The Vietnam War was between Capitalist United states and Communist North Vietnamese; the war began in 1964 and ended in 1975. The US joined the war to stop the spreading of communism. The US came up with the domino theory which was if Vietnam turned communist the surrounding countries would all fall to communism too. The war suffered around 2.3million casualties and was very significant in the long term and the short term. Some of the wars key events were; in 1960 when the Vietcong was formed, 1963 when Diem was overthrown, 1965 Operation rolling thunder begun, 1969 Ho Chi Minh died and in 1963 the cease-fire agreement was signed in Paris and the troops leave Vietnam. At the very beginning of the war China aided North Vietnam by sending material, technical support and rice. China also sent aircraft to North Vietnam to repair the damage caused by American bombing, rebuild roads and rail road’s, the Soviet Union also supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles as well as giving them 3,000 troops. South Korea helped South Vietnam by sending around 320,000 troops to help them, Australia also sent troops to fight for the Americans, and however they only sent about 7,500 troops. The war was significant internationally because so many different countries were offering to help in the form of money and weapons as well as troops.
The Vietnam War was the first major war to be shown on television, in America most of the information people had regarding the war was from news reports, newspapers and television. The information received was often biased and had little truth in it, peoples’ views and opinions were influenced a lot by the news because it was their only contact...
... middle of paper ...
...7,000,000 litres of the chemical over South Vietnam. When the Vietnamese people first started to complain these effects were due to Agent Orange, people didn't bother to investigate, in court they dismissed the Vietnamese people’s case because they said there wasn't enough evidence and their case wasn't very good. After American soldiers begun to complain they investigated and found there was a link between Agent Orange and deformities and in 1984 the US soldiers received about £93 million from several chemical companies. Because of Agent Orange there were about 400,000 deaths and disabilities and 500,000 children were born with birth defects. Not only did this chemical affect the people directly, but people worried that their food supplies/ animals had been poisoned. Till now the court case is still going on to get compensation for all the victims of Agent Orange.
The Vietnam War was a war over communism that started in 1950, when Ho Chi Minh, the national leader of Vietnam, introduced a communist government into North Vietnam. In 1954 it was decided to split the country at the 17th parallel, and was ruled under opposing governments, Bao Dai leading the south and Ho Chi Mihn the north. North Vietnam went to war with South Vietnam with the north being supported by Russia and China, as they were also Communist countries, and the south being supported by Britain and the USA.
The Vietnam War was a vicious conflict predominately between the United States and Australia against The Viet Cong and The North Vietnamese. Initially the public supported the war, however the American president of the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, exaggerated how easy and worldwide the war was to attract further support. When he called for “more flags” to be represented in South Vietnam only the Philippines, the Republic of South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand indicated a willingness to contribute some form of military aid. By doing this “it enabled Johnson to portray the developing war as international to show it must be dealt with and gain support,” (Hastings, 2003). The outcome of the Vietnam War was ensured because the governments of the United States and Australia could not maintain their publics’ support due to the popular culture of the time. This was because much of the war was shown on television or other popular culture, so events like the Battle of Long Tan could be seen by families and people of all ages in their living rooms; this was the first time they could see how bad a war can actually be.
In the article, “A Legacy of Illness: The Healing Process Is Far From Done” by Amanda Spake, the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War is shown to be detrimental to Vietnam War veterans’ mental and physical health. The aftermath and effects of the agent did not and still does not receive the acknowledgment it deserves. The depth of the mental and physical distress of Vietnam veterans exposed to the agent is dismissed by the Veteran Administration, Department of Veteran Affairs and the general public. It is from this lack of awareness for the hardships of the veterans of the Vietnam War endangered by Agent Orange that their psychological and physical struggles stem.
On April 12, 1961, the first application of the chemical nicknamed Agent Orange was sprayed on Vietnamese foliage in an attempt to stop guerilla warfare, launching a herbicidal disaster ("Herbicidal Warfare"). The consequences of agent orange, unbeknownst to the former government officials, led to a series of catastrophic effects including, but not limited to neurobehavioral and physical anomalies of the human body. As a result of the lacking knowledge of Agent Orange, the United States and Vietnam are still cleaning up the herbicidal mess that could have been avoided (Magnuson). Decades later, scientific evidence proved that the use of the dioxin herbicide Agent Orange was linked to many physical and neurobehavior disorders (Poremba).
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.
