Vietnam-+Path+to+War

=**VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR **=

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and__Creating America__, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between two and four complete, well written paragraphs
 * contain the following terms - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Rolling Thunder
 * be IN YOUR OWN WORDS (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * contain two images THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam in 1965

Need some help? How about ... //Creating America// [|This cool animation] [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline]

The Vietnam War was a war that greatly affected the United States good and bad.There were many causes of American involvement in the war. Vietnam was a colony of France, but in the 1930s, Ho Chi Minh led communist revolts against the French. The Japanese took over Indochina in the 1940s. That led to Ho Chi Minh declaring war against Japan. The French returned to Vietnam after WWII, and the result is that Ho Chi Minh decided to form a the Vietminh party to liberate Vietnam. They declared independence in 1940. A Communist government in North Vietnam was established because they defeated the French in 1954. Vietnam was split into two parts, resulting into a civil war between the Communist north and the South (which was supported by the US).

American involvement in the Vietnam war was also because the United States wanted to stop the spreading of Communism. Harry S. Truman had a policy of containment, so he sent economic and military aid to France. Then, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the President and he had the belief that if one country becomes a communist nation, many others would also. The United States supported South Vietnam, so Eisenhower sent military advisors to help in the south. Ngo Dinh Diem was the leader of South Vietnam, but John F. Kennedy didn't him, so the U.S. supported the overthrow in him in 1963. Kennedy was assassinated, so Lyndon B. Johnson became the President. Lyndon B. Johnson decides that the United States should be more involved in the Vietnam War, but he decides only to send a few officials at first. In 1964, there were American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, and those ships were fired at by North Vietnam ships. Lyndon B. Johnson decided that he was going to do anything to prevent American troops from getting hurt. The U.S.'s first plan was operation Rolling Thunder, where the United States Air Force would drop bombs continuously on North Vietnam. The first Marines were sent in to Vietnam in 1965.

 This is what Vietnam looked like during the war, when it was divided into two parts.

 This picture is of one airplane during Operation Rolling Thunder.