As you know, we've begun our study of the Vietnam War. I mentioned in class that it has been the most controversial event in American history, and the controversy lives on. As I researched this assignment, my original plans had to change. Here's why: as opposed to the Civil War and the World Wars, there are very few notable web sites devoted to Vietnam. I had hoped to give you some exposure to the "reaction at home" but the websites that covered the anger and bitterness all contained objectionable material. It occurs to me that most of you have seen Vietnam portrayed or at least referenced in books, movies, and TV shows. Because it is still fresh in our nation's mind, the war is still a source of emotional debate. So, rather than sending you to do research, this week I'd like to ask a series of questions:
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
I look forward to your answers. Please remember that the requirements for this assignment are a minimum of 200 words, and at least two responses to the posts of others (responses must total 150 words minimum). Thanks and God bless!
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent? I don't think that in the end it was worth it for Americans. I mean, in the beginning, it's not like we could predict the outcome, though. But, We lost tens of thousands of lives and lots of money, and we didn't really get much out of it.
ReplyDelete2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today? Well, we certainly didn't win, if that's what you are asking. The war was mostly between South Vietnam and North Vietnam, and we supported the South, and the North eventually won, but after we pulled out of the war. So, I guess we lost, if anything. We lost a olt of soldiers and money and didn't really gain mush from it.
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam). Well, I guess another event like Vietnam could theoretically happen again. I doubt that it will be in Vietnam again, but I'm no future-seer. If Americans stick with the Truman Doctrine and try to stop the spread of Communism to other countries, it is definitely possible.
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different? Vietnam happened, because we, in the Truman Doctrine, established that we would use military force, if needed, to stop the spread of Communism. I do think that the US policy should have been different. I am totally with preventing Communism from spreading, but sometimes you need to look at the cost, especially when we are supporting governments with bad practices. Is it worth tens of thousands of American lives? Not every time
1)Yes, I do think that it was worth it. If not to the extent that we had hoped, it still made an impact, and left the lasting memory of the US’s opinions about Communism.
ReplyDelete2)No, the US didn’t lose the war, we accomplished what we went to do, although it took more than we had originally planned. I do think that people today have a hard time seeing why we spent so much time over there just to leave before the whole thing was “officially” over. As to the answer to that, people are initialed to their own opinions.
3)No, I don’t think that another war of that scale will ever happen again. The reason being that our technological skills have increased so much over the past 20 years, let alone 50. As of today we have troops that sit at a desk and fly a plane, called a drone, to Iran or anywhere ells, drop bombs, and eliminate the enemy. Then they go home to their families and eat supper like nothing ever happened. Yes, this does make a war very non-personal, and many have a problem with that. But instead of endangering the lives of countless troops we can now operate from home with no worry what so ever.
4)The Truman Doctrine was very effective and when arguing against the past I think that, knowing what we know now, it could have been handled differently. But there is also the problem that if we could go back and change it we all know that it would turn out a different way, but whether for good or bad, we will never know.
1)Was Vietnam worth it? This question is one of those things that has been debated on for many years. I personally don't know if it was necessary or not, but it did cost America a lot of soldiers. If you ask Vietnam veterans that question most would say in some way that it was worth it, and that they are glad they served. If you ask American citizens that lived during that time then most would say that it was a waste. The only people that really know if the war was worth it is the Vietnam veterans because they were over there and saw what was going on.
ReplyDelete2)Did the U.S. lose the War in Vietnam? What does this question mean for Americans today?
This is a very complicated question. The U.S. did defeat the North Vietnamese in the field. When the U.S. withdrew its troops from Vietnam, a few years later North Vietnam defeated South Vietnam by capturing their capital city, Saigon. A year later North and South Vietnam were united. In my opinion, I think that the U.S. lost because it cost them many soldiers and money. The Vietnam War is something that most Americans today don't really talk about because of the fact that we lost.
3) Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? I do think that something like Vietnam could happen again, and that the American people would do whatever they could to stop it. It would just depend on who the communist country is that is trying to push Communism. For example, I think that the U.S. would be hesitant on attacking China because they have an infinite amount of people, and the U.S. relies on them for many goods.
4)How did this happen? Should the U.S. policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different? Vietnam happened because the Truman Doctrine said that we would do whatever we had to do to stop the spread of Communism. I think that the Truman Doctrine should have been different because sometimes you have to draw the line on what you can and can't do, and the Vietnam War was too much for the U.S.
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
ReplyDeleteObviously fighting a war that you do not win is not worth fighting.
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
Both yes and no, we simple left; the rest was just a cause of leaving. The question is if quitting is losing. We said that we did not want to further our investment in this action and walked out the door. We did not win. We did not lose. We quite.
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
Anything is possible. It would be highly unlikely that we would go to war for the same reason because the Soviet Union is no longer in existence.
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
First of all, we should have pulled out from the war when Kennedy died. We knew that this was going to be a hopeless war; plus, the leader of South Vietnam was the same thing as a dictator. We should have just let Vietnam become communist and focused more on keeping Communism out of Western Europe.
1. I am not sure if Vietnam was worth it. I assume that it depends on who you are asking. To the people fighting, I’m sure they didn’t appreciate everyone back home saying how crazy this whole idea was while they were risking their lives. We have to look at what the benefits were or what stand we really made. I did some research on the Vietnam War and the writings were accompanied by pictures, after seeing that… I really want to believe that all of the pain and torture didn’t happen for any reason.
ReplyDelete2. Did we win? I can’t say we came home with the victory of declaring that war as won. Some may say that because we didn’t lose we won, but is that true? My opinion of winning is that you have obtained the highest possible level of achievement and we just did not do that. As for us today, we still have that. America has the pride of such a successful military history, but we also have the “not win” of Vietnam. It hurt American’s pride, but those men did what needed to be done.
3. As for another Vietnam, I guess it could, yes. Americans would not be as willing to lose the same amount as Vietnam. It would be hard to convince Americans to give up as much as they did then.
4. We set a rule. We said that we would do anything to keep communism defeated. Even though this is a brave statement and I understand where it is coming from, we also need to use some wisdom when we pick our fights. Or maybe that was it, we felt as though we didn’t have a choice as to whether we should fight or not.
The Vietnam War was a time in our history we can’t even describe. When you really look into everything that went on it outs everything into perspective. In my research, I found a picture of a burning monk, similar to the one shown in class, but from a different angle. You could see the man’s face, or I should say, what was left of it. You see the ferocious passion that people had towards their side of the belief. Vietnam was controversial and when forming and basing our opinions, we need to do it with care and respect because both sides sacrificed something, great emotion comes with this war, and we have to at least demonstrate a level of reverence.
Jon, I have read similar comments in others posts. If we would have known the outcome, we may have handled it differently. We gain the knowledge and wisdom by going through the situations we are faced with. If we had known the end of the Vietnam War, it most likely would have changed the process by which we first took to fight the war. I think that knowing what we know now, the entire outcome may have been different.
