Why Did The Us Enter The Vietnam War

Should the U.S have been involved in South Vietnam's affairs which lead to the Vietnam War? The Vietnam War was the second longest war in U.S. History and took decades to resolve. The Vietnam War cost billions of dollars, and Nearly 60,000 Americans were killed and more were injured. The U.S failed to complete its objective in Vietnam making it a pointless war and creating more problems than resolved. Although the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War under good intentions, such as our government's promises and commitments to help South Vietnam defend itself from Communist Forces, the U.S shouldn't have entered the war due to high casualties and conflicts directly caused by the war. First, let's start with the background of the Vietnam War,
The First Event happened in the Gulf of Tonkin when the USS Maddox (Navy Ship) was ordered to support South Vietnamese commando raids along North Vietnamese coast. The raids were supposed to help gain intelligence on radar sites and defenses in North Vietnam, but on Aug. 2nd, 1964, two North Vietnam Torpedo Boats engaged the USS Maddox. The USS Maddox engaged back on the enemy Boats sinking 2 of the boats, but the 3rd got away. As a result of the attack, the USS Maddox was accompanied by USS Turner Joy. On Aug. 4 the two ships reported radar information on two enemy boats heading towards them, this caused President Johnson to order an immediate aerial assault on the North Vietnamese coast. The Second Event was called “My Lai Massacre”, at the time American forces were under General William Westmoreland who was confident that the U.S would wipe out the Vietcong. In efforts to wipe out the Vietcong, General W.W. ordered search-and-destroy missions that used weapons, helicopters, and other resources to raid towns and villages that were suspected of containing Vietcong troops. “One of the Search-and-Destroy missions was known as “My Lai Massacre” which happened on a small hamlet of My Lai on March 16, 1968’ (Benson, Para. 12). During the My Lai Massacre, American Soldiers brutalized and murdered between 300-500 unarmed, unresisting woman, children,
Despite all the carnage caused by the war, President Johnson wanted to send another 200,000 troops to Vietnam, and kept reassuring American citizens that the enemy was weakening. Johnson's presidency was destroyed by the decisions he made throughout the war. Richard M, Nixon was elected president on a promise to end the dishonorable war. Richard M. Nixon and his foreign policy adviser Henry Kissinger achieved a peace settlement in Paris in January 1973. Emphasis on the war switched to “Vietnamization” (Preparing South Vietnam's military to take over all responsibilities for the war. All U.S troops in Vietnam eventually returned home, all North Vietnam troops were allowed to stay in South Vietnam. Over 540,000 troops were deployed in South Vietnam under the presidency of Johnson. The Paris agreement didn't end the war, but did help the U.S get out of the war. On April 1975 North Vietnam took control of Saigon, and South Vietnam soon fell to communism. The U.S was involved in the war for 5-years trying to stop the spread of communism. Millions of people died in the war and Billion of dollars were spent in the war. United States purpose to stay in the war eventually faded, leading to the failure to prevent South Vietnam from falling to