China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam. The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.
When did the US get involved in the Vietnam War?
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.
How long was the US involved in the Vietnam War?
The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973 , and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states in 1975.
Why did the US lose the war in Vietnam?
America “lost” South Vietnam because it was an artificial construct created in the wake of the French loss of Indochina . Because there never was an “organic” nation of South Vietnam, when the U.S. discontinued to invest military assets into that construct, it eventually ceased to exist.
Why did the US fail in Vietnam?
Failures for the USA
Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder: The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle , missing their Vietcong targets. ... Lack of support back home: As the war dragged on more and more Americans began to oppose the war in Vietnam.
Who started the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War had its origins in the broader Indochina wars of the 1940s and '50s, when nationalist groups such as Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh , inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism, fought the colonial rule first of Japan and then of France.
How many draftees died in Vietnam?
(66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII). Draftees accounted for 30.4% ( 17,725 ) of combat deaths in Vietnam. Reservists killed: 5,977 National Guard: 6,140 served: 101 died. Total draftees (1965 – 73): 1,728,344.
What happened to Vietnam after the US pullout in 1973?
What happened after the United States withdrew from the war? After the U.S. had withdrawn all its troops, the fighting continued in Vietnam . ... South Vietnam officially surrendered to communist North Vietnam on April 30, 1975. On July 2, 1976, Vietnam was reunited as a communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Who lost the Vietnam War?
A series examining contentious issues of the Vietnam War
Although the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong sustained enormous casualties—upward of a million killed by wounds, disease and malnutrition—the communists eventually prevailed.
Why were Vietnam veterans often treated badly when they returned home?
Many American soldiers were exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals during their time in Vietnam. Upon returning home, some of these veterans began to experience health problems that they blamed on their exposure to herbicides .
What dangers did American soldiers face in Vietnam?
Vietnam's wildlife posed its own dangers. American soldiers encountered malarial mosquitoes, leeches, ticks, fire ants and 30 different kinds of venomous snake . One historian estimates between 150 and 300 US personnel died in Vietnam from the effects of snakebite.
Who won US vs Vietnam War?
Vietnam defeated the United States by nearly twenty years of war, with fancy guerrilla tactics, territorial advantages and a strong sense of victory. The Vietnam War is one of the biggest instances in US military history.
Why was fighting in Vietnam so difficult?
Explanation: Firstly most of the war was fought as a guerrilla war . This is a type of war which conventional forces such as the US army in Vietnam, find notoriously difficult to fight. ... The Americans, laden down with conventional weapons and uniform were not equipped to fight in the paddy fields and jungles.
Did Kennedy start the Vietnam War?
| 1961 in the Vietnam War | ← 1960 1962 → | US: 3,205 South Vietnam 330,000. | Casualties and losses | US: 16 killed South Vietnam: 4,004 killed North Vietnam: casualties |
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What were the 3 main causes of the Vietnam War?
In general, historians have identified several different causes of the Vietnam War, including: the spread of communism during the Cold War, American containment, and European imperialism in Vietnam .
What President got us out of Vietnam?
In order to buy time with the American people, Nixon began to withdraw forces from Vietnam, meeting with South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu on Midway Island on June 8 to announce the first increment of redeployment. From that point on, the U.S. troop withdrawal never ceased.
