... In early 1954 the French launched a plan which they hoped would end the war. The plan was to entice the Viet Minh to attack a French camp and then destroy the Viet Minh forces. The place chosen was Dien Bien Phu. The French plan ended in disaster: The location was surrounded by mountains and thick jungle and was 200 miles from the French supply base at Hanoi; the weather on the ... North Vietnam should be: "bombed back to the stone age" on the grounds that: "we are swatting at flies when we should be going after the manure pile". The event which led to increased American involvement took ...

• Word Count: 2139
• Approx Pages: 9

... into Vietnam to help resist the Communist, but little was made of it. In 1960 John F. Kennedy became president in the U.S. and things began to turn for the nations involvement in Vietnam. Originally President Kennedy did not want to get involved with the conflict in Vietnam. Prior to his election President Kennedy said, "Should I become President, I will not risk American lives by permitting any other nation to drag us into the wrong war at the wrong ... of the North Vietnamese army through large amounts of military and financial support" (Errington & McKercher 201). This improved relat...

• Word Count: 2963
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

In 1965, Johnson sent the first US combat troops into Vietnam and they left in 1973, accomplishing nothing. The United States was unable to defeat communism in South-East Asia between those years because of their ineptitude, and the superior tactics of the Viet Cong. There were many problems that the Americans faced. Firstly, they didn't get along with the Vietnamese people. The Americans disliked the very people that they were supposedly helping, all people were treated the ... lack of discipline. US military tactics were also incompetent. One of the most prominent approaches was Operation Ro...

• Word Count: 1558
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School