The War Of The Vietnam War - 2085 Words

The Vietnam War lasted from 1954 through 1975, and was the longest war ever fought in American History which lasted for 21 years. This war was long and costly and was mainly fought against the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies known as the Vietcong, against its war rival South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. More than 3 million people were killed in the Vietnam War, including 58,000 Americans (Staff). Although this war was mainly fought towards the impact of stopping the spread of communism, there were many other factors that contributed to the start of the war. Vietnam was part of a French colony known as French Indochina. Before 1954, the U.S. government financially supported French†¦show more content†¦With the south having a noncommunist government, they came upon an ‘upgraded group of the Viet Minh’ called the Viet Cong, an insurgency of pro-communist guerrilla fighters. In support of the Containment Policy, a com mitment to stop the spread of communism, the U.S supported French and Southern Vietnamese forces in hoping of stopping the ‘Domino Effect’. The Domino Effect was the belief that once one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many would follow. In hopes of helping to stop the spread of communism in free territories of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, or Southeast Asia in general, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles creates a military alliance called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) (Staff), thus launching them into the Vietnam War. After learning about the ensuing political instability in South Vietnam, this persuaded Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to increase military and economic support for them. However, because of this military involvement in the war, DRV torpedo boats attacked two U.S destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, one being the USS Maddox. Because of this attack, President Lyndon B. Johns on authorized the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which allowed him to â€Å"take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia† (Pub.L. 88–408). Following the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson began a bombing campaign,