a catastrophe. The World War II is remembered for the end of the fascist rule of the Axis nations (Germany, Italy and Japan) and the recent war on Afghanistan is remembered for the end of the Taliban. But what are the memories the world has of the ...

The Vietnam War is widely acknowledged as one of the most contradictory wars in American and worldwide history. It has been a historical incident whose causes, effects, interpretation and role in the evolution of world affairs has never stopped causing heated debates, still leaving lots of questions unanswered or half-answered. Like any contradictory event, the Vietnam War hurt lots of people, destroyed numerous human lives, tore America apart in terms of its heated supporters standing against its heated opponents and brought nations on the front step of dealing with one of the world’s worst historical pages. If history is ...

The weather underground is a documentary that outlines the violent protest aimed at overthrowing the United States government. The general set up of the documentary is up to standards. It vividly shows the brutal violence of the protestors opposing the injustices performed by the government. The document is very informative on matters touching on the Vietnam War and how the weatherman got frustrated from the SDA (students for a democratic society). After I did deep review of the subject matter of the movie it is clear that it has captured the important elements of the Vietnam War and the factors that ...

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Abstract

The Vietnam War (Viet. Chiến tranh Việt Nam) was one of the largest wars of the second half of the XX century, has left its mark on the culture and occupying an important place in the modern history of Vietnam and the United States and the Soviet Union, which played in it important role. The war began as the civil war in South Vietnam. Later in the war was embroiled North Vietnam - later gained the support of China and the Soviet Union - as well as the U.S. ...

Often described by the media and some political pundits as an unnecessary war, the Vietnam War is one of the historical events that have received both criticism and admiration with an equal measure. Nevertheless, there are many political and military lessons to be learnt. One of the most important lessons learned from the Vietnam War is that we should always have an end goal. The reason why the war was unnecessarily prolonged for such a long duration is because there was no exit strategy. According to Hunt Jr. (2004), the US military went to the Republic of Vietnam with ...

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the United States history were a radical student movement during the 1960s. This was a student activist organization in the U.S. that was one of the foremost representations of the New Left. In the prominent Port Huron (Michigan) Statement of 1962, the movement, established in 1960 , offered its vision for-Vietnam War America and invited students to join the organization to establish ‘participatory democracy’. On June 1962, less than 100 individuals show up during the initial SDS meeting at Port Huron, Michigan. During this convention, the group espoused an endorsed political philosophy, the Port Huron Statement, ...

[Author’s Name] It would not be incorrect to state that the Vietnam War can be rightfully considered as one of the most incomprehensible and murky events and simultaneously, one of the most grave conflicts in the whole contemporary history. This 20th century war is one of the longest and the most detested American war. If the overall impact of the Vietnam War is observed, one can easily see how deeply it affected the Americans. In addition, the war resulted in the breakage of American nation as it experienced defeat for the very first time. The war is ...

Communism has catalyzed numerous wars in the history of the world with the Vietnam War being an explicit example. At the end of 1955, a cold war era was brewing due to the differences between the North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was communist and South Vietnam, anti-communist. The People’s Republic of China supported the northerners and the Southern Vietnam got their main support from The United States (Pious 85). The United States involvement was an attempt on their part to prevent the invasion of communism to South Vietnam. This is because they had a wider strategy of a non-communist country. ...

THE VIETNAM WAR AND U.S. INVOLVEMENT

Introduction

The common name "Vietnam War" or "War in Vietnam" - is the second Indochina war in Vietnam with the U.S.. It began around 1961 and ended April 30, 1975. In the Vietnam War, it is called the War for Liberation, and sometimes the American war. The Vietnam War is often regarded as the peak of the "cold war" between the Soviet bloc and the People’s Republic of China, on the one hand, and the United States with some of its allies - on the other. In America, the Vietnam War is considered ...

The end of the Vietnam War had a great impression on my political opinion because of the controversy that surrounded the war and the fact that it created a major rift between the government and the American citizens. The war that lasted almost 10 years cost billions of dollars, the lives of 58,282 American soldiers and left 303,644 American soldiers wounded. The war defined a generations, divided Americans and changed the U.S. military policy and operation. Americans opposed the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam and by 1970 less than 30% of the citizens supported the war leading to ...

The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27 1973 between the United States (US) government, South Vietnam then politically known as the Republic of Vietnam, North Vietnam known officially as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the PRG or the Provisional Revolutionary Government which represented interests of revolutionary groups residing in South Vietnam. The purpose of the accord was to end the Vietnam War and bring peace to war-ravaged Vietnam. In particular, the accord was aimed to end direct involvement of American military in the war and stop the wars between South and North Vietnam (Griffith, 42). When ...

