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United States involvement in the Vietnam War began shortly after the end of World War II in Asia, first in an extremely limited capacity and escalating over a period of 20 years. The U.S. military presence peaked in April 1969, with 543,000 American combat troops stationed in Vietnam. [1]
See how the Viet Cong's successful guerrilla warfare pushed Lyndon Johnson toward the path of total war. By the summer of 1964, the successes of the Viet Cong on the battlefield led the U.S. government to conclude that only massive military intervention could save South Vietnam.
- Roots of the Vietnam War. Ho Chi Minh. Vietnam, a nation in Southeast Asia on the eastern edge of the Indochinese peninsula, had been under French colonial rule since the 19th century.
- When Did the Vietnam War Start? 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 Viet Cong. With the Cold War intensifying worldwide, the United States hardened its policies against any allies of the Soviet Union, and by 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower had pledged his firm support to Diem and South Vietnam.
- Domino Theory. A team sent by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to report on conditions in South Vietnam advised a build-up of American military, economic and technical aid in order to help Diem confront the Viet Cong threat.
“The US government became involved in Vietnam slowly. Each step of the way, for more than 20 years, policy-makers debated options, considered alternatives, and ultimately chose deeper involvement. By mid-1965, a series of incremental steps led to US ground troops facing combat in Vietnam.
4 days ago · The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the Cold War.
- Ronald H. Spector
A successful effort in Vietnam—in Kennedy’s words, “the cornerstone of the free world in Southeast Asia”—would provide to both allies and adversaries evidence of U.S. determination to meet the challenge of communist expansion in the Third World.
Sep 11, 2017 · Vietnam War timeline: U.S. involvement over decades. WORLD. Vietnam War PBS. Add Topic. Vietnam War: A timeline of U.S. entanglement. Editors. USA TODAY. 0:00. 3:07. May 7,...
