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Vietnam War Essay | Essay on Vietnam War for Students and Children in English
February 13, 2024 by Prasanna
Vietnam War Essay:Â The Vietnam War is considered to be one of the most memorable and long-standing conflicts that involved the U.S., with a major role to play in it. The Vietnam War was primarily the consequences of the U.S. anti-communist foreign policy in the year 1960.
It was the military conflict between communist North Vietnam and their allies, against South Vietnam and other countries including America, Australia, Britain, France and New Zealand. Australia’s alliance with the USA was the main reason for the commencement of the Vietnam War. The USA had been a part of the war since 1959 and needed Australia’s assistance. It was a long, costly and divisive conflict. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
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Long and Short Essays on Vietnam War for Students and Kids in English
We are providing essay samples to students on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Vietnam War Essay for reference.
Long Essay on Vietnam War 500 Words in English
Long Essay on Vietnam War is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.
The Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indo-China War and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America. It was the second of the Indo-China Wars that was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies.
On the other hand, South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, and the other anti-communist allies were also there for support. The war lasted 19 years and was also called the Cold War by many. The war had direct U.S. involvement, and it ended in 1973.
During World War II, Japanese forces had invaded Vietnam. To fight it off, both Japanese occupiers and French Colonial administration, the political leader Ho Chi Minh formed the Viet Minh, being inspired by the Chinese and Soviet Communism. The Viet Minh was also known as the League for the Independence of Vietnam.
Following its 1945 defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam leaving the French-educated Emperor, Bao Dai in total control. Seeing this opportunity to seize control, Ho’s Viet Minh forces immediately rose to take complete control over the Northern city of Hanoi and declaring it as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with Ho as the president.
After Ho’s communist forces took control over the North, armed conflicts between the northern and the southern armies continued until a decisive victory of Viet Minh took place in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. The French loss at the battle and almost ended the French rule in Indo-China.
Vietnam was split along the latitude known as the 17th parallel based on a treaty signed in July in the year 1954, with Ho in control in the North and Bao in the South. The Vietnam War with active U.S. involvement in 1954 was due to the ongoing conflicts that dated back several decades.
You can now access more Essay Writing on Vietnam War and many more topics.
The Vietnam War led to outcomes like economic downturn and political isolation for Vietnam, which was only supported by the Soviet Union and its allies located in Eastern Europe. It also led to the fall of the South Vietnamese government in 1975 that resulted in a unified communist government in the country. The war also led to the death of almost 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.2 million Northern soldiers and many service members. Emigration of Vietnam soldiers took place around the late 1970s from Vietnam.
North Vietnam was communist, whereas South Vietnam was not. North Vietnamese communists and South Vietnamese communist rebels known as the Viet Cong wanted to overthrow the South Vietnamese government together and reunite the country.
South Vietnamese troops waded through the water to flush out communist rebels in 1962. The cost and casualties of the war were too much for America to face; thus, the U.S. combat units were withdrawn by 1973, and in 1975 South Vietnam was fully invaded by the North.
Short Essay on Vietnam War 150 Words in English
Short Essay on Vietnam War is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
The Vietnam War (1954-1975) is referred to the period when the United States and other members of the South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) joined forces with the Republic of South Vietnam to contest communist forces that were comprised of South Vietnamese guerrillas and the regular force units called the Viet Cong.
The United States possessed the largest foreign military presence and had directed the war from 1965 to 1968. Thus, for this reason, Vietnam today is known as the American War. It was considered as the direct result of the First Indochina War between France that claimed Vietnam as a colony and the communist forces which were then known as Viet Minh.
The Vietnam War was one of the longest wars in the history of the United States and was extremely divisive U.S., Europe, Australia and elsewhere. The U.S. suffered a casualty of 47000 being killed in action with the addition of 11000 non-combat deaths. Over 150000 were wounded, and 10000 were missing.
10 Lines on Vietnam War Essay in English
1. The Vietnam War was a conflict between the communist and the capitalist countries and was a part of the Cold War. 2. The Vietnam War was a controversial issue in the United States. 3. It was the first war to feature in live television coverage. 4. The war became extremely unpopular in the United States, and President Nixon sent American soldiers home in 1973. 5. Viet Minh waved their flag at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. 6. The French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu led to the Geneva conference. 7. France began to colonize Vietnam between 1959 and 1962. 8. France also took control over Saigon. 9. Laos was added after the war with Thailand. 10. In 1940 the French Indochina was controlled by Vichy French Government.
FAQ’s on Vietnam War Essay
Question 1. What is the main cause of the Vietnam War?
Answer: Spread of communism during the cold war along with American containment was the main cause of the war.
Question 2. What was the effect of the Vietnam War?
Answer: The most immediate effect was the staggering death toll of almost 3 million people.
Question 3. Why was the Vietnam War fought?
Answer: The USA feared the spread of communism, which led the war to be fought.
Question 4. When did the military fight occur in the war?
Answer: The fighting occurred between 1957 and 1973.
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Vietnam War
By: History.com Editors
Updated: May 16, 2024 | Original: October 29, 2009
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.
Opposition to the war in the United States bitterly divided Americans, even after President Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords and ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973. Communist forces ended the war by seizing control of South Vietnam in 1975, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
Roots of the Vietnam War
Vietnam, a nation in Southeast Asia on the eastern edge of the Indochinese peninsula, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century.
During World War II , Japanese forces invaded Vietnam. To fight off both Japanese occupiers and the French colonial administration, political leader Ho Chi Minh —inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism —formed the Viet Minh, or the League for the Independence of Vietnam.
Following its 1945 defeat in World War II , Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving the French-educated Emperor Bao Dai in control. Seeing an opportunity to seize control, Ho’s Viet Minh forces immediately rose up, taking over the northern city of Hanoi and declaring a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) with Ho as president.
Seeking to regain control of the region, France backed Emperor Bao and set up the state of Vietnam in July 1949, with the city of Saigon as its capital.
Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. But while Ho and his supporters wanted a nation modeled after other communist countries, Bao and many others wanted a Vietnam with close economic and cultural ties to the West.
Did you know? According to a survey by the Veterans Administration, some 500,000 of the 3 million troops who served in Vietnam suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and rates of divorce, suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction were markedly higher among veterans.
When Did the Vietnam War Start?
The Vietnam War and active U.S. involvement in the war began in 1954, though ongoing conflict in the region had stretched back several decades.
After Ho’s communist forces took power in the north, armed conflict between northern and southern armies continued until the northern Viet Minh’s decisive victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954. The French loss at the battle ended almost a century of French colonial rule in Indochina.
The subsequent treaty signed in July 1954 at a Geneva conference split Vietnam along the latitude known as the 17th Parallel (17 degrees north latitude), with Ho in control in the North and Bao in the South. The treaty also called for nationwide elections for reunification to be held in 1956.
In 1955, however, the strongly anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem pushed Emperor Bao aside to become president of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN), often referred to during that era as South Vietnam.
The Viet Cong
With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union , and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower had pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam.
With training and equipment from American military and the CIA , Diem’s security forces cracked down on Viet Minh sympathizers in the south, whom he derisively called Viet Cong (or Vietnamese Communist), arresting some 100,000 people, many of whom were brutally tortured and executed.
By 1957, the Viet Cong and other opponents of Diem’s repressive regime began fighting back with attacks on government officials and other targets, and by 1959 they had begun engaging the South Vietnamese army in firefights.
In December 1960, Diem’s many opponents within South Vietnam—both communist and non-communist—formed the National Liberation Front (NLF) to organize resistance to the regime. Though the NLF claimed to be autonomous and that most of its members were not communists, many in Washington assumed it was a puppet of Hanoi.
Vietnam War Timeline
Vietnam Background: Uneasy French Rule • 1887: France imposes a colonial system over Vietnam, calling it French Indochina. The system includes Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China and Cambodia. Laos is added in 1893. • 1923‑25: Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh is trained in the Soviet Union as an agent of the Communist International (Comitern). • February 1930: Ho Chi […]
Henry Kissinger’s Controversial Role in the Vietnam War
As Nixon's Secretary of State, Kissinger both escalated the war—and tried to end it.
6 Events That Laid the Groundwork for the Vietnam War
The conflict in Vietnam took root during an independence movement against French colonial rule and evolved into a Cold War confrontation.
Domino Theory
A team sent by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to report on conditions in South Vietnam advised a build-up of American military, economic and technical aid in order to help Diem confront the Viet Cong threat.
Working under the “ domino theory ,” which held that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many other countries would follow, Kennedy increased U.S. aid, though he stopped short of committing to a large-scale military intervention.
By 1962, the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam had reached some 9,000 troops, compared with fewer than 800 during the 1950s.
Gulf of Tonkin
A coup by some of his own generals succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in November 1963, three weeks before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
The ensuing political instability in South Vietnam persuaded Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson , and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to further increase U.S. military and economic support.
In August of 1964, after DRV torpedo boats attacked two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson ordered the retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam. Congress soon passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution , which gave Johnson broad war-making powers, and U.S. planes began regular bombing raids, codenamed Operation Rolling Thunder , the following year.
The bombing was not limited to Vietnam; from 1964-1973, the United States covertly dropped two million tons of bombs on neighboring, neutral Laos during the CIA-led “Secret War” in Laos . The bombing campaign was meant to disrupt the flow of supplies across the Ho Chi Minh trail into Vietnam and to prevent the rise of the Pathet Lao, or Lao communist forces. The U.S. bombings made Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.
In March 1965, Johnson made the decision—with solid support from the American public—to send U.S. combat forces into battle in Vietnam. By June, 82,000 combat troops were stationed in Vietnam, and military leaders were calling for 175,000 more by the end of 1965 to shore up the struggling South Vietnamese army.
Despite the concerns of some of his advisers about this escalation, and about the entire war effort amid a growing anti-war movement , Johnson authorized the immediate dispatch of 100,000 troops at the end of July 1965 and another 100,000 in 1966. In addition to the United States, South Korea , Thailand, Australia and New Zealand also committed troops to fight in South Vietnam (albeit on a much smaller scale).
William Westmoreland
In contrast to the air attacks on North Vietnam, the U.S.-South Vietnamese war effort in the south was fought primarily on the ground, largely under the command of General William Westmoreland , in coordination with the government of General Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon.
Westmoreland pursued a policy of attrition, aiming to kill as many enemy troops as possible rather than trying to secure territory. By 1966, large areas of South Vietnam had been designated as “free-fire zones,” from which all innocent civilians were supposed to have evacuated and only enemy remained. Heavy bombing by B-52 aircraft or shelling made these zones uninhabitable, as refugees poured into camps in designated safe areas near Saigon and other cities.
Even as the enemy body count (at times exaggerated by U.S. and South Vietnamese authorities) mounted steadily, DRV and Viet Cong troops refused to stop fighting, encouraged by the fact that they could easily reoccupy lost territory with manpower and supplies delivered via the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Cambodia and Laos. Additionally, supported by aid from China and the Soviet Union, North Vietnam strengthened its air defenses.
Vietnam War Protests
By November 1967, the number of American troops in Vietnam was approaching 500,000, and U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded. As the war stretched on, some soldiers came to mistrust the government’s reasons for keeping them there, as well as Washington’s repeated claims that the war was being won.
The later years of the war saw increased physical and psychological deterioration among American soldiers—both volunteers and draftees—including drug use , post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ), mutinies and attacks by soldiers against officers and noncommissioned officers.
Between July 1966 and December 1973, more than 503,000 U.S. military personnel deserted, and a robust anti-war movement among American forces spawned violent protests, killings and mass incarcerations of personnel stationed in Vietnam as well as within the United States.
Bombarded by horrific images of the war on their televisions, Americans on the home front turned against the war as well: In October 1967, some 35,000 demonstrators staged a massive Vietnam War protest outside the Pentagon . Opponents of the war argued that civilians, not enemy combatants, were the primary victims and that the United States was supporting a corrupt dictatorship in Saigon.
Tet Offensive
By the end of 1967, Hanoi’s communist leadership was growing impatient as well, and sought to strike a decisive blow aimed at forcing the better-supplied United States to give up hopes of success.
On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 DRV forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam.
Taken by surprise, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces nonetheless managed to strike back quickly, and the communists were unable to hold any of the targets for more than a day or two.
Reports of the Tet Offensive stunned the U.S. public, however, especially after news broke that Westmoreland had requested an additional 200,000 troops, despite repeated assurances that victory in the Vietnam War was imminent. With his approval ratings dropping in an election year, Johnson called a halt to bombing in much of North Vietnam (though bombings continued in the south) and promised to dedicate the rest of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection.
Johnson’s new tack, laid out in a March 1968 speech, met with a positive response from Hanoi, and peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam opened in Paris that May. Despite the later inclusion of the South Vietnamese and the NLF, the dialogue soon reached an impasse, and after a bitter 1968 election season marred by violence, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency.
Vietnamization
Nixon sought to deflate the anti-war movement by appealing to a “silent majority” of Americans who he believed supported the war effort. In an attempt to limit the volume of American casualties, he announced a program called Vietnamization : withdrawing U.S. troops, increasing aerial and artillery bombardment and giving the South Vietnamese the training and weapons needed to effectively control the ground war.
In addition to this Vietnamization policy, Nixon continued public peace talks in Paris, adding higher-level secret talks conducted by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger beginning in the spring of 1968.
The North Vietnamese continued to insist on complete and unconditional U.S. withdrawal—plus the ouster of U.S.-backed General Nguyen Van Thieu—as conditions of peace, however, and as a result the peace talks stalled.
My Lai Massacre
The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968.
After the My Lai Massacre , anti-war protests continued to build as the conflict wore on. In 1968 and 1969, there were hundreds of protest marches and gatherings throughout the country.
On November 15, 1969, the largest anti-war demonstration in American history took place in Washington, D.C. , as over 250,000 Americans gathered peacefully, calling for withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.
The anti-war movement, which was particularly strong on college campuses, divided Americans bitterly. For some young people, the war symbolized a form of unchecked authority they had come to resent. For other Americans, opposing the government was considered unpatriotic and treasonous.
As the first U.S. troops were withdrawn, those who remained became increasingly angry and frustrated, exacerbating problems with morale and leadership. Tens of thousands of soldiers received dishonorable discharges for desertion, and about 500,000 American men from 1965-73 became “draft dodgers,” with many fleeing to Canada to evade conscription . Nixon ended draft calls in 1972, and instituted an all-volunteer army the following year.
Kent State Shooting
In 1970, a joint U.S-South Vietnamese operation invaded Cambodia, hoping to wipe out DRV supply bases there. The South Vietnamese then led their own invasion of Laos, which was pushed back by North Vietnam.
The invasion of these countries, in violation of international law, sparked a new wave of protests on college campuses across America. During one, on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio , National Guardsmen shot and killed four students. At another protest 10 days later, two students at Jackson State University in Mississippi were killed by police.
By the end of June 1972, however, after a failed offensive into South Vietnam, Hanoi was finally willing to compromise. Kissinger and North Vietnamese representatives drafted a peace agreement by early fall, but leaders in Saigon rejected it, and in December Nixon authorized a number of bombing raids against targets in Hanoi and Haiphong. Known as the Christmas Bombings, the raids drew international condemnation.
The Pentagon Papers
A top-secret Department of Defense study of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967 was published in the New York Times in 1971—shedding light on how the Nixon administration ramped up conflict in Vietnam. The report, leaked to the Times by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, further eroded support for keeping U.S. forces in Vietnam.
When Did the Vietnam War End?
In January 1973, the United States and North Vietnam concluded a final peace agreement, ending open hostilities between the two nations. War between North and South Vietnam continued, however, until April 30, 1975, when DRV forces captured Saigon, renaming it Ho Chi Minh City (Ho himself died in 1969).
More than two decades of violent conflict had inflicted a devastating toll on Vietnam’s population: After years of warfare, an estimated 2 million Vietnamese were killed, while 3 million were wounded and another 12 million became refugees. Warfare had demolished the country’s infrastructure and economy, and reconstruction proceeded slowly.
In 1976, Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, though sporadic violence continued over the next 15 years, including conflicts with neighboring China and Cambodia. Under a broad free market policy put in place in 1986, the economy began to improve, boosted by oil export revenues and an influx of foreign capital. Trade and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the U.S. resumed in the 1990s.
