Why did the United States get involved in the Vietnam War?
One thing that got the United States into the Vietnam War was the end of colonialism. The European countries were unable to deny the escalating demands for independence in their Asian colonies. In Vietnam, for instance, an independence movement under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh rose to challenge French rule. The United States helped France by giving financial and military aid.
Ho Chi Minh was also a communist, which brings up another reason for the United States involvement with the war. The United States' top priority would be to "contain" communism and bring it to a halt.
Some people say that the war was an immoral, unjust war, or that communism is not that bad, and not so monolithic or evil (Dudley and Bender, 91.)
Communism is very monolithic, in that, the laws are pretty much stuck one way.
English: From George L. MacGarrigle, The United St...
Original caption: "Flying under radar control with...
Da Nang, Vietnam. A young Marine private waits on ...You are held in the palm of the government's hand. You are made to believe what they want you to believe, and that in itself makes it evil. Communism is not a good thing to spread. It causes lots of suffering.
Imagine a world where there was no freedom of speech, no freedom to vote, no freedom of assembly, or no right to a fair trial. Even imagine a world where there was no freedom whatsoever. These, all nightmares of communism, were all rights that the United States was protecting for us and the rest of the world.
Most of the countries in Asia, including South Vietnam, could not resist the ambitions of Asian communism alone. The U.S.' power was a necessity (Dudley and Bender, 99-100.)
South Vietnam was a place where people could maybe look forward to better possibilities to come about. "The real question in the...