Vietnam War Survey Case Study

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Vietnam War Survey 1. The Vietnam War, called the American War by the Vietnamese, officially began November 1st, 1955, but has its roots dating back to the French Indochina War. Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries had been colonized by the French as early as 1874, then called French Indochina. During the French Indochina War, Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary leader of the Indochinese Communist Party (PCI), led a group of Nationalist and Communist-minded group called the Viet Minh against their French oppressors. The first American death, Lt. Col. Albert Peter Dewey, occurred in 1945. Dewey was mistaken as a French man by Viet Minh troops, and was shot out of a Jeep. The two groups fought until 1954, with a French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. At this point, the French had been backed by the United States for years, but the United States had only aided with military advisors, as well as a 15 million dollar care package in 1950, according to PBS. The Geneva Accords set the 17th Parallel, a DMZ for the Viet Minh to the north, and French troops to the south. The French gave most of their power to the South Vietnamese, who established a capital at Saigon. The United States stepped their involvement in Vietnam up at this point, with President Eisenhower establishing the Saigon Military Mission, which would be conducted by Col. Edward Lansdale. The Saigon Military Mission included psyops and PM activity in…show more content…
While advisors were sent at first by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, President Johnson sent actual troops to fight, along with President Nixon. With the Fall of Saigon, the last American troops left Vietnam. Even though up to 543,482 American troops were in Vietnam at a time, Congress never officially declared war. Presidential action does not constitute a war, so the Vietnam War is sometimes referred to as a conflict; however, the amount of troops sent and the lasting damage inflicted on all participants has made the conflict seem like an actual
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