In the United States, the effects of the Vietnam War would linger long after the last troops returned home in 1973. The nation spent more than $120 billion on the conflict in Vietnam from 1965-73; this massive spending led to widespread inflation, exacerbated by a worldwide oil crisis in 1973 and skyrocketing fuel prices.
Psychologically, the effects ran even deeper. The war had pierced the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war (who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians) and its supporters (who saw them as having lost the war), along with physical damage including the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange , millions of gallons of which had been dumped by U.S. planes on the dense forests of Vietnam.
In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. On it were inscribed the names of 57,939 American men and women killed or missing in the war; later additions brought that total to 58,200.
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HISTORY Vault: Vietnam in HD
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Home — Essay Samples — War — Vietnam War
Essays on Vietnam War
🇻🇳 understanding the vietnam war: why write an essay.
The Vietnam War, a pivotal conflict in the 20th century, offers a rich tapestry of historical, political, and social complexities. Writing an essay about this topic is not just an academic exercise; it's an opportunity to delve into a multifaceted war with profound global implications. Exploring the Vietnam War through an essay allows us to gain insight into the human cost, political decisions, and lasting impacts of the conflict. đź“š
đź“ť Vietnam War Essay Topics
Choosing the perfect topic for your Vietnam War essay requires careful consideration. It involves finding an aspect that piques your interest and aligns with your goals as a writer:
🗣️ Vietnam War Argumentative Essay
An argumentative essay on the Vietnam War demands a strong stance on a particular issue related to the conflict. Characteristics of this type of essay include presenting a clear position and supporting it with evidence. Here are ten engaging topics:
- The role of media in shaping public opinion during the Vietnam War.
- Was the Vietnam War justified from a moral perspective?
- The impact of the Vietnam War on American society and politics.
- Assessing the effectiveness of U.S. military strategy in Vietnam.
- The influence of anti-war protests on U.S. government decisions.
- The long-term consequences of Agent Orange and chemical warfare.
- The significance of the My Lai Massacre in the Vietnam War narrative.
- Comparing the Vietnam War to other 20th-century conflicts.
- The role of foreign powers in the Vietnam War: U.S. vs. USSR.
- The legacy of the Vietnam War in modern geopolitics.
🌍 Vietnam War Cause and Effect Essay
A cause and effect essay on the Vietnam War explores the factors that led to the conflict and its far-reaching consequences. Characteristics of this type of essay include analyzing both the causes and outcomes. Here are ten thought-provoking topics:
- The causes and effects of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
- How the Cold War rivalry between the U.S. and USSR contributed to the Vietnam War.
- The impact of the draft and conscription on American society.
- Consequences of the Vietnam War on Vietnamese civilians and their communities.
- The ecological damage caused by defoliants and chemical warfare.
- The influence of the Vietnam War on the anti-war movement.
- How the Vietnam War reshaped U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia.
- The economic aftermath of the Vietnam War for both the U.S. and Vietnam.
- Effects of post-war reconciliation and diplomacy between the U.S. and Vietnam.
- Long-term repercussions of the Vietnam War on veterans and their families.
🤷‍♂️ Vietnam War Opinion Essay
An opinion essay on the Vietnam War allows you to express your perspective on various aspects of the conflict. Characteristics of this type of essay include sharing your viewpoint and supporting it with reasoning. Here are ten intriguing topics:
- My personal stance on the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War.
- Was the Vietnam War an unwinnable conflict from the start?
- The role of media bias in shaping public perception of the Vietnam War.
- Do I believe the U.S. should have intervened in Vietnam?
- The significance of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War narrative.
- My thoughts on the impact of the Vietnam War on veterans' mental health.
- Was the Vietnam War primarily a civil conflict or part of the Cold War?
- The moral implications of using napalm and Agent Orange in Vietnam.
- My perspective on the role of diplomacy in ending the Vietnam War.
- The lasting lessons we can learn from the Vietnam War experience.
đź“– Vietnam War Informative Essay
An informative essay on the Vietnam War aims to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the conflict. Characteristics of this type of essay include presenting factual information and historical context. Here are ten informative topics:
- The historical background of Vietnam leading up to the war.
- Profiles of key figures and leaders in the Vietnam War.
- A chronological overview of major events during the conflict.
- The experiences of soldiers on both sides of the Vietnam War.
- The significance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the war effort.
- The cultural and social impact of the Vietnam War on the U.S.
- The aftermath of the Vietnam War for the Vietnamese people.
- The role of the media in shaping public opinion about the war.
- The different phases and strategies of the Vietnam War.
- Comparing and contrasting U.S. and Vietnamese perspectives on the war.
✍️ Vietnam War Essay Example
đź“ś vietnam war thesis statement examples.
1. "The Vietnam War profoundly shaped the trajectory of the United States in the 20th century, influencing both domestic policies and international relations."
2. "The media played a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and perceptions of the Vietnam War, ultimately affecting government decisions and the course of the conflict."
3. "The Vietnam War remains a complex and contested chapter in history, with diverse perspectives on its causes, consequences, and ethical implications."
4. "The experiences of Vietnam War veterans highlight the lasting psychological and emotional scars of combat, underscoring the need for comprehensive support and recognition."
5. "The Vietnam War serves as a cautionary tale of the limitations of military power and the importance of diplomacy and international cooperation in resolving conflicts."
đź“ť Vietnam War Essay Introduction Paragraph Examples
1. The Vietnam War stands as a pivotal moment in history, marked by complex political maneuvering, profound social change, and human sacrifice. Its significance stretches far beyond the battlegrounds, shaping the course of nations and altering the lives of countless individuals.
2. As we embark on this exploration of the Vietnam War, we find ourselves stepping into a realm of historical turmoil, moral dilemmas, and enduring legacies. The war's impact reverberates through time, demanding a closer examination of its causes, consequences, and contested narratives.
3. The Vietnam War, often referred to as the "American War" in Vietnam, occupies a unique place in global history. It is a conflict that defies easy categorization, a turbulent chapter marked by ideological clashes, geopolitical maneuvering, and the indomitable spirit of those who lived through it.
🔚 Vietnam War Essay Conclusion Paragraph Examples
1. In conclusion, the Vietnam War remains an enduring testament to the complexities of warfare and the indomitable human spirit. Its lessons remind us of the importance of critical reflection, diplomacy, and compassion in the face of adversity. The echoes of this conflict continue to shape our world today.
2. As we reflect on the Vietnam War, we are reminded that history is not a stagnant entity but a living narrative that informs our present and future. The war serves as a stark reminder of the costs of armed conflict and the imperative of seeking peaceful solutions to global challenges.
3. The Vietnam War's legacy endures, challenging us to confront its difficult truths and contemplate the enduring impact of war on individuals and nations. It is a history we must continue to study and remember, not only to honor those who lived it but to ensure that such conflicts remain lessons of the past rather than blueprints for the future.
The United States' Role in The Vietnam War
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The Reasons Why The Vietnam War Was a Hard Fight for The Americans
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Causes and Effects of The Vietnam War
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1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975
The United States, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of (South) Korea, Thailand, the Philippines
The Vietnam War, which took place from 1955 to 1975, was a complex conflict deeply rooted in the historical context of Vietnam and the broader Cold War era. It emerged as a result of the division of Vietnam into North and South following the Geneva Accords of 1954. The historical context of the Vietnam War includes the struggle for independence from colonial rule. Vietnam had been under French colonial rule for decades, and nationalist movements, particularly the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh, sought to liberate the country. The defeat of French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 marked a turning point, leading to the division of Vietnam and the subsequent involvement of major world powers. The conflict was also shaped by the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The United States supported the South Vietnamese government, viewing it as a bulwark against the spread of communism. Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese, backed by the Soviet Union and China, sought to reunify the country under a communist regime. The escalation of the war saw the United States deploying large numbers of troops, conducting aerial bombings, and employing controversial tactics such as defoliation with Agent Orange. The conflict was marked by guerrilla warfare, protests, and anti-war movements both domestically and internationally.
Geneva Accords (1954): The Geneva Conference resulted in the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel. North Vietnam, under Ho Chi Minh's communist leadership, and South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, were established as separate entities. Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964): Following reports of a purported assault on American naval ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, the U.S. Congress responded by approving the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, endowing President Lyndon B. Johnson with expansive powers to intensify U.S. engagement in Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968): The U.S. began sustained bombing campaigns against North Vietnam, aiming to weaken the communist forces and halt their infiltration into South Vietnam. This marked a significant escalation of U.S. military involvement. Tet Offensive (1968): The surprise attacks launched by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces during the Tet holiday resulted in widespread fighting across South Vietnam. Although a tactical defeat for the communists, the offensive had a profound impact on American public opinion, as it contradicted the belief that victory was near. My Lai Massacre (1968): The revelation of the My Lai Massacre, where U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, shocked the world and fueled anti-war sentiment. Paris Peace Accords (1973): The peace agreement aimed to end direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. It called for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and the release of prisoners of war. Fall of Saigon (1975): The North Vietnamese Army captured the capital city of Saigon, marking the end of the war. This event led to the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.
Ho Chi Min: Ho Chi Minh was a key figure in the Vietnamese struggle for independence. He led the Viet Minh and later became the President of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh's leadership and determination played a crucial role in rallying the Vietnamese people against foreign intervention. Lyndon B. Johnson: As the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson escalated U.S. involvement in Vietnam. His administration significantly increased American troop deployments and conducted extensive aerial bombings, seeking to prevent the spread of communism. Richard Nixon: Richard Nixon succeeded Johnson as President and implemented a policy of Vietnamization, gradually withdrawing U.S. troops while increasing the combat role of the South Vietnamese forces. Nixon pursued a strategy to negotiate a peace settlement and eventually oversaw the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam. General William Westmoreland: General Westmoreland served as the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. He played a prominent role in implementing the U.S. military strategy, including the large-scale deployment of troops and the conduct of major operations. Robert McNamara: Robert McNamara served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. He was a key architect of U.S. policy and the escalation of military involvement. McNamara's later reflections on the war brought attention to the human and strategic costs and prompted a reassessment of U.S. actions. Jane Fonda: Jane Fonda, an American actress and activist, became highly controversial due to her opposition to the war. She visited North Vietnam in 1972 and became an outspoken critic of U.S. policies, particularly the treatment of Vietnamese civilians and prisoners of war.
Shifting U.S. Foreign Policy: The Vietnam War prompted a reassessment of U.S. foreign policy and military interventionism. The war's unpopularity and its unforeseen challenges led to a shift away from direct military interventions and a greater emphasis on diplomacy and covert operations in subsequent conflicts. Anti-War Movements and Civil Rights: The Vietnam War fueled massive anti-war movements and protests across the United States and around the world. These movements fostered greater political activism and solidarity, influencing subsequent social and political struggles, including the civil rights movement and the push for gender equality. Diplomatic and Geopolitical Ramifications: The war had significant diplomatic consequences, leading to changes in global alliances and the balance of power. It strained relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as China, and influenced the political landscape of Southeast Asia. Impact on Veterans and Society: The Vietnam War had a lasting impact on the soldiers who fought in it, as well as on their families and communities. The war's aftermath gave rise to discussions on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the treatment of veterans, and the broader societal responsibility towards those who serve in conflicts.
Public opinion on the Vietnam War was deeply divided and evolved significantly throughout the conflict. Initially, many Americans supported U.S. involvement, viewing it as a necessary measure to prevent the spread of communism. However, as the war dragged on and casualty numbers increased, public sentiment shifted dramatically. Anti-war sentiments gained momentum, fueled by televised images of the war's brutality, the draft, and the perception of an unjustifiable military intervention. Protests, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience became widespread, representing a growing segment of the population opposed to the war. Criticism of the government's handling of the war intensified, with calls for a withdrawal of troops and an end to the conflict. Opposition to the war also extended to college campuses, where students staged protests and strikes. Public opinion on the Vietnam War played a pivotal role in shaping political discourse and policy decisions. The growing anti-war sentiment ultimately influenced policymakers, contributing to a gradual de-escalation and the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"Apocalypse Now" (1979): Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this film is a renowned depiction of the war's psychological impact. It explores the horrors of war and the moral dilemmas faced by soldiers in a surreal and symbolic manner. "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien: This critically acclaimed book is a collection of interconnected short stories that delve into the experiences and emotions of soldiers during the Vietnam War. It explores themes of memory, truth, and the psychological weight carried by soldiers. Vietnam War Photography: Photojournalists like Eddie Adams, Nick Ut, and Larry Burrows captured powerful images that became iconic representations of the war. Examples include the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner and the haunting image of a young girl fleeing a napalm attack. "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989): Based on the autobiography of Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, this film directed by Oliver Stone depicts the journey of a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who becomes an anti-war activist. "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival: This song has become synonymous with the Vietnam War era. Its lyrics critique the unequal burden of military service and the socio-political context of the time.
1. The Vietnam War lasted for approximately 19 years, from 1955 to 1975. 2. The United States spent an estimated $168 billion (equivalent to over $1 trillion today) on the Vietnam War. 3. Over 2.7 million American troops served in the Vietnam War, with approximately 9.2 million military personnel from all sides involved in the conflict. 4. U.S. Air Force pilot Colonel Floyd James Thompson holds the distinction of being the longest-held American POW in the Vietnam War, enduring captivity for nearly nine years. 5. The Tet Offensive, launched by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in 1968, involved coordinated surprise attacks on over 100 cities and military installations throughout South Vietnam. It was a turning point in the war and significantly impacted public opinion in the United States. 6. The United States military used the herbicide Agent Orange to defoliate dense vegetation in Vietnam. Unfortunately, it caused severe health problems, including cancer and birth defects, for both Vietnamese civilians and American veterans. 7. In 1968, U.S. troops massacred hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. This event became a symbol of the war's brutality and led to widespread outrage. 8. The Vietnam War sparked massive anti-war demonstrations worldwide, with millions of people taking to the streets to express their opposition to the conflict.
The Vietnam War is an important and compelling topic to explore in an essay due to its profound historical, political, and social implications. Delving into this subject allows for a comprehensive examination of a conflict that not only shaped the course of the Cold War era but also had far-reaching consequences for global politics and societies. Studying the Vietnam War offers insights into the complexities of military interventions, the limits of power, and the ethical dilemmas faced by nations in times of war. It provides an opportunity to analyze the political decision-making processes, the role of the media, and the impact of public opinion on policy outcomes. Moreover, the war's divisive nature and the anti-war movements it sparked raise important questions about the responsibility of citizens, the power of collective action, and the long-lasting effects of trauma on individuals and communities. By exploring the Vietnam War, one can also gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and perspectives of soldiers, veterans, and civilians who were directly affected by the conflict. Their stories offer valuable lessons on resilience, sacrifice, and the consequences of armed conflicts on societies.
1. Anderson, D. L. (2017). The Vietnam War. Palgrave Macmillan. 2. Appy, C. G. (2003). Patriots: The Vietnam War remembered from all sides. Penguin Books. 3. Davidson, P. (2019). Vietnam at war: The history, 1946-1975. Oxford University Press. 4. FitzGerald, F. (2002). Fire in the lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Back Bay Books. 5. Herring, G. C. (2014). America's longest war: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. McGraw-Hill Education. 6. Hunt, M. H. (2009). A Vietnam War reader: A documentary history from American and Vietnamese perspectives. University of North Carolina Press. 7. Karnow, S. (1997). Vietnam: A history. Penguin Books. 8. Sheehan, N. (1989). A bright shining lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. Vintage Books. 9. VanDeMark, B. (1991). Into the quagmire: Lyndon Johnson and the escalation of the Vietnam War. Oxford University Press. 10. Young, M. G. (2017). The Vietnam wars, 1945-1990. HarperCollins Publishers.
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Vietnam War: Background, Summary Of Events, and Conclusion
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.
For more articles about the Vietnam War, go to the category archive .
The Vietnam War: Table of Contents
- Summary of The Vietnam War
When was the Vietnam War?
The m-16 and the vietnam war, #70: a vietnam pow’s story of 6 years in the hanoi hilton — amy shively hawk.
- Aircraft: Evolution in Flight
End of the Vietnam War
The vietnam war: background and overview.
(See Main Article: The Vietnam War: Background and Overview )
During the late fifties, Vietnam was divided into a communist North and anti-communist South. Because of the Cold War anxiety of the time, the general feeling was that, should the North Vietnamese communists win, the remainder of Southeast Asia would also fall to communism. When President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he swore that he would not let that happen.
The more conventionally trained army of South Vietnam was clearly no match for the guerrilla tactics of the North, so in February 1965 America decided to get involved with Operation Rolling Thunder. North Vietnam was supported by China, the Soviet Union, and other communist countries, and the Viet Cong, a South Vietnamese communist group.
The struggle for control of Vietnam, which had been a French colony since 1887, lasted for three decades. The first part of the war was between the French and the Vietminh, the Vietnamese nationalists led by the communist Ho Chi Minh, and continued from 1946 until 1954. The second part was between the United States and South Vietnam on one hand and North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on the other, ending with the victory of the latter in 1975. The communist side, strongly backed by the Soviet Union and mainland China, sought to increase the number of those who lived behind the Bamboo Curtain.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union regarded the conflict not as a civil war between North and South Vietnam but as a consequential engagement of the Cold War in a strategic region. American leaders endorsed the domino theory, first enunciated by President Eisenhower, that if South Vietnam fell to the communists, other nations in the region such as Laos and Cambodia would also fall.
Vietnam War Summary—Overview of the Conflict
(See Main Article: Vietnam War Summary—Overview of the Conflict )
Five American presidents sought to prevent a communist Vietnam and possibly a communist Southeast Asia. Truman and Eisenhower provided mostly funds and equipment. When Kennedy became president there were fewer than one thousand U.S. advisers in Vietnam. By the time of his death in November 1963, there were sixteen thousand American troops in Vietnam. The Americanization of the war had begun.
Kennedy chose not to listen to the French president, Charles de Gaulle, who in May 1961 urged him to disengage from Vietnam, warning, “I predict you will sink step by step into a bottomless military and political quagmire.”
A debate continues as to what Kennedy would have done in Vietnam if he had served two terms—widen America’s role or begin a slow but steady withdrawal. We do know that throughout his presidency, Kennedy talked passionately about the need to defend “frontiers of freedom” everywhere. In September 1963, he said “what happens in Europe or Latin America or Africa directly affects the security of the people who live in this city.” Speaking in Fort Worth, Texas, on the morning of November 22, the day he was assassinated, Kennedy said bluntly that “without the United States, South Viet-Nam would collapse overnight. . . . We are still the keystone in the arch of freedom.”
Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, was an ambitious, experienced politician who had served in both the House and the Senate as a Democrat from Texas, and his persona was as large as his home state. He idolized FDR for winning World War II and initiating the New Deal and sought to emulate him as president. Like the three presidents who had preceded him, he saw action in time of war, serving as a naval aide in the Pacific during World War II, and like them he was a Christian, joining the Disciples of Christ Church in part for its focus on good works. Drawing on his political experience, Johnson thought that Ho Chi Minh was just another politician with whom he could bargain—offering a carrot or wielding a stick—just as he had done as the Senate majority leader. Ho Chi Minh, however, was not a backroom pol from Chicago or Austin but a communist revolutionary prepared to fight a protracted conflict and to accept enormous losses until he achieved victory.
(See Main Article: When was the Vietnam War? )
Although the history of Vietnam has been dominated by war for 30 years of the 20th century, the conflict escalated during the sixties. When we talk about the “ Vietnam War ” (which the Vietnamese refer to as the “American War”), we talk about the military intervention by the U.S. that happened between 1965 and 1973.
For the first time, Americans saw a war playing out on their TV screens and witnessed a lot of the horrors that it brought and the citizens started to turn against the war. Throughout America, people started to hold large anti-war protests against the U.S. involvement in the war of Vietnam.
In January, 1973, peace talks finally seemed to have been successful and the Paris Peace Accords finally ended direct military involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam. Unfortunately the treaty did not stop the fighting, as both sides of Vietnam kept fighting to gain as much territory as possible. The communists managed to seize Saigon in 1975 and gained control over the whole country.
According to U.S. estimates, between 200 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers were killed during this period and 58,200 U.S. soldiers were dead or missing in action.
(See Main Article: The M-16 And The Vietnam War )
In 1959, America chose the M-14 to be our main battle rifle. It would prove to be the shortest-lived rifle to ever serve in that role. Heavy and uncontrollable when fired on full auto, compared to the Soviet’s AK-47, the M-14 was obsolete at birth. America needed a rifle to match her Space Age dreams. Not surprisingly it was a subsidiary of an aerospace company that delivered that dream. Armalite’s business was developing small arms that could then be sold to manufacturers. Armalite employee, Eugene Stoner was given the canvas to create a masterpiece, and from his fertile mind came the rifle of the future.
The advantages of the M-16 over every other rifle on paper were stunning. The magnitude of the change encompassed by Stoner’s design was the perfect complement to “Space Age” technology. This gun was light, accurate, and had virtually no recoil. Any soldier with a little training could put every round into a suitcase at 100 yards in under 2 seconds. The ammo was lighter, cheaper, and deadly. Early reports of wounds on enemy soldiers were so gruesome that they remained classified until the 80s. Bullets would enter the body and pinball around inside doing horrific damage. So impressed by the M-16s issued to the ARVN troops, Green Berets demanded to be issued the weapons in 1962. The jump from the M-14 to the M-16 was equivalent to switching from prop planes to jets. The design was sold to Colt and adopted by the US Military in 1964. Optimism surrounding the gun was very high. That should have been the first warning sign.
(See Main Article: #70: A Vietnam POW’s Story of 6 Years in the Hanoi Hilton — Amy Shively Hawk )
When consider major historical events that involved millions of people— World War 2, the Great Depression, the Cold War—it’s easy to forget that real people with their own stories were part of those events.
Today we’re zeroing in on one story. And that’s the story of James Shively, an Air Force Pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and spent six years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton POW camp. To talk with us is Amy Shively Hawk, Jim’s stepdaughter and author of the new book Six Years in the Hanoi Hilton: An Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in Vietnam.
After being shot down, Shively endured brutal treatment at the hands of the enemy in Hanoi prison camps. But despite unimaginable horrors in prison, the contemplation of suicide, and his beloved girlfriend moving on back home, he somehow found hope escaping prison and eventually reuniting with his long-lost love – proving, in his words, that “Life is only what you make of it.”
In this interview we discuss:
- How Capt. Shively was shot down, what happened when he was captured, and his fate at the hands of Vietnamese villagers
- What kept Captain Shively hopeful during his six years as a prisoner of war
- What happened to the whole prison when two fellow inmates escaped but were captured the next day
- How prisoners built a full prison communications system using Morse code, toilet paper, and hidden messages even though cell blocks were forbidden from speaking to each other under threat of torture
Aircraft: Evolution in Flight
(See Main Article: Vietnam War Aircraft: Evolution in Flight )
“The Many Ways To Die While Building an Aircraft Carrier”
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At the start of 1962, the U.S. had 16,000 military advisors training the South Vietnamese army in its fight against the Viet Cong and the Communist government based in Hanoi. In early February, the Pentagon set up a permanent U.S. military presence in Saigon—the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (MACV). The U.S. military presence in a country that most Americans knew very little about would only grow from that point on.
In April, Air Force Chief Curtis LeMay went to Vietnam for an inspection tour and met with the head of MACV, General Paul Harkins, as well as the President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem. While MACV was concentrating its efforts in the South, LeMay saw that the real problem was clearly coming from the North. LeMay made the same recommendation he made twelve years earlier, for Korea—if the U.S. intended to stop this infiltration, a massive bombing campaign of the North would do the trick. LeMay zeroed in on the port facility in Haiphong, where the weapons and supplies were coming in from the Soviet Union, and proposed bombing it. He believed this would put a halt to the guerrilla war in the South, but the plan was much too bold for the tentative steps that the Kennedy Administration was making in Vietnam in 1962.
Aircraft: A Focus on Bombers
Ten years and 59,000 American lives later, the U.S. did exactly what LeMay had suggested. From December 19 to 29, 1972, the Air Force and Navy conducted Linebacker II, the largest concentrated bombing since World War II. The bombing of the North Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, and the port of Haiphong was conducted by such Vietnam War aircraft as tactical fighters, along with 741 B-52 sorties. Ten B-52s were shot down, five crash-landed in Laos and Thailand, thirty-three B-52 crewmen were killed, thirty-three were captured, and twenty-six were rescued. After years of stops and starts, the massive bombing of Vietnam War aircraft finally pushed the North Vietnamese to hammer out a negotiated settlement that gave the U.S. a way to extricate itself from its tortured involvement.
