Vietnam was the only war in history that America lost. This fact has haunted America and her citizens since the end of the end of the Vietnam War. Just as the British were completely humiliated by losing the American Revolution to an inferior army, so was the United Sates about Vietnam. The reasons for intervening in Vietnam were clear: to allow South Vietnam to choose the type of government it wanted, as long as it wasn't Communism. I studied Vietnam from a variety of sources including history books, collections of eyewitness accounts, and essays written by historians. When I collected the knowledge that I have learned about Vietnam together to formulate an opinion, I realized that many reasons for the Vietnam War go as far back as the colonization of America. Since the Puritans who founded this country, America has sought to have a positive influence on other countries around the world, but failed with Vietnam.
Rizières inondées à la frontière entre le Viet...
United States
An alleged NLF activist, captured during an attack...This war was the most protested war in history. The "baby boomers" were teenagers in the sixties and were the main source of protesting, forming two extreme spectrums in the Vietnam War: The "tree-hugging hippies" and the "war mongers," as well as the people caught in between the two spectrums. Although I did not live through the war itself, I have gathered enough information from history textbooks and the essays, "The Tragedy of Vietnam" and "God's Country and American Know-How" to formulate opinions that I believe are quite accurate.
The first essay that is to be analyzed is "The tragedy of Vietnam" by George B. Tindall and David E. Shi. This essay puts the majority of the blame for the Vietnam War on the American presidents who presided during the war. According to the authors, the war lasted so long because of the presidents...