Download Key Points about the Vietnam War

Key Points about the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was between the communistic North Vietnam and the democratic South
Vietnam. North Vietnam attempted to overthrow the South Vietnam and unite Vietnam under
one Communistic government. The United States joined the Vietnam War to prevent
communism from spreading throughout South East Asia.
The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975. It was started by
the Communist guerrillas (the so-called Vietcong) in the South, whom were backed by
Communist North Vietnam, in an attempt to overthrow the South Vietnam government.
THE START OF THE VIETNAM WAR:
Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown and killed in a coup d'etat in 1963 by his own generals causing
political confusion in South Vietnam. The security in South Vietnam continued to deteriorate
putting the Communists in reach of a victory. By 1965, the US president Lyndon Johnson
approved regular bombing of North Vietnam to prevent the total collapse of the Saigon regime
by the dispatch of troops and marking their overt entry into the war. United States forces landed
at Da Nang and began fighting in Vietnam.
The US intervention caused problems for the Communists, forcing them to continually send
North Vietnamese armies to the South, but this did not deter them from the struggle. This
situation was challenged in January 1968 when the Vietcong staged the bloody Tet Offensive by
simultaneously attacking over 40 towns and cities in the South, but they failed to capture any.
The Johnson administration decided to pursue a negotiated settlement. After Ho Chi Minh died
in 1969 and was succeeded by Le Duan, the new US President Nixon continued the policy of ex
President Johnson and gradually withdrew US troops.
AT THE END:
As a result of the more than eight years of guerrilla warfare in Vietnam, it is estimated that more
than 2 million Vietnamese were killed, 3 million wounded, and hundreds of thousands of
children orphaned. Furthermore, it has been estimated that about 12 million people became
refugees. Approximately 1 218 000 were resettled in more than 16 countries during the time
period between April 1975 and July 1982. About 500 000 people tried to flee by sea. It has been
estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of these people died, and those who survived faced extreme
hardships and eventually immigration barriers.
There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam
Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study).
Australian support for South Vietnam in the early 1960s was in keeping with the policies of other
nations intending to stem the spread of communism in both Europe and Asia.
From the time of the arrival of the first members of the Team in 1962 some 50,000 Australians,
including ground troops and Air Force and Navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 496 had been
killed and almost 2,400 wounded. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political
dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War: Veterans
returned often only to be greeted with the hostility of those who had been against Australian
involvement.
1954-75 (U.S. involved, 1961-75):

U.S. troops engaged: 8,744,000

American battle deaths: 47,410

The U.S. helped non-Communist South Vietnam fight invasion by Communist North
Vietnam.

North Vietnamese torpedo boats reportedly attack U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
on August 2, 1964. President Johnson ordered retaliatory air strikes and Congress
approved the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave permission for U.S. retaliation.

By the end of 1965 the number of American troops in Southeast Asia rose to more than
184,000 and by 1968 stood at more than 525,000.

President Nixon begins troop withdrawals from the region in May 1969, as massive
demonstrations and protests against the war went on in the United States.

The U.S. began a military assault on Cambodia in 1970 and later heavily bombed North
Vietnam in order to bring them to discussions about ending the conflict.

A cease-fire was signed in Paris, 1973. War broke out again in the region, but North
Vietnam's victory in 1975 ended the longest war in which the U.S. had ever been
involved.