Introduction: A War of Many Names

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) stands as one of the most long, costly, and divisive
conflicts in American history. Known in Vietnam as the "Resistance War Against
America" or simply the "American War," it was a protracted and complex struggle that
grew out of the broader Cold War. It pitted the communist government of North Vietnam
and its allies in the South, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South
Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. More than a simple proxy war, it was
also a brutal civil war and a violent anti-colonial struggle, the roots of which stretched
back decades. This document will explore the war's origins, key events, the experiences
of those involved, and its profound and lasting consequences.

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1. Historical Roots: From Colonialism to Cold War

To understand the Vietnam War, one must look back to the 19th century. Vietnam was
part of French Indochina, a colonial possession of France since the 1880s. During World
War II, the Japanese Empire occupied the region. Following Japan's defeat in 1945, the
Viet Minh, a communist-led nationalist movement under Ho Chi Minh, declared an
independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

France, seeking to reassert its colonial control, refused to recognize Ho's declaration,
leading to the First Indochina War (1946-1954). The Viet Minh, fighting a successful
guerrilla war, eventually defeated the French forces at the decisive Battle of Dien Bien
Phu in 1954.

The subsequent Geneva Accords of 1954 temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th
parallel. Ho Chi Minh's communist government controlled the North, while a
US-supported anti-communist government under Ngo Dinh Diem was established in the
South. The accords called for nationwide elections in 1956 to reunify the country.
However, fearing Ho Chi Minh would win, the South and its American allies refused to
hold the elections, solidifying the division and setting the stage for renewed conflict.

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2. The Deepening American Commitment (1955-1964)

The United States' involvement began with financial and military aid to the French and
then to the South Vietnamese government. President Eisenhower's "domino theory"—the
idea that if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, others would quickly
follow—became the central justification for this support.

The Diem regime proved corrupt and unpopular, cracking down on Buddhist dissent and
failing to implement promised land reforms. This led to growing internal opposition, and
in 1960, North Vietnam and southern communists formed the National Liberation Front
(NLF), derogatorily called the "Viet Cong" by its enemies, to overthrow the Diem
government.

US Presidents Kennedy and Johnson steadily increased American military "advisors" in

South Vietnam. The number grew from under 1,000 in 1960 to over 16,000 by 1963. The
situation escalated further in 1963 when the US tacitly approved a coup that resulted in
the assassination of President Diem. The political instability in Saigon that followed
demanded ever-greater American involvement to prevent a communist victory.

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3. Escalation to Full-Scale War (1964-1967)

The pivotal moment for direct US military intervention came in August 1964. The US
government reported that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had attacked American
destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin on two separate occasions. The second attack was
likely based on flawed evidence.

Reacting to the incidents, the US Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving
President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to use military force in Southeast Asia
without a formal declaration of war. This resolution became the legal basis for the
massive escalation of the American war effort.

In 1965, Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained and massive

bombing campaign against North Vietnam. He also began sending large numbers of
ground troops, transforming the American role from advisor to combatant. US troop
levels skyrocketed:

●​ End of 1965: ~184,000 troops

●​ End of 1966: ~385,000 troops
●​ Peak in 1968: ~536,000 troops
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4. The Nature of the War

The war was fought in incredibly difficult conditions. American soldiers, trained for
conventional warfare, faced a frustrating enemy that excelled in guerrilla tactics. The
Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) used hit-and-run attacks, ambushes, and
an extensive network of tunnels to negate American technological advantages.

The jungle terrain was a constant enemy, as were booby traps and punji stakes. To deny
the enemy cover and food, the US military employed herbicides like Agent Orange, which
had devastating long-term health and environmental effects. The US also relied heavily
on overwhelming firepower, including B-52 bombing raids and search-and-destroy
missions designed to find and eliminate communist forces.

This brutal style of warfare led to heavy casualties on all sides and a large number of
civilian deaths, which undermined the US and South Vietnamese claim to be "winning
the hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people.

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5. The Tet Offensive and the Turning Point (1968)

By late 1967, US military leaders were publicly stating that there was "light at the end of
the tunnel" and that the enemy was nearing defeat. This made the events of January
1968 all the more shocking.

