Vietnam - From a Distance (especially good read for younger DUers)

[SoCalDem]

This is a very interesting, first-person expplanation of the war and the "times".. It;s from BabyBoomerHeadquarters website.. There are also some interesting factoids & pics there (many are reserved for "members", but many are free to visitors)..

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http://www.bbhq.com/vietnam.htm
A Special Feature of Baby Boomer HeadQuarters: WWW.BBHQ.COM

This is the only section of BBHQ that is specifically for today's teenagers.... those of you for whom Vietnam is only a strange word. Over a quarter of a century after U.S. soldiers left Vietnam, we believe we can finally give it some needed perspective. This is a basic description of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, from a middle-aged boomer's viewpoint. We explain why, for many of us, the Vietnam War was a major, defining event for us - and for our country.

We're not taking sides here, and we have no axe to grind. Do not look at this as the complete story. This is merely an attempt to paint a picture... from a distance.

2005 Update: We have a comparison between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq in 2005. Did we get ourselves into another Vietnam by liberating Iraq? Read our analysis to find out.

The Cold War Climate and the Domino Theory

During World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Russia and its member states) - the U.S.S.R. - were allies against Germany and Japan. They won the war together. But the two countries had very different ideas on governing. The U.S. believed in the right of people to elect their leaders and live freely; the U.S.S.R. believed in limited freedom and a strong, dominant central government. Free people will never knowingly choose to place themselves under a communist government, so the U.S.S.R. was trying to force itself on other countries with military force. It had done so in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and other countries. The U.S.S.R. had a formidable army, whose weapons included atomic and nuclear bombs and the means to deliver them. So the U.S. and other free countries feared that communism would spread. This was the essence of the domino theory.

"You have a row of dominoes set up; you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is that it will go over very quickly." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954.

Memories of Hitler's attempt to dominate the world were still fresh. It could happen again. Both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson believed that the domino theory was applicable in Indo-China. There was real concern in the United States, and outright fear in much of the rest of the free world, that communism might overtake us.

In 1950, the United States announced that it would provide military and economic support to countries that were being invaded by communist forces.




snip

[unhappycamper]

1. Thanks for posting.

This is what our kids need to learn. . . . Unfortunately, it's ancient history to the current generation.