Vietnam+War

=**Diamond**=
 * Grade 6**

The Vietnam War was a civil war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Other countries took sides to either spread communism, or stop the domino effect. The whole war started because North Vietnam was trying to spread communism and gain control over South Vietnam.

The Vietnam War began in 1959, five years after the split of the country by the Geneva Accords. Vietnam was split in two, with a communist government in the North under Ho Chi Minh’s control, and a democratic government in the South under Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho launched a guerrilla campaign in South Vietnam, led by Vietcong units, with the goal of uniting the country under communist rule. The United States trained the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), seeking to stop the spread of communism, and provided military advisors to help combat the guerillas. In August, 1964, the U.S. government lied that a U.S. warship was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. For this fake attack Congress passed the Southeast Asia Resolution, which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to conduct military operations in the region without a declaration of war. On March 2, 1965, U.S. aircraft began bombing targets in Vietnam, and the first American troops arrived. Commanded by General William Westmoreland, U.S. troops won victories over Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces around Chu Lai and in the Ia Drang Valley.

Following these defeats, the North Vietnamese avoided fighting conventional battles and focused on engaging U.S. troops in small unit actions in the sweltering jungles of South Vietnam. In January, 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong launched the massive Tet Offensive. Beginning with an assault on U.S. marines at Khe Sanh, the offensive included attacks by the Vietcong on cities throughout South Vietnam. Although the North Vietnamese were beaten back, with heavy casualties, Tet shook the confidence of the American media and people, who had thought the war was going well.

As a result of Tet, President Lyndon Johnson opted not to run for re-election and was succeeded by Richard Nixon. Nixon’s plan for ending U.S. involvement in the war was to build up the ARVN so that the Vietnamese could fight the war themselves. As this process of Vietnamization began, U.S. troops started to return home. The mistrust of the U.S. government which had begun after Tet worsened with the release of news about U.S. soldiers massacring civilians at Mai Lai in 1969, the invasion of Cambodia in 1970 and the leaking of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The Pentagon Papers detailed American mistakes in Vietnam since 1945.

The withdrawal of U.S. troops continued and more responsibility was passed to the ARVN, which continued to prove ineffective in combat, often relying on American support to stave off defeat. On January 27, 1974, a peace accord was signed in Paris, ending the conflict. By March of that same year, the American combat troops had left Vietnam. After a short period of peace, North Vietnam recommenced hostilities in late 1974. Pushing through ARVN forces with ease, they captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender, and re-uniting the country. The United States’ mission was not a success, because communism did not leave Vietnam. For North Vietnam, their victory got them control over South Vietnam. Their goal was reached.