ReplyDeleteBlake, in your opinion about whether or not another Vietnam War could happen again I really liked the point you brought out. It all depends on who it would be. I think at this point in time, Americans can pretty much tell who we can and cannot fight, or maybe we don’t, but anyway, we would definitely be more cautious about fighting China than we would some other small communist country. How much we would lose and what we would gain could also play a very important factor in the decision to go into another war. Now if it was definitely going to be to the extreme extent of the Vietnam War, Americans would definitely be against it, or the majority would.
ReplyDeleteWas the war in Vietnam worth it? In my opinion yes and no. Yes, because it slowed down the spread of communism. Also it showed world wide that America will stand up for its allies if they are in need of serious help. truthfully it was not really was not to save human life, Unfortunately. They may have said that but they just wanted to slow communism and show the world what America would do.
ReplyDeleteDid we lose the war? Technically yes. But i think we got the point across that we would stop a nothing to stop communism in its tracks. And even though tens of thousands of lives were lost i think it was good that we helped Vietnam. Because if we did not help them even more may have died because of it. Even though they would not be Americans they are still people.
Could another "Vietnam" occur? Well i suppose that if another super power like Russia tried to force there beliefs and Gov. styles on people then yes America would stand up and fight.
Should the policy have been different? Well for this i am going to have to agree with Jon. i do not agree with communism at all and it should have been stopped, but congress should not have given the President the right to do whatever he could to stop communism.
For me, the way I want to answer these questions sort of tie in together. Was the Vietnam war worth it? Let me put it this way first: say you see two people fighting and one person has someone else backing them up but the other is helpless. If you knew you could help them out and you could make a difference, would you? Most of us would probably say yes. So the same thing applies to this circumstance with the Vietnam war. Our presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and Kennedy thought that it would only be right to intervene since our nation is so well off. This is what the Truman Doctrine’s purpose was, to protect countries from being taken over by communists leaders. This was also in the presidents’ minds because it was during the Cold War that this came up.It sounds like a nice gesture, but in the end I do not think it was worth it. The way we went about it was very messy, and if we were going to help, we should have gone in it to win it and then gotten our troops out of there. Did we lose the Vietnam war? In some ways, yes I believe we did. Technically, we just pulled out of it, but the real loss was that the South Vietnamese(and Cambodians) that we strove to help in the first place were brutally conquered. I think that most Americans probably felt the same way about it as I do, which is why Americans today are so concerned about us being over in Iraq and Afganistan. If we got far enough away from the history of the Vietnam war and people forgot the lessons learned then yes, it could happen again. We should know our history, people! That’s what it’s for.
ReplyDeleteIn 1946 Prime Minister Tsaldaris of Greece visited Washington to ask for help. The United States agreed to help both Greece and Turkey. It appeared from past experience with the Soviet Union that the Communist were trying to expand their territory.
ReplyDeleteThis situation was very important for America in the balance of power in the Cold War. To ignore Greece would find Turkey surrounded by a "sea of communism". Soviet Russia must be contained!
The Truman Doctrine was the first in a series of containment moves.
The French were given Vietnam after WWII. There was a rebellion against the French authority.It was at this point Chinese communists took advantage of the atmosphere of discontentment. At this point had some wise
Frenchmen worked toward an independent Vietnam
that stood on its own two feet, we would not have had to be evolved.I am curious as to what the Japanese had done in order to cause such rebellion by Vietnam.
During WWII Winston Churchill was the only political leader who saw Stalin and communism for what it was.
"Hind sight is twenty twenty"
Q. 1.2.) Was Vietnam worth the pain?
A. No. We did not complete the job. We came home defeated.
Q. 3.) Could another Vietnam occur?
A. Take away the communism and add Muslim Extremist. Yes it could.
Q. 4.) What about the Truman Doctrine.
A. The Truman Doctrine was the best we knew to do after WWII. And communism was dangerous and trying to take over.
Source: Wikipedia
Cody, I read you're essa, and i thought it was decent. I do disagree with you a little, though. I do not think that Vietnam was really worth it. It did help slow the spread of Communism and showed that Americans would stand up to fight against it. But, when you look at the costs, I think that they really outwieghed the benefits. With all of the lives and money that we lost, i just don't think that it was a fair trade. I do agree with you on your last point, though. It is probably becaause you referenced my views.
ReplyDeleteEmily, I thought Your post was excellent. I agree with you on most of the points that you made, even though some of them were a little vague. I don't really think that Vietnam was worth it, nor do I think that we "won" the war. I don't really think that the Truman doctrine was really that great of a policy for the US. While I am for stopping the spread of Communism, you really got to look at the costs. I think the question that needs to be asked is: Do the ends justify the means?
ReplyDelete1. Was Vietnam worth it? I like most people hate the evil thing called communism. The reason that the United States of America went to war in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism. The question is really a matter of how you view communism. Now as I have stated previously I hate communism. Since I hate it, it is my opinion that it should not take control in other countries and ruin them. In continuing this line of thought if I do not want it to take over in other countries then why should we not try to help those who don’t want it to take over?
ReplyDelete2. Did the United States lose the war in Vietnam? I do not think that the United States lost the war in Vietnam. The reason that I think this is because I have had the opportunity to ask someone who is Vietnamese what the government is like. He said that the government is not completely socialist but it is more socialist than it is democratic. So going on the assumption that the goal of entering into the war was to stop the spread of communism it was a success.
3. Could another Vietnam occur today? Yes the stuff going on in the Middle East could easily turn into a battle to stop communist takeover if we pull out to soon.
4. How did this happen? It happened because the communists saw a weak government and took advantage of it. Should the policy have been different? No, the policy was needed to stop the spread of communism. If the president would not have been able to do what was necessary we very well might be speaking Russian right now.
1. For what we spent for what we accomplished, it definitely wasn’t worth it. We really didn’t accomplish anything by going to Vietnam. However, if we would have finished what we started, defeated the North Vietnamese, and successfully stopped Communism in Vietnam it would have been worth it. I believe if we stayed in Vietnam accomplishing this would not have been out of the question. What many feared in Vietnam was the domino effect; that if one country fell to communism many others around it would. Whether or not what we did in Vietnam helped stop communism is anyone’s guess.
ReplyDelete2. We certainly did not win the war, but we still don’t know what would have happened if we didn’t intervene. It wasn’t distinctly a defeat though, because we didn’t surrender to anyone; we simply stopped fighting and left. What this means for Americans today is the question of what our foreign policy should be. Should we keep to ourselves or go around fixing the world’s problems? I think it depends on what the problem is. Some things are worth fighting for; others aren’t so important.
3. I think another Vietnam could happen. We could intervene in a big world conflict, lose many American lives, yet accomplish nothing in the end. I don’t think its very likely something like that will happen again, but I wouldn’t say its impossible.
4. I think this happened because we were afraid of the domino effect. We were afraid of the whole world turning communist and felt a genuine threat to freedom and justice.
1. Was Vietnam worth it? In my opinion, yes it was. Like President Johnson said, we needed to keep our promises. We also made a stand against Communism. It’s not like we could just let that spread around, because eventually it would have spread to the U.S.
ReplyDelete2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? What does this question mean for Americans today? Technically we did lose the war. We did not accomplish what we wanted to, and Vietnam is a Communist country today. We could not achieve what we were after in that war. This means that Americans can’t let our soldiers down like that again. We needed to support those that were in the war, but what did we do when they all came home? We spat in their faces and called them horrible names. Shameful, just shameful.
