# Vietnam war, not a good to pic but I need some background



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well my upcmoning play for my club is about Vietnam war. the script is about to be finished. But I need some more backgrounds. Like events, date, US Army Uniform infomation,thinking .... so that the play is historically right. I hope that I can find help from you guys.
Note: it's not a matter if you joined or did not (I know, looking at your age, I can tell not many did) And there should be no arguement or politics envolved!  Do you agree to help me?
Thanks,
Nam


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Vietnam War was the longest war in which the United States took part. It began in 1957 and ended in 1975. Vietnam, a small country in Southeast Asia, was divided at the time into the Communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam, commonly called North Vietnam, and the non-Communist Republic of Vietnam, commonly called South Vietnam. North Vietnamese and Communist-trained South Vietnamese rebels sought to overthrow the government of South Vietnam and to eventually reunite the country. The United States and the South Vietnamese army tried to stop them, but failed.


The Vietnam War was actually the second phase of fighting in Vietnam. During the first phase, which began in 1946, the Vietnamese fought France for control of Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam was part of the French colonial empire in Indochina. The United States sent France military equipment, but the Vietnamese defeated the French in 1954. Vietnam was then split into North and South Vietnam.

United States aid to France and later to non-Communist South Vietnam was based on a Cold War policy of President Harry S. Truman. The Cold War was an intense rivalry between Communist and non-Communist nations. Truman had declared that the United States must help any nation challenged by Communism. The Truman Doctrine was at first directed at Europe and the Middle East. But it was also adopted by the next three presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and applied to Indochina. They feared that if one Southeast Asian nation joined the Communist camp, the others would also "fall," one after the other, like what Eisenhower called "a row of dominoes.”

The Vietnamese Communists and their allies called the Vietnam War a war of national liberation. They saw the Vietnam War as an extension of the struggle with France and as another attempt by a foreign power to rule Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted to end U.S. support of South Vietnam and to reunite the north and south into a single nation. China and the Soviet Union, at that time the two largest Communist nations, gave the Vietnamese Communists war materials but not troops.

The Vietnam War had several stages. From 1957 to 1963, North Vietnam aided rebels opposed to the government of South Vietnam, which fought the rebels with U.S. aid and advisory personnel. From 1964 to 1969, North Vietnam and the United States did much of the fighting. Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand also helped South Vietnam. By April 1969, the number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam had reached its peak of more than 543,000 troops. By July, the United States had slowly begun to withdraw its forces from the region.

In January 1973, a cease-fire was arranged. The last American ground troops left Vietnam two months later. The fighting began again soon afterward, but U.S. troops did not return to Vietnam. South Vietnam surrendered on April 30, 1975, as North Vietnamese troops entered its capital, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).


The Vietnam War was enormously destructive. Military deaths reached about 1.3 million, and the war left much of Vietnam in ruins.

Just before the war ended, North Vietnam helped rebels overthrow the U.S.-backed government in nearby Cambodia. After the war, North Vietnam united Vietnam and helped set up a new government in nearby Laos. The U.S. role in the war became one of the most debated issues in the nation's history. Many Americans felt U.S. involvement was necessary and noble. But many others called it cruel, unnecessary, and wrong. Today, many Americans still disagree on the goals, conduct, and lessons of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War.

*taken from the World Book Encyclopedia online*


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Wow, really thankyou, Lydia! That helps me! 
However, I need some true experiences (maybe some of you have heard from the previous generation) about this war, the true fellings, attitude about the war (There's no good or bad, just the different points of view) in order to build my play successfully.
Well, I'll be soon back with my complete script and tell you the brief story so that you can help me... 
Thanks again, Lydia!


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

I may be able to help with the general mood of the war.

In the beginning of the war, the US couldnt fire upon anyone until they were fired upon. Most of the US didnt support the war, and didnt support the troops, so when the troops came back they were even spat on. people over in vietnam didnt reall know what they were fighting for. The official reason of the US was the domino affect, if vietnam fell to communism, soon the surrounding countries would too. as said above it was during a coldwar, we were scared of communism. but many of the americans didnt feel like that was a good enough reason to die for. In any war the human consiense comes into play, and its hard to justify killing people, so both sides dehumanized eachother, making it easier to do their job. There was a policy of (I cant remember what its called) trying to get a certain number of kills of the enemy. but this and the dehumanization of the enemy encouraged the killing of innocent civilians to meet their quota. In this war you didnt know who was the enemy, and in many cases couldnt see the enemy, the enemy could be a kid with a bomb strapped to him. so the US developed new ways of finding the enemy, like napalm to burn through the foliage and canopy.

hope its not too late. when is your play?


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

No, it's too early... The school doesn't approve the club. We need to delay. Maybe I'll bring the play to the US...(if I can go)

Thanks for your points of view, Shev, I took that for the general theme of the play


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

I know a few people that were in Vietnam, but they refuse to talk about it. All they have ever said is that there were atrocities committed on both sides, and the violation of human rights and human lives was enough to scar them for life. That's about all the explanation I've ever gotten. I think it gives everyone involved a sour taste when asked about it. Part of the problem with getting a more detailed description was probably that I'm so much younger than they are (only 22 now and much younger when I asked about it) that they wanted to shelter me from the reality of things. If I could sum it up in one word, I would say what little I gleaned from their info was this : Disgust.


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, we care for the fact that there was good human nature existed eventho the war represented bad things... so I think it's not so political


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Getting actual historical personal recounts of the event from beginning to end is the hard part. I've generally heard bits and pieces of the negative because that is what people normally remember the most. But you're right...in every war there have been acts of selflessness and goodwill as well as evil, so it sounds like you're going to have a difficult time acquiring the pertinent information without bowing to the rhetoric in text books and novels. It could be a good thing that your club hasn't been accpted yet...it will give you more time to gather an unbiased view to present what happened from multiple viewpoints.


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Okie, though I don't understand much


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

lol sorry. as long as you don't buy into the propoganda and give a view of the war that comes from real experience, you'll be doing great. but that info is hard to get. And as I said before your club having it's membership rejected gives you even that much more time to do your research.

LOL I think I've been reading too many textbooks lately. I read my last post and had to look at it twice to make sure I said what I thought I did


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