The Vietnam War By Connor Kraycik
Vietnam War The crack of gunfire is heard throughout the vast dark and gloomy Vietnamese jungle. It is a surprise attack as the Viet Cong use their guerrilla tactics. An American soldier wades through the water. One, two, three friends dive helplessly down into the water. How does this happen, how does a war get so complicated? Shouts in Vietnamese echo all around the US soldier. He doesn't even know who's on his team. The Vietnamese all speak the same language. The Vietnam war is so complicated. Split People always think of Vietnam as a tourist country, however, not from 1959 to 1975. In fact, most people considered it a dangerous place in this time of war. North and South After World War II, Vietnam was declared a free country. After they were declared a free country, there was a power struggle in Vietnam. Many people in the north were Communist and wanted control. Vietnam s government in the south did not like the idea of communism. But in 1956 elections would be held in the north and the south. The north (where the majority of the people who supported communism lived) were expected to dominate the elections in both sides.
Hence the south refused to hold elections. The U.S. supported this refusal. The north and south split in Vietnam was born. Communism The people who fought for the north were called communists. Communism is a political party or system in which they favor equality over freedom. Under communism the government also controls the distribution of goods. In my opinion people should be able to be free and make it their choice what to eat and what they want to do. So, I don t believe communism is the best form of government. This struggle between types of governments was one of the reasons the United States got involved with the Vietnam War. War While South Vietnam's government refused to hold elections, supporters of communism in the south formed a rebellion on the south's government. The war had begun. These rebels who lived in the south but fought against the south s government were known as the Viet Cong. With all the complications the Viet Cong would form an army. The Viet Cong were guerillas, and made it very difficult for troops to tell who was an ally and who was an enemy. According to the book On The Front Line Fighting The Vietnam War, guerilla warfare is making surprise attacks while fighting in a smaller group. Communism supporters adopted guerilla warfare to adapt to the environment. Keep in mind Vietnam has many parts that are huge jungles and if Guerilla Warfare
you use guerilla warfare you can hide in the trees for a surprise attack. Worried The U.S. was very worried about the spread of communism. Fearing the spread of communism, the U.S. sent money, weapons, advisers, and top soldiers to South Vietnam. Many other countries brought equipment and troops to Vietnam such as Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand. The U.S. Comes To Help U.S. troops known as special forces were sent to South Vietnam to train Vietnamese troops in 1956. Their goal was to prepare and teach South Vietnamese troops how to fight the Viet Cong. When training special forces often found themselves in the middle of the fighting. New President On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was shot and murdered. Lyndon B. Johnson, the Vice President, took over as President. The Viet Cong s army was still expanding and President Johnson was worried. Controversy President Johnson was eager to send troops to Vietnam, but he knew that there would be some controversy about it. Americans probably didn't want to get involved in the Vietnam War in the first place so why would Americans want to send troops over to
Vietnam. On August 2, 1964 there were reported attacks on the USS Maddox (a U.S. warship). Two days later the Maddox and another ship the C. Turner Joy reported more attacks. President Johnson claimed that if the ships really did get attacked it meant that North Vietnam wanted to start a war with the U.S. Lyndon B. Johnson made the decision for American troops to officially join the Vietnam War fighting with the south against the Communist north. Tunnel Rats Many people originally thought the U.S. would be able to take over the north with no problem. However, this was a much more complicated war. The United States soldiers were not prepared to fight in the middle of the jungle, it proved difficult to fight against guerilla warfare, and some of the people who lived in the south were actually against the U.S. soldiers coming into Vietnam. The Viet Cong had many tunnels 15 feet underground in South Vietnam. The Viet Cong used the tunnels to hide from U.S. troops and take shelter from U.S. bombings. There were U.S. soldiers that went down into the tunnels for parts of missions, they were called tunnel rats. Tunnel rats played a very important and very dangerous role in the Vietnam War. They faced dangers of booby traps, being attacked by snakes and being shot at by Viet Cong soldiers.
Peace Promise In the year 1968, both sides agreed to stop fighting for a few days on Tet, which is a celebration of the Vietnamese culture. Therefore, no fighting would take place in these few days of the celebration of Tet. However, thirty Viet Cong soldiers broke this promise that both sides had made. They attacked over one hundred towns and cities in South Vietnam. Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was one of the cities they attacked. Everyone Wants Out President Lyndon B. Johnson did not want to run for reelection, so Richard Nixon became president. At this point everyone wanted out of this complicated war, including the soldiers and the people back in the U.S. but President Nixon had a plan. Goodbye Vietnam President Nixon wanted to say goodbye to Vietnam. His plan was for the South Vietnamese army to take over most of the fighting. That meant that U.S. soldiers would be able to go home sweet home. However, like most things in the Vietnam War, it was more complicated. Horrible Things Done In 1969 President Nixon met a new complication, the public heard about a secret that the government kept for over a year. In 1968 U.S. soldiers had arrived
in a village called My Lai. They heard that that the Viet Cong might be in the area. But in the village they found only old men, women and children. Wanting revenge for friends killed by the Viet Cong they murdered over five hundred innocent people. It was madness when the public heard about the incident. Why would U.S. troops commit such an awful crime? Just three months before U.S. troops left Vietnam President Nixon arranged a massive bombing on the city of Hanoi, the Capital of North Vietnam. Why would you do that if you re going to leave in three months? Left Alone After years of considering leaving Vietnam, President Nixon's plan was finally being sprung into action. This meant completely abandoning South Vietnam in this war. Have you ever heard the U.S. has never lost a war? Well, think again this was definitely a loss. Aftershock In my opinion this experience changed the way we think about a war. Our senseless bombing of Hanoi left the city in ruins, killing many innocent people. I think most people wanted to forget about the Vietnam War.
Conclusion Why did we even get involved in this war? A U.S. soldier says as he hugs his wife in relief of being alive. I don't know I just don t know. This taught us a lesson in war and life, if you over complicate things it will never end well. The Vietnam war was so complicated.
Sources On The Front Line Fighting The Vietnam War By Brian Fitzgerald Raintree Publishing 2006 The Vietnam War By Peter Benoit The Vietnam War 1964 1975 By Ian Westwell Brown Bear Books 2008