Search results
- Myth: American military involvement in Vietnam began under John F. Kennedy. The argument is made loudly and often that it was John F. Kennedy who first dispatched American military advisors to Vietnam, and that it was the Kennedy administration which orchestrated the CIA supported coup d’etat which led to the overthrow of the Diem government.
- Fact: Truman and Eisenhower expanded American activity in Vietnam. In 1950, under the administration of President Harry Truman, US military advisors were embedded within the military hierarchy of Vietnam at all levels.
- Myth: The North Vietnamese attacked American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. In 1964 the Johnson administration reported to the American people that two naval engagements had taken place between US destroyers in international waters and North Vietnamese patrol boats.
- Fact: The US Navy, the Secretary of Defense at the time, and the NSA admitted the Gulf of Tonkin attacks never happened. Even before President Johnson addressed the American people to inform them of the attack on American warships the US Naval commander at the scene was questioning whether the attacks occurred as reported.
- The Conflict
- Numbers
- Weapons Used
- Mỹ Lai Massacre
- Protest Movements
- The Vietnam War in Popular Culture
The conflict was initially between North and South Vietnam, but many other countries became involved. It was played out not only in Vietnam itself but also in Laos and Cambodia. North Vietnam was a Communist state and had allies among the Soviet Union, China, and other Communist countries. South Vietnam was supported by anti-communist countries inc...
In total, more than 3 million people were killed during the conflict – including 58,000 Americans.9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era (Aug. 5, 1964-May 7, 1975).Two-thirds of them were volunteers, not conscripts. A disproportionate number of young soldiers died in the conflict with over 60% of those killed being under the age of 21.The youngest was 16 while the oldest man killed in action was 62.The weapons used in Vietnam were more deadly and dangerous than anything that had been used in the past. For South Vietnam and the US, their strength lay in their superior air power, especially their use of American manufactured B-52 bombers capable of dropping thousands of pounds of explosives. To make their bombing campaigns more effective, the U...
One of the best known and disturbing events of the Vietnam War was the My Lai Massacre in which US soldiers killed between 400 and 500 unarmed civilians. The massacre took place in two small villages in South Vietnam. Although some of those who were responsible were charged, only the leader of the platoon was found guilty. His sentence for the kill...
The protest movement against the American involvement in Vietnam began among college students but quickly spread into many areas of US society. The war had been going on for some years, but it was not until 1965 that the protests become more widespread. Although many American citizens volunteered for service, others objected in principle to taking ...
The Vietnam war has been the subject of films and books since the beginning of the US involvement up to the present time. During the war, there were some attempts to deal with themes that were relevant without mentioning the war directly. They included Joseph Heller’s novel Catch 22 and Kurt Vonnegut’s The Slaughterhouse Five as well as films such ...
People also ask
What are some myths and facts about the American involvement in Vietnam?
What role did Myths play in the Vietnam War?
Did polarization create myths about the Vietnam War?
How many people died in Vietnam?
In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans’ group. Myth: Common belief is that a disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War. Fact: 86% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races.
May 19, 2010 · When it comes to shooting down Vietnam War myths, facts are the best ammunition. Take for example the notion perpetuated by veterans of earlier wars that the Vietnam War, in comparison with World War II or the Korean War, was not really a war at all, but a “conflict,” a “walk in the woods,” where the action was comparatively tame and ...
Five myths about the Vietnam War. Perspective by Lan Cao. Lan Cao, a professor at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, is the author, most recently, of the novel “Lotus and the Storm ...
Oct 29, 2009 · The Vietnam War and active U.S. involvement in the war began in 1954, though ongoing conflict in the region had stretched back several decades. ... The war had pierced the myth of American ...
Vietnam War. FULRO fought an insurgency against both South Vietnam and North Vietnam with the Viet Cong and was supported by Cambodia for much of the war. The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 [A 1] to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina ...
