The Vietnam War: An Epic War of Resistance 1954-1973 - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Vietnam War was, commonly known as the Second Indochina War and was a resistance against the French colonization. The battle lasted from 1954 to 1973, making it the longest of the times. The conflict mostly started long before America directly engaged in Indochina, which comprised regions such as Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and was ruled by the French colonialist. At the end of World War II, one of the significant founders of the Indochina Communist Party, namely Ho Chi Minch, reached out to President Harry through a letter requesting him to his support to help in the abolishment of the French rule in Vietnam. As it is clear from the notes that "After World War II, France sought to regain its status as a world power and reoccupied Vietnam." During this time, France, one of the oldest allies of the U.S., reclaimed its power and controlled Vietnam country as their colony. From my perspective, President Harry's response to Ho Chi Minh's letter would be to offer the Vietnam government with financial and military support to help them reclaim their democracy from the French rule, as it is evident from the primary sources that "The President never answered his letters."

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In conclusion, the Vietnam battle was the longest in history and caused a lot of harm. The war between the various countries involved was triggered by the French Imperialism, struggle for power and the Japanese intrusion. France colonized Vietnam and believed that the country could never achieve significant growth and development without being colonized. The Vietnamese were left powerless and worked for the French. The US offered support to the French government while the Japanese intruded and helped the Vietnamese fight back. The goal of Vietnam was to regain control of their land and conquer the colonizers.

Before World War II, France ruled and controlled the Vietnam people and during this, Ho Chi Minh organized a force, called Vietminh, to fight for their independence from France and later issued a world declaration of independence for his liberated nation. The people of Vietnam greatly suffered under France as Ho Chi Minh emphasizes that "The French imperialists, abused the standard of liberty, equality, and fraternity, violated our Fatherland and Oppressed the citizens." Therefore, with help from the U.S., Ho Chi Minh, together with force, defeated Japan, which had invaded Vietnam during World War II. The primary reason why he chose to cite both the U.S and French Declarations of independence is that they were part of and contributed to the struggle endured by the Vietnamese people as the United States government hugely supported the control of France in Vietnam as well as the defeat of Japan. The two nations had also previously declared their independence. Both the declarations primarily indicated that "All men are created equal and with equal rights."

In conclusion, the French colonization imposed relentless harmful and intolerable measures that at some point, became unbearable. The France rule against Vietnamese was intense and this compelled Ho Chi Minh to compose Vietminh forces. Vietnamese felt the need for revolution for they had experienced enough of violation of human rights and standard of liberty and equality. They worked for the French without earning anything. Despite getting support from the United States, France received support from China and Japan hence able to conquer the enemies through a war. Later on, the battle yielded the transfer of the French's authority to Vietnam State. The fight initiated by Ho Chi Minh was hence, effective and yielded positive results.

The people's revolutionary party of Vietnam mainly consisted of the individuals from South Vietnam who were the followers of Ho Chi Minh. However, when the South Vietnamese government failed to call for unified elections, the Viet Cong took the initiative to overthrow the government, which was corrupt. As it is stated, "The VC that mobilized in the South to overthrow the corrupt puppet government," The Viet Cong was, however, "a guerilla force that had no official military structure." The force had no uniforms either and fought traditionally using alternative strategies such as assassinations and sabotage. Interesting points, as well as some of the goals outlined concerning this program, include the elimination of the U.S. cultural enslavement that prevented a progressive national culture and education, the reduction of land rent and preparation for land reformation, a national democratic coalition would be formed as well as the establishment of equality policy between men and women from all the nationalities. In essence, the VC goals to ensure all the changes were justifiable as this would enhance the unity among the citizens and contribute to a progressive democratic nation.

In conclusion, the revolution against the South Vietnam Government was sufficient in addressing the corruption that arose in the government. Despite the government being led by the Vietnamese, the government was not unified and elections were not conducted fairly. In addition to the revolution against the French and US, Vietnamese started through the Viet Cong started another revolution. The revolution was against the South Vietnamese and US government. The forces formed by Viet Cong used a guerilla method of war and used the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam as was commonly known. The battle led to a unification of the northerners and the southerners and further led to the creation of the communist government.

In early 1965, the then President Lyndon Baines Johnson ordered the combat troops from the U.S. to join the war in Vietnam. Just like in any other battle, the soldiers expressed their thoughts and experiences in the form of letters to their homes and kept personal journals and diaries where they articulated all that they went through while at war. Dozens of them wrote letters that were published on the antiwar papers as well as groups to express their compassion with the protests.

Specifically, in the "Why we Fight" letters, one most interesting concept is how they collectively declared their conscience and aim of fighting for the freedom to bring to end the oppression and fear instilled in people living under communism in South Vietnam. It is also apparent that the soldiers during the Vietnam era military, they were ready to sacrifice their precious lives in fighting to eliminate the communist threat if this would make them be declared the policemen of the year. As one of the soldiers notes that "The price of victory is great when life cannot be replaced, but I think it is far better to fight and die for freedom than live under oppression." Additionally, in the "In country" letters, it is also clear that the war had significant effects on those who participated in the combat, especially the psychological impacts. For example, one letter from one of the soldiers in a journal entry on 7 September 1969 revealed that the soldiers were scared and exposed to a lot of anxiety, hatred, and stress (Letters Home from Vietnam). AS he states that "more than once we have killed people with weapons who we recognize one of the smiling faces that we had released earlier," revealing that the Viet Cong were not easily identifiable, and this created a hard time for the soldiers. In the "Disillusionment" Letters, one letter from David dated 10 September 1967 revealed the challenges the soldiers encountered regarding workforce, finances, and limited-time, which hindered their ability to accomplish their goals (Letters Home from Vietnam). Overall, the Vietnam communalist, therefore, struggled to obtain their freedom from the French with the help from the U.S. government that sent them financial support to assist abolish the communist threat.

The struggle for independence from the communism practiced in South Vietnam was triggered and initiated by the soldiers. The communist party in South Vietnam had subjected citizens to a state of fear, threats and lack of freedom. It was, therefore, befitting for the Vietnamese era military to fight back to receive freedom and live without threats. The soldiers were determined to fight to the death. The spirit of the soldiers was a good determination in attaining freedom from oppression. Hence, the success and victory of the military were achieved due to the relentless effort to die while fighting for the rights. Although several people were killed, the fight sufficed.

Organizations such as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, The Vietnam Day Committee and Committee for Nonviolent Action are all recognized as antiwar groups that stemmed in 1964 and upon the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, whose primary intent was to oppose and stop the fight in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive that primarily happened in 1968 significantly convinced the Americans that they could not win the war. One crucial strategy that was used by the Vietnam Day Committee to speak against the conflict was a pamphlet that they distributed to the military personnel, inductees, and students in an attempt to have them change their views concerning their services in the military. Another antiwar opinion was given by the SNCC, who wrote a position paper declaring that the use of the African Americans in the fight for democracy was not justified since the U.S. government did not give them their constitutional rights while at home. As it is apparent that the SNCC often "felt that the Blacks were being drafted at higher rates than the whites." All in all, all the strategies applied by the organizations were justifiable as they all aimed at preventing the fight that would bring devastating impacts in the country.

Various groups gathered together and gave one another support to win against the oppressors. Such groups which include the SNCC, Vietnam Day Committee and Committee for Nonviolent Action, were pivotal in fighting the injustices in the government. The combined effort was crit8cal in winning the war. When people join together, they have greater strength compared to few people joined together. The combined efforts allow people to win, and it is this strategy that gave the citizens the power to win the battle against the US government and the South Vietnam government.