Posted on Aug 31, 2016
Vietnam War History - Vietnam War - HISTORY.com
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The Vietnam War was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The war began in 1954 (though conflict in the region stretched back to the mid-1940s), after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party in North Vietnam, and continued against the backdrop of an intense Cold War between two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War; more than half were Vietnamese civilians. By 1969, at the peak of U.S. involvement in the war, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were involved in the Vietnam conflict. Growing opposition to the war in the United States led to bitter divisions among Americans, both before and after President Richard Nixon ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973. In 1975, communist forces seized control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.
Vietnam War History - Vietnam War - HISTORY.com
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Vietnam War
Vietnam War
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
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Thanks for reminding us SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL about the Vietnam War overview.
What many seem to forget is that Ho Chi Minh was our ally in WWII as the war against Japan was the focus in Southeast Asia. Ho was a nationalist who like many colonial leaders who fought in WWII hoped that his nation would be allowed to govern itself after WWII ended.
Unfortunately we seemed to have forgotten our own struggle for independence from our colonial masters, so we did not support the southeast and south Asia independence movements from French Indochina though India. Between 1946 and 1954 India became a free nation and went through a violent war which ended up with the creation of Pakistan and East Pakistan [now Bangladesh] and French Indochina revolted against France [Algeria also revolted a little later].
The Cold War between USA [NATO] and USSR [Warsaw pact] was raging through this period until the late 1980s. The Cold War kept us employed around the world and in many cases distracted us from trying to actually win in Vietnam. I understand that in WWII difficult decisions were made about support to the Pacific region versus Operations in the Atlantic, Europe and North Africa because that was an incredibly hot war.
However we carried that mentality through Korea and Vietnam because we were concerned about WWIII with USSSR breaking out.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Forrest Stewart SGT Robert Hawks SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright
What many seem to forget is that Ho Chi Minh was our ally in WWII as the war against Japan was the focus in Southeast Asia. Ho was a nationalist who like many colonial leaders who fought in WWII hoped that his nation would be allowed to govern itself after WWII ended.
Unfortunately we seemed to have forgotten our own struggle for independence from our colonial masters, so we did not support the southeast and south Asia independence movements from French Indochina though India. Between 1946 and 1954 India became a free nation and went through a violent war which ended up with the creation of Pakistan and East Pakistan [now Bangladesh] and French Indochina revolted against France [Algeria also revolted a little later].
The Cold War between USA [NATO] and USSR [Warsaw pact] was raging through this period until the late 1980s. The Cold War kept us employed around the world and in many cases distracted us from trying to actually win in Vietnam. I understand that in WWII difficult decisions were made about support to the Pacific region versus Operations in the Atlantic, Europe and North Africa because that was an incredibly hot war.
However we carried that mentality through Korea and Vietnam because we were concerned about WWIII with USSSR breaking out.
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Forrest Stewart SGT Robert Hawks SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright
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I am proud to say after all these years I can look back on my ten months and fourteen days in country that I was part of the Vietnam War History and am honored to have taken that journey with some of the best people on the planet!
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