Colton Tutor
Houston
7ELA
Vietnam: Start to Finish
The Vietnam war is one of the most controversial and brutal wars in American history. It was a fight not only against vietnam but also against communism. The fight was even brought within America as citizens grew tired and protested the war. Any way you put it, Vietnam was hell.
The conflict first started in May 1954, when the French ruled Vietnam. With the goal of an independent Vietnam, political leader Ho Chi Minh, inspired by communist China, formed the Viet Minh AKA Viet Cong. This rebel force arrived at the French base Dien Bien Phu and to much surprise overran the base leading Vietnam to independence after 70 years. (Spector) Following the liberation of Vietnam only 2 months later
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forces attempting to finish uniting Vietnam under one communist rule. In 1964 while the U.S. bombed enemy targets, the Viet Cong attacked the navy in the gulf of Tonkin using torpedoes. In retaliation, America began a full-scale conflict. (“Vietnam War” [National Archives]) In 1965 Lyndon. B. Johnson orders a 3-year heavy bombing campaign known as Operation Rolling Thunder. The U.S. and Viet Cong conflict grows more intense with “president Johnson calls for 50’000 more troops, increasing the draft the 35 thousand each month” (“Vietnam War” [History.com]) In the following months the first large-scale battle would occur in the valley of la Drang, there was no clear victor as both sides declared victory however, the U.S. suffered 300 deaths. Conflict in Vietnam keeps escalating and by 1967 half a million U.S. soldiers are in Vietnam. In 1968 Viet Cong began to become desperate, and as a result, they carried out the Tet offensive, a mission during the Vietnamese holiday of Tet. Viet Cong forces attacked 5 major southern cities and many military locations. (Spector) This war only seems to get worse, months following the Tet offensive U.S. casualties reached a record high, and the inhumanity didn’t stop either. March 16, 1968, a military squad goes to the town of My Lai, it was a search and destroy mission, and upon failing the squad ruthlessly gunned down unarmed