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? An event like Vietnam could indeed happen again. This is because history simply repeats itself. We should never forget the Vietnam War, and maybe it won’t happen again. But for a completely lost cause, we would not be willing to give up American lives. Although, if we really are helping people, we could be willing to lose a lot of lives.
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different? Vietnam happened because we took the Truman Doctrine a little too far. It said that the U.S. could do whatever it took to stop Communism from spreading. And that’s all well and good, stopping Communism and all. But I think that it should have been a little different, and set some limits to how far we would have to go for that.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteIn your post, you gave the scenario about the two kids fighting. That was a good example. It sort of makes you realize what the Vietnam war really was like, and why it started. And I assume it makes you feel a little dumb if you had answered Yes to your question, but did not support the Vietnam war. And you made a very good point at the end of your essay. We should all know our history, how it all started, and the conclusions of it, so that it might not happen again. Yeah, we should have just done what we could, and got out. But if we don’t forget how bad it was then, then how will we ever know how to handle the future? And now, when we are in Iraq, we still did not really learn a lesson. We are still over there, still fighting. But they all still need our support, even if we don’t agree with why we are over there.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean in your first paragraph. America didn’t really gain anything in the Vietnam War. And we did sort of lose that war. But we still helped the best we could. Yeah, we lost a lot of people, but we still did our best. Communism was spreading rapidly, and we put our guts into stopping it. I mean, if we had just let the Communists take over, and had not put our two cents in, we could very well have ended up to be Communists right now! But we showed how much we didn’t want it, so it was not spread to our country. And I agree with your last statement. It is not always necessary to lose so much for something. But what if it is the one thing that you know to be right? Would you not give up your life for your Christian beliefs?... I would.
1. first, was the war worth it. well we must first look at the actual history and the fac ts of what happened. the north vietnamese were not nice people and niether were the viet cong, these people slaughtered villages and killed many innocent people, however this war was not covered from home. in retro spect i would say the war was not worth it due to that the commi's won.
ReplyDelete2.in order to look at what vietnam really ment and to be able to answer the question if we won or lost the war we must see what the war really meant. ok, obviously we were not fighting vietnamese industrial might or power or anything of that nature, we were fighting communism and vietnam was fueled by communism, if they had not been they would have been totally obliterated by american might. so on the basis of a larger picture i would say american and FREEDOM took a major step backward in the war on communism, which by no stretch of the imagination can ever or will ever produce a country that has been blessed like the united states. In order to really lose a war in vietnam we had to lose it at home and being that the war was so hated and so unpopular in essance the "majorit" didnt suport the war, however many did but were not out smockin dope and screamin like deranged college kids that had been morphed by liberal media and acedemia.
3. ok i definately think another vietnam could and probably will happen again, because communism still exists and conflicts with the free world. however, another vietnam is not quite acruate because i believe it is all about a cause, in the question it says no matter wat the cause. well i mean the cause is always wat matters, if the crazies in north korea started a second holocaust we would more than likely come to their aid. (i dont know though, our predident may be agains helping otside of deplomacy). i think today the media in many ways shields the true storys of what happens with our troops, however due to the internet we can still learn of the, no matter how hard msnbc, cnn, and cbs try to only cover little peggy sue and her dog. i mean today we can see and learn about the real news and what is really happening.
4. ok the truman doctrine wants to stop communism no matter what. whats bad about that. so the truman doctrine says we should stand for truth, well ok ud have to be a liberal moron to disagree with freedom. many of those people that say america has a "un-healthy" fear of communism would be the first ones to cry about their losses of freedoms that they have never lived without, oh no what will we do if we cant control the media and cheat on our taxes. i mean seriously think about it, how many freedoms does the truman doctrine take away? how many freedoms does it allow? communism obviously does not even offer freedom, just ask the people in china who gathered at Tiananmen Square. if you really want to see the true nature of communism visit: http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM...obviously i very much dislike the ideologies of communism and think the truman doctrine was a novel idea, however, as history shows, our bockbone seems to have broken or something later in pre- and post- korean war and even after vietnam.
1. this question could be debated for years and still never come to an agreement whether it was worth it. Yes, I think we need to keep our promises, but at the same time, if anyone could have predicted the outcome (500 dead a week) I would have to say in that sense it wasn’t worth it. yea that’s a bit of both sides, but that’s what I believe about this.
ReplyDelete2. Did the US lose the war? with as many casualties we had it is hard to say who exactly won. even though we backed out before the war was over and didn’t suffer as much as the remaining armies, we still suffered a massive blow that could not be made up. the damage was done. we cant bring the lives back to the soldiers that died over there. but it is hard to say who won exactly.
3. yes I think another Vietnam could happen. not neccisarrily in Vietnam, but perhaps another country that was being pressured by communists.
4. how did this happen? it happened by keeping our promises to stop the spread of communism. it probably could have turned out better or worse, but things happen that you cant control. and I think it was good that we were determined to stop communism, but that goal seems a little far fetched.
roberto, i agree with u in that if we would have finished what we had started it would have been worth it. life is about finishing what you start. why should we make an exception? yea many lives were lost, but since we started it, why not completely finish it??
ReplyDeletejon, i said somethin similar to u in the effect that if we knew what was going to happen, we would have handled it differently. isnt this true in many areas of life? we strive to do something, then once we do it its not what we thot it to be so we abandon it. this is somewhat what happened in vietnam
ReplyDeleteJon, you had a very good essay. It was also well written. You made some good arguments for your opinion. I do however have to disagree with you on some of your opinions. For instance, when you said that the war in Vietnam was not worth it, I believe that it was worth it. As stated in my essay I hate communism. I also believe that it is our duty to help stop it where we can. So for this reason I believe that it was worth it. There was also the fact that the president promised that we would help.
ReplyDeleteHannah, I agree with a lot of the things that you said. I agree with what you said about the war being worth it and not losing the war. I do, however, disagree with you on the point of the possibility of another war like Vietnam happening. Yes, technology has made war very non-personal but it does not eliminate casualties. Just because people don’t see each other in person does not stop people from being killed. Also you have to remember that if we have those weapons then the enemy probable does also.
ReplyDeleteWas Vietnam worth the money spent and all the lost American lives?
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I don’t really think it was worth it. It was a good effort to try to stop Communism in Vietnam, but it didn’t go as planned. We inflicted more damage than they did, but no ground was ever really gained. Also, so much was spent on our part for so long. This doesn’t have anything to do with the question, but it frustrates me when I hear about times when Vietnam veterans are not honored.
Did we lose the war in Vietnam?
Well, we didn’t win, because (even though they didn’t necessarily beat us) our enemy ended up winning after we left. But, I don’t think we lost because we never surrendered to anyone, and you could say that we had a higher kill to death ratio. We didn’t leave because we were defeated. It was just time to leave. Americans couldn’t handle it much longer.
Could another Vietnam occur again?
I guess so. I don’t see anything of that significance happening soon, but you never know. I’m definitely not in control. I don’t see Americans being able to give up as much now for a war that doesn’t directly endanger us at home.
