Us Involvement In The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was a proxy war fought in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between the North Vietnamese—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the US, the Philippines and other anti-communist allies.
The war was causing deep division in the US (Nixon, 1969) and so during the elections of 1968, the main issue in question was America’s involvement in Vietnam. Richard Nixon promised to ‘end the war and win the peace,’ and it was this determination for change that proved a breath of fresh air to the American people. Around the time of Nixon's inauguration, in January 1969, some 540,000 Americans were fighting in Vietnam (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 62). With the new administration …show more content…
The program aimed to make South Vietnam militarily self-reliant, establish a strong leader, and shift involvement in combat operations from US troops to the ARVN. Meanwhile, US troops were to withdraw slowly out of Vietnam (Ham, P 2007, p. 486). At the same time, National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, was committed to negotiate peace with the communists, believing it was the only way to end the war (Berman, L 2008, p. 66). However, in early 1969 North Vietnam performed a series of attacks in the south (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 65). This prompted Nixon to heavily bomb base camps in Cambodia where the North Vietnamese kept their weapons and supplies. In an attempt to maintain protesters calm, these attacks were initially kept secret from the American people and most government officials (Gay, K 1998, p. 44). As a result of the bombings in Cambodia, Nixon concluded that an early removal of troops by big numbers would result in a 'bloodbath' and a 'loss of faith' in the US Congress around the world (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 67). Yet, by August 1969 the withdrawal of US ground forces had began, when 25,000 were brought home (Tucker, S 200, p. 427). The ARVN’s fieldwork was improving, yet they were still not strong enough to defend their country alone. US military officials were shocked that the North Vietnamese had found their way around the bombings in
The war was causing deep division in the US (Nixon, 1969) and so during the elections of 1968, the main issue in question was America’s involvement in Vietnam. Richard Nixon promised to ‘end the war and win the peace,’ and it was this determination for change that proved a breath of fresh air to the American people. Around the time of Nixon's inauguration, in January 1969, some 540,000 Americans were fighting in Vietnam (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 62). With the new administration …show more content…
The program aimed to make South Vietnam militarily self-reliant, establish a strong leader, and shift involvement in combat operations from US troops to the ARVN. Meanwhile, US troops were to withdraw slowly out of Vietnam (Ham, P 2007, p. 486). At the same time, National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, was committed to negotiate peace with the communists, believing it was the only way to end the war (Berman, L 2008, p. 66). However, in early 1969 North Vietnam performed a series of attacks in the south (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 65). This prompted Nixon to heavily bomb base camps in Cambodia where the North Vietnamese kept their weapons and supplies. In an attempt to maintain protesters calm, these attacks were initially kept secret from the American people and most government officials (Gay, K 1998, p. 44). As a result of the bombings in Cambodia, Nixon concluded that an early removal of troops by big numbers would result in a 'bloodbath' and a 'loss of faith' in the US Congress around the world (Gitlin, T 1990, p. 67). Yet, by August 1969 the withdrawal of US ground forces had began, when 25,000 were brought home (Tucker, S 200, p. 427). The ARVN’s fieldwork was improving, yet they were still not strong enough to defend their country alone. US military officials were shocked that the North Vietnamese had found their way around the bombings in