The Vietnam War was occurred between the year 1960 and 1975. It started as a determined effort by Communist insurgents, the so called Vietcong, in the South, supported by Communist North Vietnam, to remove the South Vietnam government from power. The struggle broadened into a war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and eventually into a restricted international battle. The United States, as well as some 40 other nations, backed South Vietnam through providing munitions and troops while the People's Republic of China and the USSR supplied armses to the Vietcong and North Vietnam. In spite of the massive American help, the ...

Introduction

The purpose of Afghanistan invasion was essentially to dismantle Algaeda organization and stop its use of the Afghanistan as its base. The US intention was to eradicate fundamentalist Taliban regime from authority in Afghanistan. The United States war in Afghanistan was actually estimated to cost between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. On the other hand, Vietnam War represented an attempt that was successful on the part of the Vietnam republic and national front for liberation of Vietnam to unite together and impose the communist system over the whole nation. This war occurred in the cold war and is viewed ...

The Vietnam War started in 1955 and it ended in 1975. It was a cold war skirmish that took place in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from first of November 1955 to 30th 1975.The Vietnam War was a war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The communist allies supported the Northern Vietnam while the United States of America and other anti-communists states supported the government of Southern Vietnam. The Vietnam War and its impact on Martin Luther King, jr are discussed in the book Vietnam and America: A documented history by Gentleman, M. E. (1995). He says that no single event since ...

The United States and the German Student Movement The German Student Revolt of 1968 in West Germany happened due to various domestic and international political and social forces. The merger of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the majority Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1966 left the German political system with virtually no opposition during that time, raising insinuations that an authoritarian regime is well underway (Hockenos 53). The emergence of radical left-wing movements in the United States (US) inspired dissenters in West Germany, particularly college students who lamented the degrading university system due to the economic ...

Vietnam War Memorial, designed by Maya Lin, is a national memorial established in Washington, D.C to honor U.S soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. The design of the war memorial was unanimously selected by an eight-man jury in May, 1981 from 1,421 entries, but was not established until November, 1982 following criticism of the initial design, which resulted into the addition of The Three Soldiers. The Three Soldiers, designed by sculptor Fredrick Hart, is the bronze statue intended to complement the Vietnam War Memorial and give it a traditional appearance. The Three Soldiers was finally established in 1984, following ...

According to the historian, Marilyn Young, Americans were involved in the fighting in Vietnam from 1945 to 1990. The Vietnam War became a very contentious issue in the United States (U.S.) and many mark the serious decline in American citizen’s support for the war. The purpose of the war was stated to be – to save South Vietnam from becoming communist. The 1968 Tet Offensive was a surprise attack launched by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong at the end of January during the Vietnam War. A truce had been called between the north and south warring parties because Tet is ...

Dang Thuy Tram was born in Vietnam on 26th November 1942. At the young age of 25 she was already working as surgeon in the battlefield during the Vietnam War. She was however a civilian doctor but many are the times that she operated of wounded soldiers. It is during this time as a surgeon in the battle field that she secretly wrote down the encounters and the events of the Vietnam War in her diaries of which two were burned by United States soldiers. Her war time encounters as well as the story of her diaries are now well documented ...

Arguably, the Vietnam War is one of the known wars in the world. As a matter of fact, most conflicts in Southeast Asia were fought in South Vietnam between the guerrilla forces which are guided by North Vietnam and the Government forces that benefited from United States guide. The Vietnam War began in 1954 after a Geneva conference, which divided Vietnam into South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and North Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam). The war escalated from a civil war in Vietnam into an international conflict that US became involved. The war in Vietnam did not come to an end despite ...

The significant role that has been played by women in the Vietnamese society cannot be overlooked. Unlike the women in other countries in the region, traditionally “a special position and prestige in family and society” has been held by the women in Vietnam ("Vietnamese Women in the Eighties" ). There is an old but memorable Vietnamese saying: “When war comes, even women have to fight” (Tai). In Vietnam, for as long as the people have been fighting against international forces, women were an essential part of that struggle. It is said that hundreds of thousands of women played a huge role in ...

