Critical Circumstances of the Vietnam War

CRITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE VIETNAM WAR

The Vietnam War was a cold war that spanned from 1956 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. It can be seen that the end result of the Vietnam War tainted America’s image through its failure to demolish the Vietnamese Communist Government . It should be noted that many years before America was directly involved with the war, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were under French colonial rule where the Việt Minh (the communist nationalist independence coalition) spent many years fighting for freedom from the French.

In 1959 the Geneva Conference permitted the foremost powers to come to an agreement on Indochina which would temporarily divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel. Going forward, the country would have a split in leadership between the North and the South; the North was to be led by the Việt Minh and the South to be ruled by Emperor Bảo Đại . A permanent government was hoped to be established within a few years yet the United States was not fully in agreement with the terms of the election. However, Ngô Đình Diệm, the new president of the presumably democratic South was elected and was strongly supported by the United States Government. It was then that the National Liberation front, or Viet Cong began to rebel against Diệm’s rule while also promoting communist North Vietnamese endeavors through guerilla encounters . The United States Military would then become more heavily involved in the Vietnam War when the threat of a communist takeover had potentially threatened all of Indochina.

Throughout the world, it is clear that there were a range of standpoints in which individuals participated and endured the Vietnam War. From American Military Personnel, to the inhabiting Vietnamese...

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... the land, with the access of the prosperous Mekong River. Additionally, any ability to oversee this area of Asia would give a western power an advantage in the Asian continent. One might perceive that the United States Government had far more interest aside from quelling the communism in Vietnam.

ALL MEN ARE IMPACTED BY WAR

Through the literary works examined, and the characters and individuals detailed, we can see that the American soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers both have had their reasons for fighting, but it can be seen that both sides have had similar traumatic experiences during the war and how human spirit becomes diminished under these circumstances. It is clear that the uniting factor in these men is the inhumanity they have faced, and the effects that it has played on their lives if they were fortunate enough to survive the Vietnam War.