1965-1973+Elaina

The Vietnam War

How The War Started

America got involved into the Vietnam War to try to stop the spread of communism in Southern Asia. They were afraid that if they let the communism continue that their forces would end up controlling Vietnam. If that happened more and more nations would most likely fall into communism. In 1954 Vietnam had been split into two after trying to win the fight against the French for their freedom. After the French had left, the Vietnamese communists took control of northern Vietnam. Even though the southern Vietnamese did not have a "leader", they had the support of the Americans which were trying to help them win the war and stop communism.

American Citizens Sent To Fight In The War

At first Americans showed their support by sending in donations, military supplies, and advisors, but when the number of communists had more than doubled, America started sending out troops. By the end of the war America had more than 543,000 troops in Vietnam. Most of these troopers were teenagers. The average age for soldiers in the war was 19.

The End Of The War

Nixon started going against what the American wanted. He had started to withdraw troops without the support of the United States. North Vietnam won the war and turned back into a comunist nation. Millions of lives were lost in the war, but not of the soldiers, of civilitans. The war had created 10 million orphans in Vietnam. The Lasting Affects On America

After the war was over, there were many lasting effects it had on America. These effects are what shaped this nation as we know it today. One effect was the United States had lost 58,000 troops. Other than the loss of many family members there were alot of society changes as well. Along with the Watergate scandal, it inspired widespread distrust of the U.S. government and made the military less popular for the time. The war also effected the American Popular Culture, especially in movie making. Alot of the movies seen today such as Taxi Driver, Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, and Platoon had to do with the brutality of the war, and the veterans attemps to get over their traumatizing experiences. Mostly, the war left psychological scars on America, and shaped us into what we know ourselves as Americans today.

Good job covering different aspects. 97-CP