The Vietnamese War, as defined to me in the New Standard Encyclopedia, was ? an undeclared war for the control of South Vietnam, starting in 1957 and ending in 1975.? The war began as a Communist guerrilla campaign supported by North Vietnam, who sought control of South Vietnam. The United States feared that Communism would spread, and President Eisenhower?s Domino Theory was born. By 1965 the United States assumed a major role when units of Marines became the first combat troops in South Vietnam. In April, the first North Vietnamese regular units infiltrated South Viet

The protesting that went on while the war raged overseas was, to say the least, intense in itself. The first major protest, as recorded on Soc. 001/rutgerscollege-hist., occurred in 1966 in Washington D.C. and amassed approximately 25,000 people. Nationwide there was 80,000 different demonstrations protesting the war. In 1967, 100,000 people gathered yet again in Washington D.C. to conduct a peace rally. By 1969, 25 million protestors were marching on Washington D.C. Perhaps the most violent and tragic event happened, however, on May 4,1970, when Kent State students who had gathered to conduct a peaceful demonstration, were fired upon by Ohio National Guardsmen. This action left 4 students dead and 11 injured.

In 1970, despite the continued withdrawal of American troops, and a lessening of hostilities, the war appeared to take on larger dimensions. In both Laos and Cambodia, United States forces tried to blunt Communist offensives and to eliminate the Vietcong forces from their Cambodian sanctuaries. These actions set off major protests on American College campuses. In 1971, the South Vietnamese forces tried to stop the North Vietnamese infiltration into the south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Their efforts, however, were thwarted within a matter of weeks. In March of 1972, the North Vietnamese launched a full-scale offensive into the south and occupied much of the territory. By the end of 1972, both the United States and South Korea had ended their ground combat role in South Vietnam and a peace agreement was signed. The treaty stated that the United States would withdraw from the conflict, and all United States prisoners of war held by the Nor

Some topics in this essay:
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