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The Role Of United States Involvement In Vietnam

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The Role Of United States Involvement In Vietnam
The Vietnam War was a lengthy war that began in 1954 and ended with the siege ofSaigon in 1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam and South Vietnamand its ally, the United States. The United States sought to help protect South Vietnam fromcommunism. North Vietnam, controlled by Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh, was a communistregion of Vietnam that wanted to take control of South Vietnam. The United States got involvedin Vietnam due to the fact that they viewed South essential for South East Asia’s freedom andthey wanted to prevent communist rule in Vietnam. It affected the United States military byusing up essential resources and troops.During World War II, Ho Chin Minh created the Viet Minh, also known as the Leaguefor the …show more content…
TheDomino Theory was developed by American diplomats and was the belief that a communistvictory in Vietnam could cause a domino effect that would end with all of South East Asia undercommunist rule. The United States was sought out to help keep Vietnam from falling under thepower of communism. The United States sent military troops to Southern Vietnam in order tohelp train the Southern Vietnam army. Diem and the Southern Vietnam army arrested about100,000 people who sided with the North, most of them were killed or tortured, with the help ofthe American military. While President Eisenhower and Kennedy were in office, the UnitedStates helped South Vietnam by supplying money, troops, and weapons.5 The United Statessupported Ngo Dinh Diem and South Vietnam even though Diem was not very liked due to himbeing corrupt and favoring Catholicism over the Buddhist majority.6On November 2, 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother were captured and assassinatedby a group of South Vietnamese soldiers following the overthrow of his government by SouthVietnamese forces the day before.7 The assassination of Diem led the United States to make aneffort to take control of South Vietnam. They sought out to defeat the communist rebels inSouthern Vietnam as they were becoming an increasingly powerful threat. The United Statesdenied ever taking part in the capture and assassination of Diem but, it was revealed thatAmerican officials met and encouraged the rebels to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem as he wasbecoming an obstruction to freeing Vietnam from communism.85 "Early Involvement." Ushistory.org. Accessed May 25, 2016.http://www.ushistory.org/us/55a.asp.6 Ibid.7 Dougan, Clark, and Company Boston Publishing. The American Experience in Vietnam : Reflections on an Era.Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed May 18, 2016)., 248 "Ngo Dinh Diem Assassinated in South Vietnam."

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