OralHistoryResearch

ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH TOPIC: VIETNAM WAR AND ITS LIFE STORY Vietnam War was one of the wars that spanned over the decade and caused massive destruction in Southeast Asia. The war was costly and huge amounts of American lives were lost. When the French moved into Indochina in the mid-19th century to capitalize on trade potential in Asia, the U.S. government voiced concern that the French posed a threat to American interests in China. Nevertheless, the French quickly colonized Indochina (primarily the country of Vietnam), holding control over this Asian colony for nearly the next century, despite a growing nationalist movement within Vietnam led by a group known as the Viet Minh. In 1930, a revolutionary leader named Ho Chi Minh united 3 Communist groups to form the Indo chinese Communist Party. This new party called for an independent Vietnam controlled by peasants and other workers. The Indochinese Communist Party organized protests by peasants against the French government. The French responded by arresting suspected Communists and executing a number of leaders. In 1940, Japan took over Indochina. On September 2, 1945, Ho proclaimed Vietnam's independence from the French and expressed the hope that the United States and Great Britain would eventually support his anticolonial effort. At that moment, though, the British were publicly backing the French, and a little more than a month after Ho's declaration, Secretary of State Dean Acheson publicly noted that the United States would not oppose the reestablishment of French control in Vietnam.

When the war began, America supported the French during the war because they did not want communism to spread in the country. Both Truman and Eisenhower used the domino theory to explain the need to support anti-Communists in Vietnam. If a country fell to communism, nearby countries would also topple. U.S. leaders feared that if Vietnam became Communist, the rest of Southeast Asia would follow. In May 1954, France met with the Viet Minh for peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland. This agreement divided Vietnam into North and South along the 17th parallel. Surrounding this line was a demilitarized zone, or DMZ. Johnson increased U.S. effort in Vietnam. 1964, Johnson's advisors told him to bomb North Vietnam but no bombing could start unless Congress gave approval. The U.S. Maddox had been patrolling when North Vietnamese fired on it. Two days later, the Maddox and another destroyer reported another attack. U.S. jet pilots had not seen any North Vietnamese boats. Huge increase in people in Vietnam a little too much. According ot Private Reginalid Edwards, " ' We had recieved fire. All of a sudden we could see people in front of us. Instead of waiting for air, we returned the fire, and you could see people fall... Come to find out it was Bravo Company. What the VC had done was lure Bravo Company in front of us... It was our own people. That's the bodies we saw falling... I think we shot up maybe 40 guys in Bravo Company." Creating America about Vietnam [|VIETNAM INFO FROM ABC CLIO]

 VIETNAM WAR INFORMATION! [|INTERVIEW WITH A VIETNAMESE STUDENT] //**__NEW __**// [|MAYA LIN MAKER OF THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL] **//__NEW __//** [|GALLERY OF THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL] **//__NEW __//** [|TET OFFENSIVE] **//__NEW __//** MAYA LIN INTERVIEW GO TO 12:50 ON THIS VIDEO FROM PBS.ORG [] [|SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM] __//**NEW**//__
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[] Fun interactive game about Vietnam

Here are a group of soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War! [] media type="youtube" key="vSHx6aHdWi8" height="344" width="425"

Here is video from Youtube.com of soldier of people in Vietnam. Please turn off the sound because the sound is really annoying!

http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Eras/Display.aspx?storyid=1187612&entryid=288368&issublink=true&fromsearch=false

**//Photo, above: Rep. Alexander Pirnie, R-NY, draws the first capsule in the lottery drawing held on Dec. 1, 1969. The capsule contained the date, Sept. 14. [|SELECTIVE SERVICE WEBSITE]//**

Draft Card courtesy of abcclio.com

media type="youtube" key="40m5gBgwjQE" height="344" width="425" Vietnam War Protest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40m5gBgwjQE

[] All about the Vietnam War done by PBS