Vietnam.War.James

Vietnam War By: James Chapman


__**Objective:**__ To explain the United States involvement in the Vietnam War between the years of 1964-1975.


 * __PowerPoint:__**

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[|James' Link on the Vietnam War] - This website gives a very valuable overview of the entire vietnam war. The article is an ABC-CLIO page which is a credible source. The article begins with explaining why and how the United States got involved in the Vietnam War. It says that the U.S. first got involved with Vietnam when they supported France in defending its colonial presence in Vietnam. The Website goes on by describing critical parts of the war and important battles and decisions that were made. The website also has the war split into three different time periods: 1950-1967, 1967-1972, and 1972-1975. This is valuable because it sorts the events that take place during the war in a way that lets the viewer understand it more. Overall, this website is an easy to use, credible link that allows the viewer to most easily understand and comprehend the information.
 * Visual Component Questions**:
 * 1) Would you say that these protestors support the North Vietnamese army or the United States? Why?
 * 2) Knowing that Saigon is a South Vietnamese city, what is this picture trying to say?
 * 3) Do you think that North Vietnamese people should be upset about the U.S. involvment?


 * Visual Component Answers**:
 * 1) The protestors support the Viet Cong, which is the North Vietnamese army. We know this because the protestors are making fun of the city of Saigon because they are doing whatever the U.S. imperialists want them to do.
 * 2) This picture is showing a man representing U.S. imperialism being a puppetier, controlling a "Saigon Puppet". Saigon is a south vietnamese city which was taken over by the north vietnamese army during the war. The protestors are saying that the U.S. is manipulating the south vietnamese army to do whatever they want.
 * 3) Yes, I think that the North Vietnamese people should be upset about their involvement in the war. The war did not have anything to do with the United States and i think that the war should have been settled between its own country.

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**Reflection Questions**: 1. How did the U.S. first get involved in the Vietnam War?

2. What lead to Vietnam having an unstable government?

3. What ended up happening after the U.S. left Vietnam?

4.Do you think that the U.S. should have stayed in Vietnam till the end?

5. What it is your opinion on the U.S. involvment in the Vietnam War?

**Reflection Answers** : 1. The U.S. was first introduced into the war because France had a colony in Vietnam. America assisted the French colony in an attempt to help reduce the spread of communism. The French colony was defeated even with the American assistance, but by now America was well in the war already.

2. At the time, Vietnam was being lead by a man named, Ngo Dinh Diem. He was very corrupt and unpopular among the country and the south vietnamese people. With the United States approval, many South Vietnamese generals staged a coup which ended with Diem being murdered. This coup resulted in even more political instability.

3.The North Vietnamese Army lead one last offensive against the drastically smaller South Vietnamese Army. Being lead from Hanoi to the south, the Northern Army's tanks were said to have crashed through the gates of the Political Palace, located in Saigon, and the Southern Army surrendered. This is the first war that the United States has lost in its history.

4.I think that the U.S. should have at least made sure the South Vietnamese army won the war. This way, the million of dollars and countless lives that were lost would not have been for nothing. After the U.S. left Vietnam their ally, the South Vietnamese army alone in Vietnam the North Vietnamese army lead a huge offensive which ended up winning the war.

5. In my opinion, the U.S. should not have been in Vietnam in the first place. The war should have just been between the North and South Vietnamese armies and they should have made it through their issues without foregien involvment. The United States wasted million of dollars and almost 60, 000 lives defending an army that had nothing to do with us.

MLA Works Cited Page:

Willbanks, James. "Vietnam War (Overview)." //United States at War: Understanding Conflict and Society//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 6 May 2010. .

" War ." //Encyclopedia Britannica//. //Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 6 May 2010 <[]>.

Gilbert, Marc Jason. "Vietnam War." //World Book Advanced//. World Book, 2010. Web. 7 May 2010. < [] >