How did this happen? Should the US policy have been different?
The war happened because we were afraid that other countries would fall to Communism after Vietnam. I think the policy should have probably been different. I am against Communism, obviously, but I don’t think we were quite ready for a massive war in Southeast Asia.
1.) Was the war worth it?... In my opinion, definitely not. We wanted to stop the spread of communism, I understand that, but we didn’t even do that! We backed up the French, they bailed, and we stayed for about ten more years and lost 500 US citizens a day. We had JUST gotten out of a war in Korea in which nothing was accomplished and we entered a war in Vietnam that did the same.
ReplyDelete2.) We didn’t exactly win. A win would have been defeating the communist’s which was our goal and we didn’t do that. I also hate that we left 2,000 soldiers behind in the Vietnamese POW camps. We should’ve found a way to get them out. That was our responsibility.
3.) I don't know for sure about this one really. Another Vietnam could, but probably won’t occur. I think, and really hope, America has learned from its mistakes.
4.) The Truman Doctrine had way too many loopholes. Yes, we didn’t want communism to take over and be a giant enemy in the future, but after failing in Korea we should have known that that was likely to happen again.
In general America sticks their nose in other peoples’ business. We think it’s our responsibility to be the dues ex machina flying in from backstage, but it’s really not necessary. In late ‘60s and early ‘70s, America had enough problems of its own (racial liberation and women’s’ rights) and we needed to focus on domestic affairs, not international-- let alone POTENTIAL-- problems.
1.
ReplyDeleteA: In my opinion, we went to the war in Vietnam for the right reason(s): to protect democracy and the free world. Going in the first place sends a very strong message to other countries that we do no mess around when it comes to countries that oppose the US. However, in the end, we accomplished NOTHING. We only put off the inevitable and killed thousands of young men and spent billions of dollars in the process.
2.
A:We never declared defeat, however we did not accomplish our goal in going to Vietnam. In my mind, that makes it a failure. Again, we went for the right reasons. Not going would possible mean that Communism would continue spreading, perhaps to the western hemisphere.
3.
A: another Vietnam has already happened (sort of), it's called Iraq, "the war on terror" etc. We went over for different reasons, but in the end, we are withdrawing and only postponed the inevitable for the country of Iraq. We accomplished NOTHING (aside from killing Husein and sending a clear message to Bin Laden and his followers.)
4.
A: The U.S. was dedicated to stopping the spread of Communism. When communism started to overwhelm Vietnam, we had to get involved. However, it's been said that it was sort of a misunderstanding. If we had made a public statement that if any country invades Vietnam, we would consider it an act of war, North Vietnam probably wouldn't have made the aggression.
Josh, you made some very good points in your essay. The United States didn't necessarily lose the war because we never surrendered to anyone, and we didn't leave because we were defeated. We left because it was time to leave. Those points put up a very good argument for people that say the war was lost. In the end, I don't think we will ever come to the decision if the United States won or lost the war. People's opinions will always be different.
ReplyDeleteCamden, I liked your essay and definitely understand your point of view; however, I disagree. In the first part about was it worth it, you said, “if I do not want it to take over in other countries then why should we not try to help those who don’t want it to take over?” I agree that communism isn’t good, but it’s not our responsibility to protect other countries, and, more importantly, we had tried stopping communism in Korea and it hadn’t worked. You’d think we would take a hint and not put countless soldier’s lives on the line. War is terrible, but necessary; however, Vietnam wasn’t even necessary.
ReplyDeleteSome people say that this war was a good thing because it slowed the spread of communism, but did it really? It distracted the Vietnamese, making them focus on their military advancement, but I’m not sure if it slowed communism.
Jake, you put up a very good argument just like Josh, and included some really good points. We didn't declare defeat, but we didn't accomplish our goal. In my opinion, I think the United States was stuck between defeat and victory, and nobody could really decide on it. The war was basically one big tug of war between the United States/South Vietnam and North Vietnam. For example, the U.S. would gain land and then leave it. The next day the North Vietnamese would have the land already claimed again so then the U.S. would have to fight for it again. So the war was a big hassle for the U.S. Good essay, Jake.
ReplyDelete1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
ReplyDelete** This can never be fully determined in the sight of the world and the American people. But in my opinion, we did save millions of lives during the fight.... Only then to loose them 2 years later to the people that we were trying so desperately to save them from. So was it worth it? To fight from the 50's to 1973 and loose them in 1975? No, we spent 500 AMERICAN SOLDIERS LIVES EVERY WEEK not including those BRAVE SOUTH VIETNAMESE that DIED ALONG SIDE OF US. Was it worth it? You tell me. Would you want to be on a battlefeild when the voice you heard screaming from your nation was "baby killers"? I don't think so. Yes, I believe that we did stand up against the obvious "bad guys" of the two, but what did we accomplish?A war that was voided 2 years after our troops had left the soil. All we did was postpone the inevidable.
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
** In relation to when we left... NO. But what happened after we left... NO. We didn't loose the war we lost a country. You see when we were over there we had some control of the level of communism seeping into South Vietnam. But once we left we had no control over what came in, we were even too far away to be an immediate source of help.
I believe as a whole that the US government at that time was doing what it saw fit. They didn't know the outcome and even when the world came crashing down you couldn't just pull the troops out no questions asked. You had to do it gradually or be at the risk of humiliation across the globe. To quote Richard Nixon (who ran with this slogan) PEACE WITH HONOR. And this is exactly what we did. We puled out when we thought that it was time. But we underestimated the allies that the Communist North Vietnam had in China and the USSR.
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
** To quote Luke Chapter 21 Verses 9-11:
"But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."
This says that "Nation will rise against Nation" which in turn means that there will be wars on planet Earth before GOD comes back to set up his throne in Jerusalem. I don't know if the US will give of it's soldiers freely, but either way our troops will be fighting if Congress gives the O.K. (f.y.i - it would be through the reinstalment of the Draft.).
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
** We had a leader, JFK, who saw fit to help the South Vietnamese people against their neighboring communist counterparts to a greater degree than we had before. I see this as perfectly harmless, until the Administration let the Leaders of South Vietnam along with their families to be killed.
On the question "Should the US Policy, the Truman Doctrine, have been different? I think that this was a very noble idea. But no one can stop the progression of a society all on their own, And the only people that made this promise was one, the United States of America. I think that this policy would have succeeded if we had had more than just ourselves on board with this resolution.
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ReplyDelete1. In my opinion, Vietnam WAS worth the time and the lives spent over there. Don’t get me wrong, I feel for every single person who lost a relative or a close person to them, but if you look at wars like this, if they aren’t fought in one place they are fought in another. It reminds me a lot of the war in Iraq, if we hadn’t put the time in and the soldiers in that we have, they could be flying planes into our buildings once again, a war in our country. So if the war is not fought in Vietnam it could possibly be pushed by communists to the US.
ReplyDelete2. I don’t think that we lost the war. I believe, whether we went in or not, the North was going to take over the South. So pretty much, we didn’t destroy the North and they took over the South once we left, so basically we didn’t win the war, but we also didn’t lose. We had nothing to lose as a country, except for the lives of many soldiers, in that aspect we did lose.
3. I don’t believe that another “Vietnam” WILL occur, but I think under the same circumstance, it COULD occur. We fought in Vietnam to stop communism from spreading. That was our goal. Not to destroy the North, just stop the spread of communism. So I believe, if communism rose to power again like in Vietnam Americans would be willing to jump in and stop the spread again, despite the major losses in the past (soldiers and time).
4. I do not think the Truman Doctrine should have been different. We are a strong country, we are strong enough to stop other strong, controlling governments from rising and taking over, but if we don’t stop them when they start, they could grow and grow and then even take US over. So I think stopping any signs of communism at any cost, like the Truman Doctrine says is what we have to do, to protect our country in the long run.
1. I think that the war in vietnam was a huge mistake. I was a total waste of time, money, and peoples lives. It just makes me really mad that people would do something like that. I hate it when people waste things, and it really disgusts me what happened in vietnam. So many people died, all for nothing. We spent so much money, and never got what we payed for. It's really sad what happened. I hope that its a mistake we will not repeat.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, we did lose the war in vietnam. By lose, I mean that we didn't accomplish what we started out to do. All we did is delay the enivitable. The question is weither america can really help in forign countries, when we can't stay there permanently. Also, weither it makes is look bad as a country. I wonder what other countries thought of our having helped win WWII, and then losing a much smaller war.
3.Yes, I do think the same thing could happen again. I think that americans value the human life much more than some other countries, but, for those of us who haven't lost someone close to us in a war, we think, " Oh, thats terrible that __# people died today. We should try to help", and then they go watch a movie. Human lives get reduced to an abstract number. We don't really care.
4. It started out fine, but soon we were in over our heads, when china joined the war. I think that we should have pulled out of the then, when we had the chance. You may think that would have been cowardly, but there is wisdom in stopping when you know that you are beaten. I do think that the trueman doctrine doctrine was a good doctrine, but I don't think the US was ready to take on the worlds communism.
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1) The Vietnam War was in no way "worth it." Now do not think that I am supporting the useless slaughter of American lives, we lost thousands of lives in this war. And we lost soldiers to an army that didn't even have the nerve to come out and face us, they would shoot and hide. Losing lives in war is terrible. But anyway. When you look at what we gained from this war (nothing) then you can see that the war was not worth it.
ReplyDelete2) In NO way did we lose the Vietnam War. The whole reason we even backed out was because the American public was beginning to revolt. Riots were breaking out in large cities, crime and drug-usage rates were at an all-time high, and anarchy was beginning to take place. This also spread to the troops in Vietnam, where morale was extremely low. You cannot win a war when you have an unhappy army and an EXTREMELY frustrated country back home. So no, we didn't lose the war, we had no choice but to leave. It's not worth losing control of America to continue the War in Vietnam.
3) Oh there is no doubt that there will be another war like Vietnam. There will be wars that are not supported by the American public. Its just a fact. Someone will always disagree with something the government chooses to do.
4) This happened because the Truman Doctrine stated that the US would support any country that was threatened by communism. And that's awesome!! But when nothing happens for YEARS and YEARS and useless bloodshed occurs, and when riots are breaking out at home, you need to pull out. No question.
Michael Pope, you had an awesome essay. I agree completely on everything you said. Especially the parts about the way the American public was acting during this time. The media has such power over the public's eyes today. They can write a story that can completely change the public opinion of the entire war! And that is what they did, almost 100% turning the American people against their own soldiers, which is terribly sad.
ReplyDeleteGreat Essay Michael.
Bgruk, amazing essay. Especially the first section where you discussed if the war was worth it. There are dozens of reasons why it wasn't: the loss of lives, loss of money, lack of support from home, and the scarring of the soldiers that returned home from this war. It still causes them horrible pains, emotionally and physically, today.
ReplyDeleteGreat Essay Bgruk.
1.) In the beginning of the Vietnam War we fought for a good thing. We supported men to gain their freedom, but in the end I believe it really was a war for nothing. At the end we completely deserted our allies. We left and they lost. So why did we fight in the first place if we gave up at the last minute. I mean people died-THOUSANDS of people died. And for what? Nothing.
ReplyDelete2.) Technically America never declared war in Vietnam; it was a “policing action”. So if you were talking in the terms of that the U.S failed in its political objectives, namely the defense of South Vietnam. And also what does this question mean for Americans today? I guess it could mean different things for different people, so for me, I think lives could have been spared and wiser decisions could have been made. But still that’s my opinion.
3.) Another Vietnam War could happen again, you never know. Humans always fall short which means we every now and then hold grudges and people want revenge. But for the Americans; people don’t think we would like to give up that much of which we did in the War.
4.) Correct me if I am wrong, but the Truman Doctrine went along the lines of doing everything we can to stay as far away as we can from communism. I believe that could have been different, way different. And how did The Vietnam War happen? The Truman Doctrine.
1) I do think that the time the United States spent in Vietnam was worth the price we paid. and i think that we aided in the war on communism.In the end the us accompleshed some in the war on communism,we just didnt accomplesh what we had hoped to.
ReplyDelete2)i dont think that we lost the war in vietnam,we did accomplesh some of what we went there to do but with more time spent in vietnam and at an overall greater price spent,than what we had origanall thought.And as for the americans,everyone had their own oppinions on the matter.
3)I do think that onother vietnam could occur if communism starts to rise again,but i dont think that the US would get involved if they thought that it might have the same outcome as vietnam,unless it affected the us directly.
4)The us policy (Truman Doctrine) said that we woul us military force if necesarry to stop the spread of communism. i think that it should have benn different in that we should do everything in ower power to stop communism other than millitary force.And that millitary farce should only be used if the us freedoms are threatend.
1) No, I don't think it was worth it. We didn't accomplish that much. We left and the people we were helping were demolished after we left. From what I read, I found that there were a toal of three million killed and one million wounded.
ReplyDelete2) In mypoint of view, yes. I do think we lost. Like I said, we left. How can you win when you leave? We were losing many men. My grandfather was a science teacher and he lost many of his Senior students to the war because all of our men kept getting killed. They were drafted as soon as they graduated. Many of those boys died before there teacher, who had fought in the korean war, would die. The Vietnam war is still effecting people today. A man I know, Bro. Joe Adams, is now in a wheel chair because of something called "Agent Orange." This was a chemical that was sprayed by air planes and effects the health of people. Bro. Joe Adams was once able to walk around our capital in Frankfort and spread the Word of God, but now he is confined to a wheel chair. He has to find a replacement which I have recently heard preach. The Man is an excellent preacher and I'm sure he will do a fine job, but there's no one like Bro. Joe.
Vietnamese people who were exposed to this chemical had deformed, handicapped children. It's horrible that this happend, and what is happening to Bro. Joe Adams and other people like him.
3) Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? I don't know. It's hard to know with the war thats going on right now. I personally would not be willing to sacrafice that much again. It does depend on the cause though. If we were attacked first, then I think we would need to fight. If not, then I don't think we would need to.
4)Communism. It's a big reason for all this.