During the Tet holiday (the Vietnamese New Year), the NLF and NVA launched a
massive, coordinated surprise attack against over 100 cities and military bases across
South Vietnam. They even managed to breach the US Embassy in Saigon. Militarily, the
Tet Offensive was a disaster for the communists, who suffered enormous casualties
and were driven back from all their targets.

However, it was a strategic and psychological victory for North Vietnam. The offensive
shattered American public confidence. Seeing fierce fighting on their television screens,
many Americans who had supported the war began to question its cost and the
government's honesty about its progress. Public support for the war plummeted, and it
became a central issue in the 1968 presidential election.
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6. The War at Home: Protest and Division

The Vietnam War provoked the most significant anti-war movement in American history.
Opposition grew steadily as the human and financial costs mounted and images of the
war were broadcast into living rooms nightly.

The movement was diverse, including:

●​ College students protesting the military draft.

●​ Civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., who argued the war diverted
resources from domestic programs and disproportionately sent young Black men
to die.
●​ Veterans who returned and spoke out against the war.

Mass protests, marches, and acts of civil disobedience became common. The political
and cultural fabric of the nation was torn apart, creating a deep generational and
political divide that defined the era. The My Lai Massacre (1968), in which American
soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, was revealed in 1969, further
fueling anti-war sentiment and outrage.

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7. Vietnamization and Withdrawal (1969-1973)

Elected president in 1968, Richard Nixon entered office promising to achieve "Peace
with Honor." His strategy had two main parts:

1.​ Vietnamization: The process of training and equipping South Vietnamese forces
to take over the fighting, thereby allowing for the withdrawal of US troops.
2.​ Diplomacy: Secretary of State Henry Kissinger began secret peace talks with
North Vietnam.

While reducing American ground troops, Nixon also dramatically expanded the air war.
He authorized secret bombings of communist supply routes in neighboring Cambodia
and Laos, an escalation that destabilized those countries and sparked new waves of
protest in the US.
The peace talks were long and stalled repeatedly. Finally, in January 1973, the Paris
Peace Accords were signed. The agreement called for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of all
remaining US forces, the return of American prisoners of war (POWs), and allowed
North Vietnamese troops to remain in the South. In reality, it was merely a "decent
interval" that allowed the US to exit the conflict.

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8. The Fall of Saigon and The End (1973-1975)

The peace agreement did not last. Fighting between North and South Vietnam resumed
almost immediately after the last US troops left in 1973. The South Vietnamese army
(ARVN), despite billions in US aid, was ill-equipped to fight the NVA alone.

In early 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a final, massive conventional offensive.
The ARVN collapsed with stunning speed. As communist forces closed in on the capital,
Saigon, the US initiated a frantic evacuation of American personnel and at-risk South
Vietnamese allies.

On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in
Saigon. The city fell, and South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally. The war was over.
The images of helicopters evacuating people from the US embassy roof became an
iconic symbol of American defeat. Saigon was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

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9. Legacy and Aftermath

The cost of the Vietnam War was staggering.

●​ Human Cost: An estimated 58,000 US soldiers were killed; over 150,000 were
wounded. Estimates of Vietnamese deaths (military and civilian, North and
South) range from 1.5 to over 3 million.
●​ Psychological Cost: The war left deep scars on a generation of American
veterans and the national psyche. It led to a crisis of confidence in government
institutions, known as the "credibility gap."
●​ Political Cost: The War Powers Act (1973) was passed by Congress to limit the
president's ability to commit troops to combat without congressional approval.
Vietnam was reunified under a repressive communist government. In the years that
followed, millions of refugees fled the country, creating a large Vietnamese diaspora. In
the US, the process of reconciling and honoring the service of veterans, separate from
the controversial war itself, took decades.

The Vietnam War remains a powerful and painful lesson on the limits of military power,
the complexities of foreign intervention, and the enduring impact of war on a nation's
soul.

Sources & Further Reading:

●​ The Vietnam War: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
●​ The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
●​ The Pentagon Papers
●​ The Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive
●​ PBS Documentary Series: The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick