The Vietnam War is one the most unique wars that the United States has ever fought in. The war fought was more than 10,000 miles away and never had a true beginning or end. It was very different than America?s past wars. Guerilla warfare, mass civilian casualties, and fierce jungle combat were all found in this war. The war had involved the strongest military, the United States, and an untrained militia, the Vietnamese. The Viet Cong were not the only enemies of the war as harsh weather and the substantial amount of thick jungles grew into a frustrating factor. Many questions still remain regarding the involvement of the U.S. in the war. The psychological scarring and the harsh responses to soldiers all helped show the distaste for the U.S. involvement in the war back on the home front. I see the Vietnam War as a political stand for maintaining democracy and foreign involvement, but I do not see the necessity after the effects were revealed. The Vietnam War has its place in history; the purpose and reasoning many will never know.

The Vietnam conflict began in the late 19th century when the French conquered Vietnam. For the next forty years, Vietnam would not see peace. The League for the In

America?s firm stance against communism was the major reason for its involvement in the Vietnam War. Any communist anywhere, by definition, was considered an enemy by the United States. The Truman administration firmly stated that any signs of communist aggression must be taken down by the U.S. and its? allies. I strongly believe that communism is wrong and Truman did the right thing in creating this idea of containment. The U.S. entered the war to stop the spread of communism and control it?s sharing of beliefs. If the North Vietnam would succeed in spreading communism, it could become more powerful and may spread ideas to other countries. The U.S. believed Vietnam could become very powerful and militarily responded to the possible effects. The U.S. was afraid of the Domino Theory which is the assumption created to show how communism could spread. The U.S. did what they could to contain this theory. I think it was a good idea to try and control communism. We believe that Communism is similar to a disease and if we could not contain it then it will spread all over the world. Vietnam had a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism that was underestimated by America. The Vietnamese nationalism was a very important factor in determining the citizen?s motives for defending themselves against the French and soon later, the U.S. The U.S. did not understand the nature of the nationalism in Vietnam. Therefore, the U.S. fought without knowing the strength of the Viet Cong. The United States overlooked Vietnamese nationalism because the United States focused on the apparent threat of Communism . The U.S. focused on containing communism versus understanding the nationalism. The U.S. never understood the strength of the Vietnam nationalism and this made a huge effect in combat. The North Vietnamese were a militia using a strong tactic called guerilla warfare. Guerilla warfare was a method stressing deception and ambushes. The U.S. was not used to something this difficult. Guerilla warfare is also known as a sneak attack from behind. The U.S. had to change the style of fighting from declared front line to guerrilla warfare. Soldiers would have to be aware of possible attacks from every direction. This awareness is enough to drive them insane. Guerilla warfare was better for fighting in a rough terrain like Vietnam. Using this passage, ?There is only one way to fight a guerilla and that is to outguerilla the guerilla,? Jim Morris stated his philosophy on the guerilla warfare tactic. The simple and only way of surviving is killing who can attack you.

Some topics in this essay:
Vietnam War, Vietnam Reports, Jim Morris, North Vietnamese, America Disillusionment, Chi Minh, Viet Cong, North Vietnam, Domino Theory, United Truman, vietnam war, guerilla warfare, 1 2002, viet cong, chi minh, north vietnam, psychological scarring, ho chi minh, throughout war, ho chi, vietnam 1 2002, involvement war,