No, I don't think it have been any different. Do anything to keep communism away... whats wrong with that? Now this might be confusing because I said I don't think us being the war was worth it. If we had done more to help against communism then I think it would have been worth it, but we didn't so i don't think it was. But I do think the Truman Doctrine was a good thing.
1) Personally, I don’t think the war was worth the thousands of soldiers we lost. I know that as Americans, since we have a democratic form of government, we think we have the right to go fixing everyone’s’ problems, but I don’t think America was ready for another war so soon after Korea. Yes, Communism is a no-no, but in the end Vietnam was overtaken by it anyway.
ReplyDelete2) Although there was a cease-fire I think we ultimately lost the war. Over 50,000 dead, 1000 missing and what did we gain from it? We were trying to stop the spread of Communism but we only slowed it down.
3) I guess it could be possible to have another Vietnam but I don’t think it is likely. I don’t think we could handle another Vietnam for very long. With technology as advanced as it is we’re not used to losing so many lives.
4) The Truman Doctrine was to stop Communism at ALL costs. I think that was the major flaw.
1) Yes and No. We kept our promise and helped stunt the growth of Communism. We were there for a really long time and at certain times it was really tough for our troops because of the lives lost. On the other hand, we did spend so much time their and accomplished little. We did not completely stop the spread of Communism in South Vietnam because in the end, the North Vietnam took over. So in a way we helped by keeping our promise and -trying- to stop the spread of Comm.
ReplyDelete2) I don't think it is safe to say that we lost the War. I mean for goodness sakes we were there for 30 or so years! Fighting for country that couldn't defend for itself. The fact that we stayed there for over 30 years and kept fighting is a win within itself. Sure we left our allies to be destroyed, but after 30 years, you have to look at the situation and just ask yourself “Is this worth it?”. This shows today that we as Americans can keep our promises and sure as heck try our best to do what we are sent in to do.
3) I suppose another “Vietnam” could occur. Communism is still present today and their our countries that could easily get taken over by it. That is were we Americans would possibly have to come in and aid in the fight. Plus, with the technology and advanced military that w have today, I think we are much better equipped to take on our enemies.
4) Like many others have said, Vietnam occurred because we kept our promise to stop the spread of Communism. I think the Truman Doctrine did a good job and keeping other countries out of a horrible political system that can only lead to bad things. I'm sure it could have tweaks here in there, but I'm not the person to ask about that.
It’s hard for me to say that the War in Vietnam was not worth it because no one knows what would have happened without it. Even if we did not stop what we intended, we no doubt delayed and weakened the enemy forces. It may very well have weakened them enough to have made a major difference. But it is hard to say. Given what we have seen and do know, it is difficult to say it was worth it. The US did not by definition lose the war in Vietnam. We simply did not finish the job we started. This is very relevant to our world today, in the form of Iraq. Iraq could go down in history as the next Vietnam, although much more has been accomplished. However, another Vietnam could very well happen, however I doubt that any President would risk their popularity by starting another war that is not directly related to us. Americans would not be willing to make those sacrifices today, as we are growing ever concerned with our own survival. This happened in an attempt to stop an evil from spreading, but we were unprepared for the difficult fight they put up. We had no idea that it would last that long when we went in. It may have been a case of pridefully underestimating our task, but regardless, it will live on in American history.
ReplyDeleteWas Vietnam worth it? It’s hard for me to be particularly angry about it. I see where the goal was, and it did sort of send a message that we were at least going to try to fight Communism. I don’t know, though. In the end it does seem like it was all for nothing.
ReplyDeleteDid we lose? I’d like to refer back to the quote Mr. Aker’s gave us in class. “In the process we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win.” I think that in a major way we lost. We bailed; we quit. I think at the same time we didn’t “lose.” We were not defeated, not forced out, not completely broken; we were tired, over-worked, and didn’t want to be in war anymore.
I think it would take a lot for something similar not the same as Vietnam. There’s already tons of protest over the Middle East and we’re not suffering deaths to nearly the same amount. Under the same circumstances- fighting Communism- I think it won’t happen.
How did this happen? I’m not sure to be honest. I could speculate that America felt powerful. We felt, to some extent, in control. I think that the idea of the Truman Doctrine, preventing Communism on a global level, is an admirable, wonderful, and nearly impossible idea, for one country. I think that one country trying to take on a burden like that is almost ridiculous. I do think, though, that the idea of stopping Communism is so very American that I feel like if the possibility is within our grasp and within reason (not starting WWIII for example), why not? Just personal opinion though, but , however, I do feel, at the same time, that it’s difficult to tell the outcome and course the war will take.
1. Vietnam was something I was kind of struggling with when it came to this assignment. I know a lot of people are very opinionated on the war and I guess that means I have to throw mine out there as well.
ReplyDeleteI know I’ll probably hear about it Monday, but I’m not so sure where I stand on the Vietnam War. I understand many fought and died for a foreign country whom we had a commitment to. We vowed to protect them from the communists and we failed in our commitment, but we still did our best to uphold that commitment to the Vietnamese. Mothers lost their sons, bothers lost brothers, and families were torn apart and our country’s youth revolted against the government because of their detest of the war. So many men died for a failed attempt to save a corrupt southern Vietnamese government from communism. Our boys though, fought for what they believed in and I can’t be angry with our soldiers. So I’m undecided on my opinion of the war.
2. Those that lost the war were those who died fighting against the communist encroachment, meaning the South Vietnamese and the Americans mostly. While the war was marked as a “draw” it felt like a loss to our troops because of us leaving the south Vietnamese behind to fend for themselves. This question should really be considered by all Americans. We need to see that while pulling out is a good idea what will it do to the are we leave behind us?
3. I think nothing the same magnitude of Vietnam could happen again but I could see a more “tame” Vietnam in the future if we continue to stay in the Middle East for a very, very extended amount of time. And I don’t think that Americans would be willing to give up as much as our country grows more and more narcissistic in it’s treatment of important issues.
4. Well at the start Vietnam it was a volunteer only war. As things progressed the conflict escalated and gradually the war churned until the American population could not bear it and we pulled out. Well the Truman doctrine is ok for the most part and changing it could have shown weakness at the time.
Vanessa, I always enjoy reading your essays and seeing what your opinion is about these issues. Even though you didn’t really address whether or not you thought the Viettnam War was worth it or not, I have to say that I agree with you. This is a hard question to answer because we really don’t know how big of an impact we were, other than the fact that the war as Mr. Akers said, accomplished nothing as far as the communists still taking over the countries we went in to help in the first place. Although I still do not think it was worth it, it doesn’t hurt at all to try to look at it through a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteBlake, I thought your point in how you answered the first question was very interesting and probably true. Of course a lot of Americans would be quick to say that the Vietnam wasn’t worth it but what do the Vietnam veterans think? They were the ones who actually went over and fought for so long, so they must have had some kind of belief that what they were doing was worth it. I would be mad if I were a veteran that fought in the Vietnam War for so long and risked my life for my country who didn’t support what I was doing at all. Although some of the things twe learned in class that he soldiers did I don’t agree with.
1)Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think Vietnam was worth it. We lost 58,000 and billions of dollars and what did we get out of it, we captured no land and we had unrest and anti-war protests back home.