Almost thirty years after the last troops were pulled out of what was then South Vietnam, its effects are still felt in today’s society. It is hard not to find someone who’s life has not been affected because of this war. One of the most controversial decisions made in the war was to use chemicals to fight the enemy. The most boradly used chemiucal was called Agent Orange. Some people agreed with the use of Agent Orange. They saw it as a very viable weapon that needed to be used in order to keep the Communist from taking control of South Vietnam and subverting their democratic government. Many others disapproved of its use. They knew, correctly, that it would severely devastate the landscape of Vietnam and would forever ruin the land for agricultural use. They also knew of the harmful effect it would have once adults and children came in contact with the harmful chemicals that form the chemical make up of Agent Orange. Once the first bombs carrying Agent Orange were dropped there was no going back. For some people the use of Agent Orange changed their whole opinion of the war and what we were really fighting for. Pictures showing burns and disfigurement were soon to hit the presses. Once the American public could see exactly what was happening and how the civilian life was being treated impacted many people so much that they could no longer support what the United States was doing over in Vietnam. The goal of this paper is to show how the use of Agent Orange changed many people’s perspective of the war in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
The French were forced out of Vietnam and Vietnam was divided between communists and anti-communists. The communist regime controlled North Vietnam. Those that supported the French and were against communism controlled South Vietnam. Then trained Communist supporters from the North, the Vietcong, started coming to the South. America decided that they wanted to stop the spread of communism by stopping communism in Vietnam. The United States believed in the Domino Theory. The Domino Theory is the theory that communism will continue to spread around the world unless it is stopped. America sent soldiers over to Vietnam to help the South fight against the North. Then American ships were supposedly attacked of the coast of Vietnam. This is when the United States officially entered the war.
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longest being 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being an essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was a war that changed America forever. It was a long, costly war between Communist North Vietnam, with the aid of the Viet Cong, and Capitalist South Vietnam, aided by the United States. It was a controversial war at the time, but today, it remains embedded in America's history as a war to be remembered.
The Vietnam War was a horrific war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. There were many causes for the Vietnam War from both the North and South side. There were also many emotions during the war for United States citizens, Vietnam citizens and soldiers of the war for both Americans and Vietnamese. United States couldn’t help but get into the war. They had to intervene which brought tons of good and bad things to the United States. The Vietnam War wasn’t only affecting the North and South Vietnam it also affected the United States and the citizens of the war from both the United States and Vietnam.
The conflict in Vietnam for the United States started when President Dwight D. Eisenhower went along with the domino theory and sent in military advisors in South Vietnam to stop the communist movement from taking place in South Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict was between the communist’s and the United States. North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Cong, a guerilla group to help spread communism. The United States were supporters of the South Vietnam because they wanted them to maintain their government rather than falling to the domino theory of communism. After Eisenhower’s term ended, John F. Kennedy became president and took control of the situation in Vietnam.
Health effects are prominent in Vietnam veterans but denied by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As reported in the American Legion Magazine, “The defoliant also is believed to have poisoned many people who handled it or passed through sprayed locations. After the war, a conspicuous percentage of veterans contracted various cancers or diabetes, and birth defects occurred at high rate among their children, VA compensation and care were denied (Carroll).” Denial of these severe diseases and unnatural occurrences by the VA could be construed as a cover-up for the government’s mistake or a truthful disconnect of Agent Orange and the diseases. Research has shown, “Dioxin has been found to be a carcinogen associated with Parkinson’s disease,
The Agent Orange was one of the most used and common herbicides and defoliants which is chemical the United States Military used in the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1971. "It was a 50/50 mixture of two herbicides: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. It remained toxic for only days or weeks and then degraded, but it had a toxic contaminant, dioxin, that did not degrade as readily and is still causing health problems in Vietnam." (What is Agent Orange). They used this chemical to try to kill people over in Vietnam by spraying it on their fields, vegetation, and trees. There reasons for spraying it on the trees were so that it killed the plants so that the Vietnamese did not have any coverage. This chemical caused a lot of different effects too many people. By the United States using the Agent Orange chemical it was affected people’s health. This chemical could have just caused a short term effect like making people sick and being put on medicine to help them get better, or it could have caused long term effects. Agent Orange could have killed someone right away or it could have made them suffer by making them sick for the longest time until they die. Even though this chemical was very dangerous and deadly it was still used by our own United States military forces to help fight in the Vietnam War.