Decades later, the political debate over this conflict remains unresolved. Kennedy aide Ted Sorensen strongly disagreed with the suggestion that the conflict may have ended sooner had LeMay’s plan been followed ten years earlier, “I don’t know how you can say this so many years after the fact, especially when you consider that the Vietnamese had been fighting for their independence since forever and the idea that some bombs in Hanoi or Haiphong would have brought them to the table is ludicrous.”
But former Secretary of Defense, James Schlesinger, countered Sorensen’s view. “That’s ridiculous, the myth that it was a civil war. What destroyed Vietnam was that 18 divisions came down from the North in 1975. There was nationalism in Hanoi but not in the South and it was the North imposing its view on the South.” Schlesinger also points out that had the strikes taken place earlier when LeMay suggested them, the Soviet surface-to-air missiles would not have been in place, saving the U.S. planes and crews that were shot down a decade later.
Vietnam highlighted the greatest difference between LeMay’s philosophy of war and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s. The Defense Secretary pushed for what he called flexible response from the very start of the U.S. involvement in the conflict: namely, offering the enemy a way out; however, if they show aggression, match the aggression, but only proportionately. Consequently, the full weight of the growing American military was never brought to bear on the North. Ground would be fought over in the South and then abandoned only to be fought over again and again, always with more casualties. The North would be bombed and then the bombing would be halted. It was a completely different strategy than the one the U.S. used in World War II.
LeMay thought flexible response was counterintuitive; it ran completely against his doctrine of war. If a war is not worth winning, LeMay’s answer was simple: do not get involved in the first place. Consequently, as LeMay watched the troop levels expand along with U.S. casualties, he grew more and more angry. The focal point of that anger was McNamara. As the conflict dragged on, he also grew furious with Lyndon Johnson because he believed McNamara and LBJ lied to the American people about the war. While the Vietnam War deeply divided the country, it would create major fissures within the government as well.
(See Main Article: End of the Vietnam War )
Beset at home and abroad, in 1968 Lyndon Johnson decided against running for re-election. In March he banned bombing north of the twentieth parallel, leaving most of North Vietnam a sanctuary. He was succeeded by Republican Richard M. Nixon, who largely limited offensive air operations over the North for nearly four years. One example will suffice: from 1965 through 1968 Navy aircrews downed thirty-three enemy aircraft, but over the next three years, tailhookers splashed only one. Meanwhile, “peace talks” trickled out in Paris. The end of the Vietnam War was in sight.
“After Watergate, Richard Nixon Created the Career Path for All Ex-Presidents”
Then, on March 30, 1972, Hanoi launched a full-scale conventional attack against South Vietnam, shattering the dead-end Paris “peace talks.” American airpower responded massively.
Leading Constellation ’s Air Wing Nine was Commander Lowell “Gus” Eggert, a cheerful aviator who enjoyed partying with his aircrews. Eggert’s keen intuition told him the 1971–72 cruise might be different from the previous three years. He began training his squadrons for large “Alpha” strikes in addition to the usual close air support in South Vietnam and Laos.
“Connie” completed her six-month deployment, and on April 1 she was in Japan preparing to return to California when the North Vietnamese spring offensive rolled south. Sailors and aircrews hastily offloaded their new purchases—notably motorcycles—and began loading ordnance. The ship was back in the Tonkin Gulf five days later, joining Hancock , Coral Sea , and Kitty Hawk . By then the communists had beefed up their air defenses, and on one mission over South Vietnam, an Intruder pilot had to abort his attack because a cloud of tracers obscured the reticle of his bombsight.
After further delay, Nixon finally loosed the airmen in order to quicken the end of the Vietnam War. A Phantom pilot recalled, “We had reports of 168 SAMs on the first night after Nixon got serious in May. But that was coordinated with massive B-52 raids supported by three carrier air wings.”
On May 9 a handful of aircraft demonstrated the carrier’s potential for strategic effects with extreme economy of force. While Kitty Hawk provided a diversionary strike, Coral Sea launched nine jets that turned the Vietnam war around in two minutes: six Navy A-7Es and three Marine A-6As laid three dozen mines in Haiphong Harbor. The weapons were time-delayed to allow ships to leave North Vietnam’s major port. During the next three days, thousands more mines were sown in Hanoi’s coastal waters, effectively blockading the communists from seaborne replenishment. Commander Roger Sheets’s Air Wing Fifteen, on its seventh Vietnam deployment, shut down Haiphong for almost a year—well beyond the impending “peace” treaty.
The mines were frequently replenished, eventually totaling more than eleven thousand weapons. Sometimes the “reseeding” involved unconventional tactics, as when Saratoga ’s Air Wing Three employed Phantoms flying formation on Intruders and Corsairs in what one F-4 pilot called “a one-potato, two-potato” drop sequence, based on when the attack jets released.
Finally, Phantom crews could ply their trade again. From January 1972 through January 1973, carrier-based F-4s claimed twenty-five aerial kills—nearly as many as the Navy total in the first six years of the Vietnam war. The tailhookers’ best day was May 10. That morning a two-plane VF-92 section off Constellation trolled Kep Airfield and caught two MiG-21s taking off. The high-speed, low-level chase ended with one MiG destroyed which, with the Air Force bombing the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi, sparked an exceptional response.
That afternoon “Connie” launched thirty-two planes against Hai Duong logistics, producing one of the biggest combats of the war with Phantoms, Corsairs, and MiGs embroiled in a “furball” of maneuvering jets. When it was over, two F-4s fell to flak and SAMs while VF-96 claimed six kills, producing the Navy’s only ace crew of the Vietnam war. In all, the Navy and Air Force downed a dozen MiGs, which remains an unsurpassed one-day total more than forty years later.
During Operation Linebacker—the final air campaign over North Vietnam, signally the end of the Vietnam War—American aircrews claimed seventy-two aerial kills versus twenty-eight known losses to MiGs, an overall exchange ratio of 2.5–1. However, the Navy’s intensive fighter training program from 1969 onward produced exceptional results. “Topgun” graduates and doctrine yielded twenty-four MiGs against four carrier planes lost, including a lone Vigilante escorted by fighters. In contrast to the Navy’s 6–1 kill ratio, the Air Force figure was closer to 2–1, approaching parity in some months.
The disparity between the two services was dramatically illustrated in August 1972, when four F-8E Crusaders from Hancock deployed to Udorn, Thailand, to update Air Force Phantom crews on air combat maneuvering. The senior Navy pilot was already a MiG killer, Commander John Nichols, who noted, “My biggest challenge was keeping my guys from lording it over the blue suiters.”
Throughout the war and up to the end of the Vietnam War, naval aviators shot down sixty enemy aircraft—all by carrier pilots. It was a stark contrast to Korea when barely a dozen communist planes were credited to tailhookers among fifty-four total by Navy and Marine pilots.
In fact, the reason for carrier-based fighters was to establish air superiority so the attack planes could perform their vital mission. Skyraiders, Skyhawks, Intruders, and Corsairs seldom worried about enemy aircraft while placing ordnance on target the length and breadth of Indochina. Few aircrews and probably few admirals realized how far carrier aviation had come since the start of World War II. Long gone was the era when airpower theorists insisted that sea-based aircraft could not compete with land-based planes. If nothing else, Vietnam confirmed that naval aviation was a world-class organization.
On two days in October 1972, Commander Donald Sumner led USS America (CVA-66) A-7 Corsairs against Thanh Hoa Bridge, a vital communist transportation target. One of his pilots, Lieutenant Commander Leighton Smith, had first bombed the bridge as a Coral Sea A-4 pilot in 1966. The Air Force had badly damaged “The Dragon’s Jaw,” but spans remained intact. With a combination of two thousand-pound TV-guided weapons and conventional one-ton bombs, the naval aviators finally slew the long-lived dragon, more than seven years after the first U.S. efforts.
During the eleven-day “Christmas War” of 1972, carrier aircraft again supported B-52s in bombing an intransigent Hanoi back to the bargaining table. By then Hanoi was nearly out of SA-2 missiles.