2)Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
Well this can easily be looked in different ways but after some thought i don't think that the US lost. We didn't take the objective but looking into we lose 58,000 soldiers and with the help of the south Vietnamese we combined killed 1,176,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. I do think the the South Vietnamese lost but only after the US left, but the US didn't lose.
3)Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
I don't think that another Vietnam will happen in US history. Most certainly not in the same location, and really doubt that communism will ever really rise to a world power again. And with the technological advancement today we can really do anything. No one can match match our military, but we might spend more than the next 13 countries on the list combined but with that, I don't think there will be another Vietnam.
4)How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
Well I look at it that the Truman Doctrine was correct and we had to stop the spread of communism under any means, but they should have chosen their fight a little more carefully. They also should have had more of an objective, like to push the Communist out of North Vietnam, instead of capturing land and giving it right back.
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I see Vietnam as a failure on our part we used all those soldiers lives to accomplish nothing. We came out with a large loss and NO gain. This is very upsetting and unsettling seeing that no one had the insight and the power to take charge and to pull us out. We wasted valuable resources and we "did something unforgiveable" as said in Eli the Good somehow I can't underline it or italicize it but whatever. As I was saying I think it was a terrible idea.
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
Yes, we lost because we didn't accomplish our goal in my eyes i see it as a complete failure of the US and our president. When they finally pulled out it was basically too late to take back all that loss of life.
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
Truthfully I don't know how it could ever happen again I just don't see it but maybe that's just me. I see it that way because if you understand Vietnam then you would understand that you would never ever want to do it again. I don't really believe that Americans would be as willing to support it at all because they wouldn't be able to stand all that loss of life.
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
I not sure if I fully understand this question but I really don't believe that it needed to be any different it was probably fine just as it was there may have been minor tweaks that needed to be done but other than that it should've been fine.
Wow, guys! I've read your posts and this might be your best work so far this year. Incredible job - very thought-provoking!
ReplyDeleteCharlie,
ReplyDeleteI really like your essay for one main reason. You seem to have been able to sort through the facts and be able to come up with a definite yes or no answer. That takes skill to be able to make a conclusive decision about a topic as blurry as this. I waited all week for someone to post an essay that was halfway worth commenting on, and yours was one of the few that were haha. I also agree when you say that the war had no gain for the US or Vietnam. Great essay!
Robbie,
ReplyDeleteI also liked your opinion on the probability of another Vietnam. Your essay was also very organized and easy to read. All of your essays were very intelligently written and firmly based in reality. If you haven't noticed yet I'm just killing space. Remember, happy milk doesn't always make happy cows. Or is it vise-versa? Good things to think on these are.
Caleb, as you said, we didn’t lose the war, but we accomplish some things. The problem that I have with this is that so many people only see what didn’t get done, instead of what did. I guess it’s human nature or something, we just tend to always focus on the bad things instead of the good. I was just thinking about how different the world would be of we would think about the good things and someone besides ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAshley, I know it didn’t come across this way in my essay, but I agree with you on the fact that another war could happen. But I don’t think that the US would get involved. Unless, of course, we were directly affected by it. I also think that we would consider the number of solders that we were sending over there. It might sound a little morbid, but today people freak out about someone getting killed. It is a fact of war, you got to war and you risk your life. You stay at home and you are, for the most part, safe.
Caleben, I liked how you answered the question, "Did the U.S. loose the war in Vietnam?" "We did not win the war, we just quit."
ReplyDeleteI think for American soldiers, we are trained for battle. We are trained to win. We are not trained to quit. Afghanistan has been a good example in history, and a good lesson to learn from. Many countries have tried to conquer that country. Russia was the last country to pull out. I think if the Afghanistan people want us there we must help them to stand on their own two feet. Helping them get rid of the Taliban.
When asked to help Vietnam get rid of Communist insurgents we stepped in thinking we would be able to do it quickly. By quitting Vietnam we provided tools for our enemies to mock us. I trust we can learn by our mistakes and not just quit Iraq and Afghanistan.
Camden, I'm with you when you say "I hate Communism." And we must help those who ask for help.
Communism has not worked in the U.S.S.R. It's not worked in China and it's not worked in Cuba. The people that have suffered are the people that have been under the thumb of communism. When we went into Vietnam we Americans had no idea that the Big American Enemy (Russia) would crumble like it did. All we knew from the experiences of trying to make sense of the communist countries. Communism was intent on destroying democracy and was taking captive all prisoners.
1.Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent? Well I’m not really sure. Some say it was and some say it wasn’t. I don’t think it was necessarily a lost cause however we did lose a lot.
ReplyDelete2.Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn’t defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today? We did not win or lose in the Vietnam War. We did what we were supposed to do however we did not exactly win the war. After we did what we were told to we simply left therefore people say we lost because we quit.
3. Could another “Vietnam” occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? I do think that it could happen again but I don’t think that the Americans would be as supportive of it. I think they would look back at Vietnam and wouldn’t want that to happen again. I believe it was really needed Americans would support it but I do think they would be hesitant.
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different? This happened because we were trying to stop any movement towards communism. I don’t know if it should have been different. When you change things you don’t know how it will affect the outcome so we can think maybe if we had done this it would have been better but who knows what would have happened. Maybe we would have won but maybe it would have made a wrong turn.
I liked what Emily said. The Vietnam War was brutal and tough. People gave their lives and their wills for this war. We should treat it with the utmost care and respect. This is not just controversial thing. The souls of the lost lie around this very topic. What I mean by that is people have given not just their lives, but their values in life. They fought so hard for their cause that it defies all belief. Even today, no one is sure of an answer about Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteGuffey, you had a good essay. I think that the Vietnam war is one of the hardest wars to describe. But in it many of our soldiers died. And you also can't overlook the fact that it was a very hard time in America (Civil Rights Movement in the late 50s and 60s) and around the globe. I agree with you in the fact that we only 'slowed' the communist movement down when we were fighting. But during the Reagan Adminsdtration the "Iron Curtain" finally did fall. So our efforts were not a complete loss.
ReplyDeleteJarred, you had a realy good essay.
ReplyDelete1)I agree completely, it wasn't worth it at all. We left our allies to be destroyed, we lost alot of men, and we didn't stop communism.
2) It's horrible that all those men were left behind. We should have tried to get them out.
3)Not really much to say on this one except that I do agree with you. Like you said, I hope America has learned from it's mistakes.
4) We should have, but we didn't which costed America greatly.
And again, good essay Jarred
Good essay David.
I agree with you in that, the war was all for nothing and that we did lose pretty badly. And it is ridiculous for one country to take on the burden of that. Although it was a nice idea to try to end commmunism, it's a tad, kinda, well impossible I think. Anyways, you had a really good essay David.
I liked what Jarred said. We due pay way to much attention to other countries, and in the process we make people angry. For example, we promised Great Britain that we would help them in a time of need. We said the same thing to France. Great Britain and France go to war. The US says it wants no involvement because we promised the same thing to each of them. Everybody ends up fighting the same war but everybody is fighting against each other.