Arguably, war and philosophy tend to always appear a little common. As a matter of fact, scholars assert that philosophy is a field that defines and establishes the rationality and justice for being part of a war and that it attempts to set norms and rules on how wars in most cases must be conducted. One of the philosophical theories that try to justify the essence of going to war is the Just War Theory. Certainly, the scheme of a Just War is to define and establish ethical and moral foundation for human destructive events and activities. In addition, just war principles tend to ...

Summarize the events that led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Also, outline the controversy associated with these events.

Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution is a resolution that was put before the US Congress by President Lyndon Johnson on August 5, 1964 as a reaction to two related unprovoked attacks on US Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Maddox and C. Turner Joy by North Vietnamese torpedo on August 2, and August 4 respectively (Young, 1991). The purpose of the resolution was to support and approve the determination of the president as a commander in chief to consider any suitable measure to deter any armed attack against United State’s forces and to avert any further aggression. The resolution also ...

Abstract

Le Ly Hayslip’s memoir is a remarkably personal account of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a native who was victimized by both sides. Her viewpoint is a sharp departure from other histories of the Vietnam conflict, which has often been written about from the standpoint of combatants or by scholars writing highly academic histories. Hayslip’s account shows how one’s understanding of the world can be determined by an ideology, and how it can be changed radically by personal experience. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places is an important work in that it reveals the terrible sufferings endured ...

The war experience for soldiers in the various wars such as the Vietnam War, the two world wars and the civil wars were quite different. There is however some similar experiences that both soldiers can also share. In this paper, we shall be focusing on the differences and the similarities that the soldiers had in terms of their experiences.

Similarities

The first similarity of their experiences is that the soldiers had to know that they were making a sacrifice for their nation. This did not matter whether they had been trained for war or not. All they had to keep at ...

“Ultimately it was Australia’s dependence on the United States that led it into Vietnam” (Gregory Pemberton). Is this a correct analysis of Australian military involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s?

The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War—a conflict between the North and South Vietnam to gain the ruling power over Vietnam—took place from 1962 to 1975 (The Cold Warrior). While the United States and other democratic countries supported South Vietnam, communist nations, People’s Republic of China and Soviet Union supported North Vietnam (The Cold Warrior). Several international events were responsible for the revolution that resulted in ...

The Village is a well acclaimed book written by well known military writer Mr. Bing West. The book is based on the Vietnam War. This book paints a complete picture of the Vietnam War and the mental, physical, psychological conditions of fighting soldiers during and after of the war. Since Mr. Bing west has worked on the several important posts of American defense and has served as marine infantry officer during Vietnam War itself, the writer is well aware of the war conditions, policies of the war and the state of mind of soldiers. Bing in this book has portrayed the ...

The Vietnam War of the 1960s was a protracted, unpopular war that experienced a lot of media coverage and local resistance. The enemy was no longer an official military force, but a group of guerilla warriors who deployed unconventional tactics to defeat American soldiers. The Iraq war carries a substantial number of similarities, from the unpopularity of the war to the level of media coverage it received. In this paper, the similarities and differences of the two conflicts are raised, indicating that they should have a similar outcome (the withdrawal of American troops from the region).

The Wars in both Vietnam and Iraq are ...

Abstract

The Vietnam lasted for 30 years and had dire consequences for both, America as well as Vietnam. However, these consequences where not short lived. Some had long lasting effects on the society, economy, politics and foreign policy. The war led thousands of Americans to question their own countries approach towards conflicts on foreign shores as well the level of risk it takes when partaking in such wars. It also raised several questions on how these wars were conducted and the morality of troops sent to fight wars on foreign soil. The war changed the way people thought of their ...

9th May, 2011 Revision is very important in helping the reader understand what exactly the writer wanted to say in the first place. The writer is able to tackle all the concerns that he or she forgot to highlight or deal with in the first place.

Revision in any kind of writing is important for it gives the writer a second chance to convince the reader that indeed what he or she did in the first place was not a true reflection of his or her actual knowledge of the subject. In the first place, the writer did not ...

Photography is a form of art that shows the artist’s perspective in a snapshot. Photographers capture a moment in time in order to portray emotion and convey a particular message. Political photos serve as a detailed and informative example of this form of expression. Not only do they show us history in time, but they also preserve memories of the event, lest history cloud perceptions of how wars are waged. In the case of the Vietnam War, political photography was used by many pioneering photographers as a weapon, showing the horrors of the war on both foreign and domestic soil. Political photography proved to ...

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo was first published in 1977 and was immediately acclaimed in many reviews as a superbly written account of one man’s experience of the Vietnam War. It will be seen that not only was the Vietnam War, because of a unique set of circumstances, very different in many respects from earlier wars, but also that it had a life-changing effect on Caputo: he departed for the war keen and eager for battle, but returned as a total opponent of the war.

