The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was the most controversial war in U.S. history. Also called the Indochina War, it was said to have been started in 1957 when communist rebels of North Vietnam launched an attack on The South. The country was divided because of the communistic views of the North. Because the North was trying to take over and make it a communist country the U.S. then got involved. In 1958 we sent our first troops in. This caused much controversy throughout America. It still affects all the people who grew up in that generation, whether you were a veteran who actually fought or just an ordinary citizen. The war finally ended on April 30, 1973 with a defeated America going home, after the North Vietnamese had taken over the south. The U.S. first got involved after president Dwight Eisenhower said, "If we let the communists take over, the other Asian countries would fall like dominos." At that time he pledged to assist the South Vietnamese government with war. By 1954 there were 342 American military personal there. The mounting communist assault against the south then prompted president John F. Kennedy to increase the troop strength to 16,000 by the time he was assassinated in 1963. One of the biggest ways the U.S. acquired the troops,
was by the draft. This was a method to get people to war. Anyone from the ages 18 to 26 had to sign up. After you signed up, they would give you a card that said that you registered for the draft. The draft card had to be carried by every male to show the police. Anyone who refused to be in the draft would be put in jail. Many of these people either fled the country or just hid out. These people were known as draft dodgers. Some thought that these people were unpatriotic and therefore un-American. This caused even more controversy. The war also caused people to protest all over the U.S. especially on college campuses and at the nation’s capital. One of the worst tragedies happened at Kent State University on May 4th 1970. The Ohio government sent the National Guard because someone set a fire in protest. A crowd of students began to taunt the troops. Suddenly they opened fire and killed 4 students. At another college police opened fire on an antiwar protest killing 2 people. One of the biggest antiwar demonstrations took place at Washington D.C. in 1969. 40,000 people gathered at the Arlington Cemetery and marched through the city. 3 and ½ hours later the crowd grew to over 500,000 people who held antiwar demonstrations. Thousands held up a “V” sign that came to mean peace. It was the largest demonstration ever during the war. Many of the men who were opposed to the war grew out their hair and smoked marijuana to show their opposition to authority who tried to control the protests. These people were referred to as “hippies.” One of the biggest battles of the war was the Tet offensive. It was also the biggest turning point in the Vietnam War. In August of 1963 Lyndon Johnson took over the American presidency because of the assassination of John Kennedy. He ordered the first air strikes on the North. Six month’s later the
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Approximate Word count = 1245
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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