The Paris accords among Washington, Saigon, and Hanoi took effect on January 27, 1973. They were the diplomatic efforts that signaled the end of the Vietnam War. On that day Commander Harley Hall, a former Blue Angel leader and the commander of an Enterprise F-4 squadron, became the last naval aviator shot down in the long war. His Phantom fell north of the Demilitarized Zone, and though his back-seater survived captivity, Hall did not. Long thereafter his widow learned that he had probably lived two or more years in captivity, abandoned by his government with unknown numbers of other men.
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69 Vietnam War Essay Topics & Examples
Looking for Vietnam war essay topics? Being the largest conflict in the US history, Vietnam war is definitely worth analyzing.
- 🔝 Top 10 Essay Topics
- đź’ˇ Essay: How to Write
- 🏆 Best Essay Examples & Topic Ideas
- đź’Ł Most Interesting Topics
Why did the US lose the Vietnam war? Who won the war and how did that happen? There are many questions about the conflict that wait to be answered. Other options for your Vietnam war essay are to focus on the US involvement or talk about the lessons of the conflict.
Whether you are planning to write an argumentative essay, research paper, or thesis on the Vietnam war, this article will be helpful. Here we’ve collected top Vietnam war research questions, titles. Essay examples are also added to add to your inspiration.
🔝 Top 10 Vietnam War Essay Topics
- Vietnam War: The Causes
- Us Involvement in the Vietnam War
- Vietnam War: The Key Participants
- The Causes of the Conflict in Vietnam
- Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Its Role in the Vietnam War
- Why Did the US Lose the Vietnam War?
- War Crimes in the Cause of the Conflict in Vietnam
- Vietnam War: The Role of Women
- Weapons and Technology in the Vietnam War
- Vietnam War and Its Influence on Popular Culture
đź’ˇ Vietnam War Essay: How to Write
Chemical warfare, civilian peace protests, and an overwhelming number of casualties are all central circumstances of a Vietnamese-American 19-year conflict that garnered attention all over the world.
Reflecting all these topics in a Vietnam War essay is essential to writing an excellent paper, as well as other structural and informational points. In the prewriting stages:
- Research your issue. Doing so will not only help you choose among various Vietnam War essay topics but also help you start assembling a list of sources that can be of use. Compiling a bibliography early on will allow you to gauge how well covered your subject is and whether you can approach it from different viewpoints. Use various book and journal titles to give your work academic credibility.
- Write a Vietnam War essay outline. This action will help you distribute the weight of your ideas evenly between sub-themes. In turn, doing so will allow you to create a smooth flowing, interconnected narrative of whichever issue you choose.
- Compose a title for your paper. Vietnam War essay titles should be both reflective of their author’s stance and representative of the chosen methodological approach. Since your title is the first thing a potential reader sees, it should grab their attention in the best way.
- Read available sample essays to see which tools and techniques may work in your own paper. While plagiarism is punishable in the academic world, there are no repercussions for getting inspiration or pretending to grade an essay for yourself. Good examples may be just the thing you need to write an excellent paper yourself!
Now you are ready to begin writing. Layering your paper with the appropriate information is only one aspect of essay writing, as you should also:
- Begin your introduction by placing a Vietnam War essay hook in it. This catch can be a remarkable piece of information, a quote from a famous person, or an opposing viewpoint on the subject. Whichever you choose, placing a hook allows you to interest your readers and secure their interest for the duration of your paper.
- Use appropriate terminology. A war-related paper may call for an in-depth understanding of technology, while an ideology related one requires more event-related knowledge. Choose your words according to the specifics of your issue and use them to write a comprehensive and well-rounded essay.
- Understand the cause and effect war environment. Clearly define the links between events and make sure your audience understands all the intricacies of the issue. A timeline, written by you or found online, should help you trace these connections, creating an interflowing essay.
- Recognize the effect of seemingly background events. The recognition of a soldier’s civil rights and the rise of a movement that called for American citizens to return to their home continent is not battlefield-related but greatly impacted politics regarding the issue. Remember that there may be connections between seemingly unrelated problems, and finding them is your goal as an essayist.
- Stick to your Vietnam War essay prompt and the received instructions. Ignoring the specified word count in favor of drafting a more extensive coverage of the problem is not worth losing a grade on a suburb essay.
Always check the rubric that your instructor provided to receive good grades.
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🏆 Best Vietnam War Essay Examples & Topic Ideas
- Similarities and Differences Between Korean and Vietnam Wars There were also several differences such as the way of development of the conflicts where the Korean War was during three years, and the Vietnam War was the prolonged struggle, the participation of the Chinese […]
- Music as a Weapon During the Vietnam War Music to the soldiers in Vietnam acted as a tool to remind all troops of the responsibility that they had taken by being on the battlefield.
- “The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War” by Downs At the very outset, it was clear to the soldiers that the war in Indochina was not being conducted in terms of the glory myths on which they had been raised. The second part of […]
- Why Did the United States Lose the Vietnam War? The Office of the Secretary of Defense had become demoralized due to the events that had taken place; hence, it was unwilling to escalate the war further due to the decline of the army troops […]
- Causes and Effects of the Vietnamese War To the U.S.the war was a loss, because the reunion of South and North Vietnamese citizens marked the end of the war, hence U.S.’s undivided support for the southern region yielded nothing, apart from numerous […]
- How the Vietnam War Polarized American Society It galvanized the enemy and opponents of the war in both Vietnam and America and led many to question the ethics of the campaigns.
- Vietnam War: History and Facts of War That Began in 1959 The Second Indochina War began in 1959, five years after the division of the country, according to the Geneva Agreement. South Vietnam’s troops failed to substitute American soldiers, and in 1974 the peace agreement was […]
- The Use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War The Association of American Advancement of science prompted the US government to allow investigations into the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam in 1968.
- The Vietnam War in the “Child of Two Worlds” Therefore, in the future, he is like to live in the outside world rather than in the inside one. Therefore, Lam wants to start a new life in the US and forgets his roots, which […]
- The Vietnam War: Changes in American Curriculum The greater emphasis on the hardship of individual troops in American textbooks during the Vietnam War may result from a global culture that values people over nations or governments.
- Political and Social Forces During and After the Vietnam War The political forces in the aftermath of the Vietnam War centered around balancing between the Cold War and the maintenance of public support.
- Researching and Analysis of the Vietnam War A Chinese leader inspired by the Soviet Union and the Chinese, Ho Chi Minh, formed a union to aid the resistance against the French occupiers in Vietnam and the Japanese.
- The Vietnam War and the Tet Offensive In this presentation, the discussion of the impact of Tet Offensive on the United States and the role of media in military events will be discussed.
- The Artistic Legacy of Maya Lin: A Cultural Response to the Vietnam War Major confrontations as the signs of a shift in cultural perspectives and attitudes have always defined the development of art, the Vietnam War being one of the infamous examples of the phenomenon.
- The Vietnam War: Diplomatic Mechanisms Connected With the USA The onset of the Vietnam War exposed the vagaries in the American political and administrative systems in terms of issues of diplomacy, presidency, and even in cultural and social matters.
- “The Green Berets” Film About the Vietnam War According to the plot, one American journalist named George Beckworth is to cover the topic of the military involvement of the USA in this war.
- Vietnam War: David Halberstam’s “The Making of a Quagmire” In his account, the author of the book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era, is categorical about the dealings of the Americans in the Vietnamese affair.
- “A Time of War: The United States and Vietnam” by Robert D. Schulzinger These events relate to the activities and interests of the Americans, the French and Vietnamese which preceded the beginning and the aftermath of the war.
- Interview Report: Memories of the Vietnam War Locker about the way he happened to take part in the Vietnam War, he said that he was drafted but, anyway, at that time he thought that it was his destiny as he wanted to […]
- Ho Chi Minh’s Influence in the Vietnam War He was the leader of the Vietnam independence movement and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam which was governed by the communists.
- The Vietnam War in American History Since early fifties the government of the United States began to pay special attention to Vietnam and political situation in this country, because, it was one of the most important regions in the Southeast Asia.