According to Caputo, how was the Vietnam War different from earlier wars, such as World War II?

The Vietnam War, according to Caputo, differed in six major ways from the earlier wars, ...

Background of the Study

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the role of China in the relation between Thailand and Cambodia has been quite evident. China has been involved in a number of ways, including the border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand, which started several years ago. Cambodia’s historical concern about Thailand’s inversion on its western provinces depicts a case where an ASEAN state has suspended diplomatic relations with another (Weatherbee 2008). The border dispute started in 1954, and in 2003, it took a new course. This conflict has impacted negatively on the development of ASEAN and on the ...

Forty years before the their immersion in Afghanistan, America had faced a similar problem in the Vietnam jungles. They urgently needed to find a way of counteracting the enemy’s capacity to hide from weapons while living off the land. They decided to use Agent Orange, a herbicide designed to kill the forests that were sheltering the enemy. However, this decision was arguably one of the worst that were made throughout the course of the war. The herbicide proved to be a cause of cancer (cancer). Moreover, even today, children are being born with defects and illnesses as effect of the use of ...

Daughter of Danang, a film by Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco, may be ranked amongst the greatest documentaries of this century. Unlike most Hollywood movies, this is a real, absolutely true harrowing story that takes its beginning from the Vietnam War. There are no stunts or special effects, outstanding actors or hackneyed phrases – there is just a real life with all its problems, misunderstandings, pros and cons, love and pain.

Being abandoned (let us call things by their proper names) by her Vietnamese mother, Heidi, the mixed-race girl whose father is American servant, flies to the US with other American-Vietnamese children due ...

The 1968 film The Green Berets, starring and co-directed by John Wayne, presents a very pro-American and jingoistic view of the Vietnam War, sugarcoating the more violent and abhorrent aspects of the US Army’s activities during the war in favor of a more benevolent, patriotic mindset. The film follows Colonel Mike Kirby, leader of a Green Beret Unit, as he fights in South Vietnam and defends his men against actions taken by the North Vietnamese. In this essay, several aspects of the film will be critiqued, comparing the viewpoint explored in the film with the truth of US Army actions during ...

Why the United States Fought in the Vietnam War

Introduction History is not very clear about the origin and the rational behind the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. However, the blanket story is that the main reason why the United States entangled itself with Vietnam is because of its defense of its political ideology – democracy (Henretta, p. 32). It was said that the United States had to counter the Communist insurgencies in Vietnam solely because it wanted to reduce and/or eradicate the spread of communism in South East Asia. Hence, it needed to attack Vietnamese communists as a fight against the counter ideology of democracy - ...

National security state is a term used to make reference to a condition where a state’s aspects of political, economic, intellectual and social life are based on the considerations of national defense and the need to have in place national defense mechanisms and establishing a capacity, through all measures possible, of protecting the state against all its enemies both internal and external. This control of almost all aspects of life in a nation came into being during and after the second world war when a state of mutual suspicion among the war victors, with Russia on one side and the United states on the ...

At the end of January each year many in Vietnam, the USA and other parts of the world, think of 1968 when the Tet Offensive was launched by the North Vietnamese against South Vietnam. Although the North had agreed to a truce they did not honor it. Instead they initiated a surprise attack comprised of approximately 70,000 Communist fighters into Saigon and about ninety nine other South Vietnamese cities. The attacks took place in cities on the coast and inland causing a shift from rural fighting to urban fighting. The consequences were staggering and the cruelty to innocent people caught in ...

The 1970s was a decade of the public’s disappointment with the government and its policies, domestic and foreign, social and economic. It was the time of counterculture and various movements and protests that followed the example of the civil rights movement. The most important topics for the American people were the distrust for the government after the long-lasting Vietnam War that weakened not only the United States, whose economic situation was already devastating, but other countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and their neighbors; the Watergate scandal that made Americans doubt that the county is in fact a democratic one, the state ...

Introduction

The United States was and still the most powerful military and economic force around the globe. The country’s number one position is maintained through intervention into some countries they believe unfriendly to the United States interest. However, the superpower position has not brought victory at all times. There may have some points wherein power is not always the winning side of the war. The United States may have lacked some concrete insurgency and guerilla warfare plans throughout the war in Vietnam. Way back 1973; fifty eight thousand American soldiers lost their lives during the war in Vietnam in ...