Ed Sanders said, “The Vietnam War was like a wound that would never heal.” This war was a political battle between North and South Vietnam that occurred after North Vietnam threatened to take over the south with communism. America decided to help South Vietnam fight because the Truman Doctrine stated that America would help any country being taken over with communism. The Vietnam War was a significant event in history due to the amount of casualties on both sides, billions of wasted dollars, and the outcome of the war. For many decades, Vietnam was politically unstable. In 1883, France gained control of the country. Later in the 1930s, a communist from Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, created the Indochinese Communist Party (IDC). Then, in 1940, Japan …show more content…
Many people were upset about all the casualties of civilians. Americans were mainly upset because of the amount of civilians killed. Some people even called soldiers, “baby killers.” By the end of the war, 58,000 Americans had died while 300,000 were wounded. In the South Vietnamese military, 224,000 died and a million were wounded. North Vietnam and Viet Cong had 600,000 wounded and one million killed. Since the US used chemicals to clear forests, the wildlife and jungles of Vietnam were perishing. Bombing had ruined Vietnam transportation systems and had a great impact on their industries. The war had cost the US a total of 200 billion dollars.Many veterans had PTSD that was worsened by the treatment they got after coming home. This increased their rates of divorce, drug abuse, unemployment, and homelessness. American citizens also made it worse by shaming the veterans. In 1976, North and South Vietnam also united to become one country. In 1982, the US created a Vietnam War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. It showed the names of about 58,000 veterans who died fighting in this war. This monument in DC is still very popular