ReplyDeleteVanessa,I really liked your essay. I also think that we can't , by definition, say that we lost the war. But we also can't say that we won the war, because like you said we didn't finish the job we had set out to do. Which is a sad thing to say. Because we as Americans don't want to say 'no' and go home. We want to fight to the finish and get the job done. I know that it's what we've tried to do in the past and in few instances failed to reach that goal.
ReplyDeletePope, I thought you had an amazing essay. It is loaded with good points and it is very thought- provoking. I liked what you said about us not facing industrial might, but an enemy fueled by Communism. I agree that, in order to lose the war, we had to lose at home. That is an interesting point.
ReplyDeleteYour essay is really good, Ben. I liked your first section the best. Yours is unique in the fact that you mentioned the innocent Vietnamese women and children being slaughtered. You are the only person I’ve seen that brought that up. Like you said, it also sent the president’s popularity down the toilet.
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ReplyDeleteGoofy Goober,
ReplyDeleteYour essay was very thought provoking and very well written. You put your input and opinion in it and were passionate about it, so your essay was amazing. I believe I agree with you about how the Truman Doctrine was the major flaw. It stated we would do ANYTHING to stop communism and I guess we gave losing a war and loosing many lives only to DELAY the spread of communism. Very stupid huhh? It seems like they would have thought better of that, you know? or even tried to stop it as they watch it fall to pieces.
Charles, my favorite part of your essay is where you tied in "Eli the Good" that was a very good move. Lol(: but anyway I really did like your essay. It was true and really heartfelt. And on the last question you said that you really didn't understand the question but I think if you did then I think that part you may have disagreed on, but I don't know. Maybe that was just your opinion. But the Truman Doctrine stated that the American people would do anything it can to stay as far away as it can from communism and I think you would have probably been against that.
ReplyDeleteEmily-
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out in your first answer the different sides to the Vietnam issue and how the soldiers must have felt. I also liked that you included your definition of winning. It makes sense. Good essay.
Jarred-
I agree with you that the war was not worth it. We eventually lost (in my opinion) and we lost thousands of soldiers in the process. We didn’t gain anything from the war, so in that sense it was like Korea. I, too, hope that we don’t have another war, but unfortunately we, Americans, don’t tend to learn from our mistakes very well these days. But I do know that America wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice all that they did in the Vietnam war, so maybe we won’t have a repeat of it.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteLoved your responses and thought they were great answers to the questions that Mr. Akers had us answer. Very good analogy about the people fighting. It does make a bit of sense, considering the principles outlined in the Truman Doctrine, for us to try to stop the spread of communism. It’s true also about the fact that we must remember the lessons we learned in Vietnam and use them in our current and future wars. All in all, good thoughts and fine writing! Thanks for sharing!
Robbie,
I have to say you really stole the words right out of my mouth. After I submitted MY report, I sat there thinking about the answers I’d given. I couldn’t get one thought out of my head, which was, if we had stayed and won, would it be considered as worth it. You hit that nail right on the head, sir. You also seemed to align yourself in the same train of thought as me when you said “we still don’t know what would have happened if we didn’t intervene.” Great point, if I do say so myself. (Since I made it too!) In the end, your report was a pleasure to read and I enjoyed it. Thanks!!!
1. In my opinion the Vietnam War was not worth it. There were way too many lives lost, to come home with nothing major to show for it. And there was so much money spent on this war that could have been spent on other more important things right here in our country. It just makes more sense to me to spend all that money on things that will benefit everyone, such as new infrastructure, health care programs, and welfare.
ReplyDelete2. This question really made me think, but finally I came to the conclusion that no one won the Vietnam War. When you really think about yeah they did lose many times more lives than we did. But we left without really achieving our goals, and our allies were just absolutely devastated. So how can you determine a winner in this one?
3. I do think that it is possible for this to happen again, you just never know. But I do not at all that Americans would be willing to go through that again. I think that some are still a little bitter about the whole things, and that it would be a very unpopular decision.
4. The reason why we got involved in the Vietnam War was because as stated in the Truman Doctrine we said we would use all military actions needed to help governments resisting the spread of communism. Should the Truman Doctrine been different? No I don’t think so, I think it was important for us to help those who wanting to stop the spread of communism like we did.
1. I think that the Vietnam War was worth it. Even though many of lives were lost, the price paid served for a purpose even though some people don’t see it. I see a victory in Vietnam we fought hard to give all that was succeeded for Vietnam.
ReplyDelete2. As I stated in the first answer I see a victory. I know we lost thousands of people and a ton of money and time. We also left our allies destroyed but we fought with heart and gave all we had to protect. So in my opinion the war in Vietnam was a US victory.
3. Yes I think another Vietnam could happen. I also think as in Vietnam the US public would be angry and revolt. I believe the US army and other braches are willing to fight until death, victory, or a cease-firing. Which means they will fight for any group of people for little personal gain for the US, as long as something could be gained for the people they are helping.
4. I am glad we did not pull out of the war I understand many of lives were paid for this. If we didn’t see something in this for us and are allies we would have pulled out sooner. I think we made a wise decision in staying in and without the cease-firing and peace being made the US forgetting the fact of us losing 500 soldiers a week; the US would have won the war regardless
John Byrd.....
ReplyDeleteYour post was very well thought out and answered each question in great detail. I see where you are coming from by saying we lost the war. With many of lives and money lost. But you have to see the opposite point of the view of us winning the war, we fought very hard and gave lives for our allies and we didn’t need to stop the war because we would have won.
Jessica...
Your post was very good. I agree with you on saying that we didn’t lose the war I thought we fought very hard as you brought up in your essay and in great detail. Your answers were well thought out and in great detail I enjoyed your essay very much. You saying it weren’t your thought on the first question about some saying it was a loss and others saying it were a win I agree with you by saying it wasn’t even though we did loss a lot we still gave all we had.
Yes, I think Vietnam is worth it because those people are just as valuable as Americans. However, the way the war was handled was not the smartest way.
ReplyDeleteOh, we lost the war. Big time. We may not have truly "lost", but this "peace with honor" stuff is losing. If you start something you should finish it. America did not do that. They plunged into this war, and when the water got too cold they got out. You can't do that. I have the utmost respect for those soldiers who fought; my uncle John was one of them. But, again, the way the war was handled was just not good at all.
There will be other wars as bad, if not worse, as Vietnam. I mean the war in Iraq is protested insanely. There are wars in other countries that we never hear about. Yes, there will always be war, and yes, there will be wars as bad as Vietnam.
Justin,
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your opinion on the second question. I don't believe we won in any way. To "settle", especially with the terms we agreed to, is just quite frankly embarrasing. A war is a war. America should have thought out everything before we plunged in. That was where we failed big time. All we did was cost American soldiers their lives, and leave the Viatnemese people to suffer under Communist reign. I'm sorry, it sounds harsh, but it's my opinion.
Ashley,
I have to disagree with you as well. The war was worth, in fact is worth, it. To say that the war was not worth it is to say (in my opinion) the lives of the millions of people in Vietnam are not worth it. As I stated in my comment to Justin, I think we lost. I think we lost because we tucked our tails like puppies and ran. We fought and fought and fought and then walked away, wasting everything we had already done. But to say it was not worth the effort is wrong. It's always worth the effort to try and help those who honestly have absolutely no way of helping themselves.