My Opinion on the Vietnam War

By Marguerite J. Badger.

Dec 14^th 2005

War is hell. And also all the horrors that go with it. The Vietnam War was not any different. However, this particular war was two wars in one. We were fighting overseas against the communist Vietcong. We were also fighting between ourselves over beliefs, and traditions at home.

The Vietnam War started in 1954 when the French were forced out by the Vietnamese communists under Ho Chi Minh. Vietnamese communists attacked the French fortress, Dien Bein Phu, in the Northern part of Vietnam on May 8, 1954. The siege lasted for 55 days. The French finally surrendered with 16,000 casualties, and the Vietnamese with 20,000 casualties. The U. S. was paying close attention to all this.

On August 2, 1964 the North Vietnamese attacked the Maddox. It was hit on its side by a heavy shell. On August 4, 1964 the U. S. sent the Maddox and the U. S. S. Turner Joy back into the Gulf of Tonkin. Radar on the Turner Joy showed that enemy ships were coming at them full speed. This was called the second attack.

President Johnson who was a proud Texan was very influential in Congress. He got Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Now the president had the power to send more troops. Congress did however tell Johnson to try to resolve the problems with communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Peace talks were to slow in resolving the attacks on the U.S. navy ships. President Johnson sent more and more troops.

The news media showed young college students trying to change the world by doing peace rallies concerning the Vietnam War. This did not help to get the soldiers back home any faster. America started to look weak in the eyes of other counties, especially to the North Vietnamese who had bragged about kicking the French around. They also bragged they could do the same thing to the United States and win.

The War was escalating more as time went by. In January 1968 the Tet Offensive was done by the Vietnamese communists on the Chinese New Year’s holiday. One place they attacked was the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon. There were a lot people killed, just to show the South Vietnamese how easy it would be to overthrow their Government. It also showed the Americans that the force of communism was still powerful.

People in the U.S. questioned the president about the truth of the war. The war ended when the Cease Fire Treaty was signed in Paris on January 28^th 1973. The soldiers finally did go home, only to find there was no bands playing or “Welcome Home” banners flying. They heard some people that had been screaming for peace during the war calling them baby killers. This made many soldiers angry. Also some of the soldiers thought the Government had forgotten all about them. They thought they had been though hell fighting this war just to keep freedom in America. These soldiers still feel even more hate and resentment toward anyone that talks about peace even to this day, some 30 odd years later.