The Vietnam war began in 1955 and lasted for about 20 years.  The war was the longest and most unpopular war that the united states had ever fought in.  The first U.S. troops did not arrive until 1965.  About 3 million men and women were sent to the war for various reasons.
America faced tougher times than they had ever expected.  The united states lost about fifty-eight thousand lives.  Most that fought will never overcome the war itself and will never be the same as they were when they left for the war.  During the war there were hard times both at home and at the Vietnam War.  The American lived in constant tension at home.  The war was a defining time in the American history.  There was about 2 million people killed on both sides of the war.
The war all started when the North Vietnam tried to take over the South Vietnam and force communism on them.  The united states feeling that the takeover getting to close sent troops over to South Vietnam to try and stop the takeover of communism.  It was a questionable call by many when we sent the troops over to Vietnam.  U.S. leaders were afraid that if they attacked the North Vietnam than it would cause tension between us and China and Russia and would start world war III.
The united states used the Gulf of Tonkin as an area where the Seventh Fleet stayed.  On August 2,1964 the U.S. was sent on a mission to collect intelligence on radar and coastal defenses of the North Vietnam.  While the U.S. was on the mission the North Vietnam torpedo boats attacked united states destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
There was also an war going on back home in America.  There was many  protest of the anti-war people.  Many of the protesters said that the policymakers in Washington D.C. dragged the country into the unwanted war.  The protest first started in large cities but soon the anti-war protest were on every street corner in about every city in the U.S.  The protest were at colleges.  One protest at Kent State in Ohio four students were killed by National Guardsmen and students at Jackson State in Mississippi were also shot and killed.  One mother said, "they are killing our babies in Vietnam and in our own backyard."
"No healing, no apologizes, no memorials nothing can possibly compensate for the damp done and the pain inflicted...  The only thing we can possibly do twenty years too late, is to try and tell the truth."  That is a quote said by someone.
The united states used a good air attack.  In 1961 the South Vietnam signed a military and economic aid treaty with the U.S. leading to the arrive of the U.S. troops.  The U.S. used many different weapons.  Some were aircrafts and some were guns.  One of the aircrafts was the Bell UH-1 helicopter it was a workhorse for America.  It transported troops, equipment, and supplies.  Another aircraft was designed in the late 1940s to carry nuclear bombs even though the B-52 preformed well in Vietnam.  Some more aircrafts were Skyrader, Hercules, Skywarrior, Bird Dog, and Greyhound were just a few of the aircrafts used.  They also used many guns one of the guns was a general purpose Machine Gun it was light enough to carry on patrol and deadly at fire.  The headgear was steal helmets.  The uniform was standard-issue cotton.  Most of the time they wore jungle like boots.
Many women also served in the army.  The estimate is that about 7500 were sent to Vietnam.  Most of the women were young and did not know what kind of change they were about to undergo.  Some of the women worked as nurses and some fought in the war along with the men and were killed..
The war was the longest and hardest war the U.S. fought.  It drove two presidents out of office and destroyed the U.S. foreign policy consumers.  There are still a number of questions that aren't answered like.  What was the nature of the Modern Vietnamese resolution?  How can we explain the American intervention?  Why did the war drag on so long?
On April 30,1973 Communist forces captured the presidential palace in Saigon ending the War.  I hope you enjoyed my report.  I am glad that you visited and I hope you learned something about the Vietnam War.  Thanks again for visiting

Jeff Prior

8th American History

Rossville Jr. High

Post-World War II America Project

May 2002

Bibliography