- How TV Showed the Vietnam War At the dawn of television media emergence, the coverage of the Vietnam War was subjective as the opinion of the public was manipulated by the government to get the desired reaction from the Americans to […]
- French Involvement in Vietnam War Even though in the overwhelming majority of cases, the author focuses attention on the history of Vietnam since the Involvement of the French troops in the nineteenth century, he also gives background information as to […]
- Vietnam War Perceptions of African American Leaders Externally, the country was embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam and internally, rejection of the ‘establishment’ typified by the ‘Counter-culture movement’ and the Black Civil rights movement was gaining momentum.
- Vietnamese Culture and Traditions: The Role in Vietnam War It was this division that left America with little understanding of how the rest of the world lives and how the country can effectively help others even in times of war.
- My Lai Massacre During Vietnam War American soldiers of Company assaulted the hamlet of My Lai part of the village of Son My in Quang Ngai province of South Vietnam on 16 March 1968.
- American History During the Vietnam War In the quest to figure out the events that took place in the history of America, I had an opportunity to interview a close family friend who was one of the African American soldiers during […]
- China-Vietnam Opposition or the Third Vietnam War The Korean War, numerous military operations in the Middle East, and the Vietnam War were preconditioned by the clash of ideologies and parties unwillingness to make a compromise.
- Vietnam War vs. War on Terror in the Middle East The starting point for the War on Terror is considered to be the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and other locations which led to the deaths of thousands.
- Vietnam War: The Results of Flawed Containment The neo-orthodox perspective on the war in Vietnam consisted of criticism towards United States policies in the sense that civilian and military leaders of the country were unsuccessful in developing achievable and realistic plans with […]
đź’Ł Most Interesting Vietnam War Topics
- Vietnam War and American Revolution Comparison Consequently, the presence of these matters explains the linkage of the United States’ war in Vietnam and the American Revolution to Mao’s stages of the insurgency.
- Vietnam War in the “Platoon” Movie by Oliver Stone In the context of the war, the confrontation between two non-commissioned officers, the cruel-hearted Barnes and the humane Elias, is depicted.
- Vietnam War Experiences in David Vancil’s Poems For these reasons, the majority of the works devoted to the given issue tend to demonstrate the horrors of war and factors that impacted people.
- African American Soldiers During Vietnam War In the 1960s and 70s, African Americans battled racial discrimination at home in the United States but also faced similar if not the same tension as a member of the Armed Forces while fighting in […]
- Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War The Vietnam War caused unintended consequences for the civil rights movements of the 1960s as it awakened the African-Americans’ consciousness on the racism and despotism that they experienced in the United States.
- Contribution of Women in the Vietnam War Special emphasis will be given to nurses because without their contribution, so many soldiers would have lost their lives or suffered from deteriorating conditions in the War Some of the nurses in the Vietnam War […]
- Photos of Vietnam War The role of the media in the Vietnam War also raises issues of what the media ought to censor and report to the public.
- Hanoi and Washington: The Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a conflict that was military in nature, occurred between the years 1954 and 1975, and was between the communists and the non-communists.
- America’s Failure in Promoting Its Politic in Vietnam Existing literature purports that, part of America’s agenda in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism and in other literature excerpts, it is reported that, America was persuading North Vietnam to stop supporting the […]
- Vietnam War in the Book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien The Irony of being at war is that Peace and conflict are both inevitable; it is the way we handle either of the two that determines our opinion of life in general both in the […]
- Anti-War Movement and American Views on the Vietnam War The fact that people started to take part in demonstrations and openly protest any drafting and involvement of the United States in the war, created even more attention towards the Vietnam Conflict.
- How Did the Media Shape Americans’ Perceptions of the Vietnam War? At the heart of this war, the media is believed to have shaped the Americans perception about the war. Technology in this moment made it possible for television to film some incidents in the war […]
- The Vietnam War: Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy Leadership Roles On November 1, 1995, Eisenhower’s action to give military training to the government of South Vietnam marked the official start of the U.S.involvement in the Vietnamese conflict.
- The Vietnam War Causes The aftermath of the Second World War had the South Vietnam controlled by the French and the North Vietnam controlled by Viet Minh.
- The Vietnam War: A Clash of Viewpoints With the help of the most realistic descriptions and the vivid pictures of woes that soldiers had to take in the course of the battles, the author makes the people sink into the mind of […]
- China’s Support for North Vietnam in the Vietnam War As of the time of the war, the capital city of South Vietnam was Saigon while that of the North was Hanoi.
- The Role of Women in the Vietnam War For example, women in the Navy Nurse Corps and Army Nurse Corp were sent to take part in the Vietnam War and the Korean War.
- The Role of the Media in Promoting Vietnam War Between the periods from 1955 to 1960, the Southern communist Vietnamese assisted the North Vietnamese in their attempt to take over the government in the Southern Vietnam.
- Appy, C. and Bloom, A., Vietnam War Mythology and the Rise of Public Cynicism, 49-73 The first myth is that the intervention of the US in the Vietnam War was devoid of any political interests and colonial based ambition contrary to that of the French.
- Vietnam Women Soldiers in the Vietnam War and Life Change After the War In 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong forces attacked all the major cities of South Vietnam and even the US embassy followed where the war could not stop but in the year 1973 […]
- Vietnam War: The Battle Where There Could Be No Winners Inflamed by the ideas of the patriotic behavior and the mission of protecting the interests of the native land, the American soldiers were eager to start the battle.
- The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964 Is a Turning Point in Vietnam War The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that occurred in August 7, 1964, was one of the major turning points in the United States military involvement into the flow of the Vietnam War.
- The Vietnam War’s and Student’s Unrest Connection An example of such protests were held by the by the University of Washington during the national strikes that took an approximate one week as a reaction to the Kent University shootings and a culmination […]
- Vietnam War: John Kerry’s Role Kerry’s actions during the Vietnam war that eventually led to his acquisition of the Purple Heart is a as a result of his ability to stop the actions of the enemy as evident in their […]
- Views on Vietnamese War in the Revisionism School Though United States did not involve itself into the war in order to break the dominance of Soviet Union, it wanted to gain politically and economically.
- Stories From the Vietnam War In the dissonance of opinions on the Vietnam War, it appears reasonable to turn to the first-hand experiences of the veterans and to draw real-life information from their stories.
- Concepts of the Vietnam War The fear to go to Vietnam and participate in a war that many believed America will inevitably lose, continued to engulf their life even more.
- Protests and Music of the Vietnam War As the public absorbed the announcement, and the truth behind the war, they were angered by the fact that many American lives had been lost in the war, and the fact that the government was […]
- The Vietnam War Outcomes The Vietnam War was and is still considered the longest deployment of the U. In conclusion, both the U.S.and the Vietnam governments have a lot to ponder regarding the outcome of the Vietnam War.
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IMAGES
COMMENTS
The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the Cold War.
Vietnam War Essay: The Vietnam War is considered to be one of the most memorable and long-standing conflicts that involved the U.S., with a major role to play in it. The Vietnam War was primarily the consequences of the U.S. anti-communist foreign policy in the year 1960.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Vietnam War: Vietnam War – Cold War-era proxy war [1] that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.
Vietnam War was primarily fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975 and never reaches United States shores. This disastrous war was fought between North Vietnamese and it allies Viet Cong against the United States of America and the South Vietnamese army.
The Vietnam War has roots in Vietnam ’s centuries of domination by imperial and colonial powers—first China, which ruled ancient Vietnam, and then France, which took control of Vietnam in the late 1800s and established French Indochina.
Exploring the Vietnam War through an essay allows us to gain insight into the human cost, political decisions, and lasting impacts of the conflict. đź“š. đź“ť Vietnam War Essay Topics. Choosing the perfect topic for your Vietnam War essay requires careful consideration.
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
This essay about the Vietnam War explores its origins, development, and enduring impact. It highlights the roots of nationalism and resistance against French colonial rule, the Cold War dynamics that fueled the conflict, and the devastating human and environmental toll.
🔝 Top 10 Vietnam War Essay Topics. Vietnam War: The Causes; Us Involvement in the Vietnam War; Vietnam War: The Key Participants; The Causes of the Conflict in Vietnam; Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Its Role in the Vietnam War; Why Did the US Lose the Vietnam War? War Crimes in the Cause of the Conflict in Vietnam; Vietnam War: The Role of Women