Topic of Choice: Vietnam War

The Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict, and the American War. It was a cold war military conflict that took place in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and lasted from 1959 to 1975. The war was fought between the communists of North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The Sothern Vietnamese were supported by the United States along with other anti-communist nations and the North Vietnamese were supported by other communist allies in the area. The southern Vietnamese known as the Viet Cong were lightly armed and relied heavily on guerilla warfare to fight the anti-communists in the region. While the Northerners engaged in more conventional tactics. The Northern Vietnamese would send large units of military personal into battle controlling the air and the ground with the help of overwhelming firepower and what became known as search and destroy missions. The reason the United States entered the war was largely based on preventing a communist takeover. Their involvement escalated in the early 1960’s, tripling the amount of troupes deployed. The US bombed areas such as Laos and Cambodia. Despite numerous policies and peace accords signed by all parties, the fighting continued through 1973 until the Case-Church Amendment passes by US Congress prohibited direct US military involvement. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese in 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War and lead to the reunification of the North and South.