Vietnam+Path

= VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR =

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and __Creating America__, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between two and four complete, well written paragraphs
 * contain the following terms - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson , Rolling Thunder
 * be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * contain two images THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam in 1965

France had been in control of Vietnam since the late 1800s. Ho Chi Minh united three communist created who were call the Indochinese Communist Party. But Japan took over Vietnam during WWII. Since Japan was America's enemies' they assisted Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh against Japan. After WWII Vietnam declared itself independent but France had other plans. Truman's views on things were to support democracies; because of this thought he supported the French in hoping to secure Vietnam against the communist. Also due to China's recent change to communism, the US was scared that all of Asia would fall to communism. The US feared the domino effect which meant if one country were to fall to communism, so would the next, and the next etc.

Vietnam began to divide after the Geneva Accords. Vietnam was split at the 17th parallel. The Northern part was controlled by Ho Chi Minh. The southern part had the leader of Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem's popularity in Vietnam was slim and there was a planned election to reunite the countries. Diem called for there to be no election and president Eisenhower agreed. The Viet Cong start to become a problem for Diem. The Viet Cong were communist South Vietnamese and unsatisfied South Vietnamese. They planned on overthrowing Diem and reuniting Vietnam as one communist country. North Vietnam supported the Viet Congs and gave them supplies to continue attack Diem and the members of his government.

President Kennedy continued to support South Vietnam. There were 16,000 military personnel there by late 1963. Kennedy faced multiple problems in the Cold War which influenced him to continue to support South Vietnam. Kennedy sent money and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese. Kennedy's successor was Lyndon B. Johnson who tried to keep the goal of containment and former President's goals in mind. A US destroyer was being shot at in the Gulf of Tonkin. Due to this the Gulf of Tonkin Tusolution was created. This gave the power to use military force in Vietnam to the president. Johnson began to bomb North Vietnam. The constant bombing is known as Rolling Thunder. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work all that well.