After the Second World War, the Japanese were forced to relinquish their control over Vietnam whereupon France seized the opportunity to take full advantage of the situation. The French believe they could assert their will once again of the people of Vietnam and utilized the alliance with the United States in attempt to force the Vietnamese to surrender their sovereignty to the French flag. With much resistance, the French were foiled in their efforts to attain Vietnam when the people of the frayed country declared their independence.
However free the people of Vietnamese were from the clutches of the French crusade, the United States remained in the warn country for many years keeping a sly but ever present position in accordance with the Vietnamese government. This led to the increasingly strong military presence of the United States from throughout the rest of the 1940�s and into the early 1950�s. Sending military specialists under the Eisenhower Administration, the United State�s power became evident when some thousands of troops continued to be stationed on Vietnamese soil. The United States eventually became entangled in the Vietnam conflict and, by 1973, when the last soldiers were pulled out, had been in Vietnam for almost 30 years.
Though Congress never declared war, the fighting in Vietnam was far from light combat and grew into a global debate on whether United States military presence was necessary. Most notable for the side of warring in Vietnam was President Johnson who stressed the need to have a position in Vietnam and proclaimed it important for saving democracy for all people. The backing of the war effort was based on the idea that the United States has to secure democracy for all people. Those in support of the war believe it was vital to the survival of the United States and the free world. Many believed that if Vietnam fell, it wouldn�t be the only and certainly not the last victory for communism in Southeast Asia.
Another side of public opinion regarding the Vietnam conflict was that of those who protested the Unites States� position in the war. Most of the outcry for peace in Vietnam came from the college campuses of major universities around the country. Representing the new generation of Americans, as strong majority of the college-educated students insisted that the US�s involvement was outrageous and that the mass number of troops lost was enough reason to pull out of Vietnam. Those in disagreement with governmental position marched in peace rallies and held demonstrations on campuses to show disagreement and many times disgust with the war effort. The largest objection to the Vietnamese conflict did not march on streets and boycott the government; they were the nonviolent majority. The basic ideal of those in protest were that Vietnam was not a war the United States had justifiable reason for being in, and that the United States Government had no place in such foreign wars.
The war in Vietnam was fought mostly in the humid climates of the Vietnamese jungle. With central highlands and hilly high-temperature weather, the United States� military was hindered in their advance to successfully attack the Northern Vietnamese armies. Using inhumane methods of trapping the United States troops, the Vietnamese were devious in their attempts to stop the United States advancements. With the United States on strange territory and fighting a divided people, the endeavor of the US military was halted by the tactics of the North Vietnamese. Despite the newest advancements in technology, nothing could oppose the scheme of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Extending hundreds of miles with intricate tunnels and hiding places, the North Vietnamese surprised the United States� troops with surprise attacks in addition to the guerilla warfare the North Vietnamese had mastered. The United States military used massive bombings assaults� with such powerful weapons as napalm and Agent Orange� trying to uncover the position of the Northern Vietnamese soldiers, but all in vain; the Northern Vietnamese had conquered the United States army. Forced to retreat from the front lines, the last United States representatives in Vietnam were helicopter from the roof of the US Embassy all while the tanks and artillery of the North Vietnamese army swept the capital of Saigon, liquidating the South Vietnam capital of frail troops; the communists had proclaimed their victory.
The end result of the Vietnamese conflict was embarrassment for the United States. Not only in the fact that the US had lost its military campaign in Southeast Asia, but the idea the communism could not be stopped, fueled malcontent toward the United States situation postwar. The people of the United States, and indeed the world, felt that the loss of so many American lives in a war with no victory was disconcerting and showed a weakness in the United States as a whole. With no magnificent welcome home, the dazed troops who returned from the conflict were met with disrespect for their efforts as well as a striking show of dissatisfaction from the American people. Not only had the American soldiers lost their lives, as well as a catastrophic foreign war, they had lost the compassion of their patron loved ones.
With much trouble and inadequate support, the United States� campaign in the Vietnam conflict had proven to be most unsuccessful. With extreme criticism from its own people, the United States government and its position on the war in Vietnam resulted in it�s own undoing. The United States� involvement in Vietnam had shown to be an unnecessary calamitous attempt by the United States that resulted in an unpopular rejection of the American dream of its people.
