started in 1957 and ended in 1975. Our country went through many dramatic changes,

mentally and emotionally, during these years. Before the war many Americans knew

nothing about Vietnam, let alone where it was located. It was a small country in

Southeast Asia and was divided into two parts. The northern part was the Communist

Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the southern part was the Non-Communist Republic.

The North Vietnam government wanted to overthrow South Vietnam, headed by

Ngo Dinh Diem, and unite the two into one country again. Diem was growing more and

more unpopular so he canceled the elections in 1956 in fear of losing his position and

giving a way for the North to overthrow the South. North Vietnamese started to rebel

against Diem and from 1957 to 1959 he tried to stop the rebels from North Vietnam

whom he named the Viet Cong, meaning Vietnamese Communist. Soon the United States

stepped in to help the South Vietnam government and to bring them aid by weapons and

military supplies by sea. By 1960, Diem’s unpopularity spread and the Viet Cong

threatened to overthrow the government. The President of the Uni

protests and on November 1, 1963 Diem was murdered. South Vietnam was in a major

were against the war and didn’t think America was a risk from North Vietnam or

Richard Nixon became president and announced a new policy, known as

Vietnam was tearing our nation apart.

only one attack by the South Vietnamese the North sent a fleet to attack and torpedo the

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