The U.S. presence in Vietnam began as early as 1944. By 1947, U.S. advisors were assisting the French colonial government in maintaining Indochine (as Vietnam was then known) as a French colony. However, as tensions rose between the communist forces in North Vietnam and the anti-communist government in South Vietnam, the United States found itself increasingly drawn into the conflict.
Why did the U.S. go to war in Vietnam? This is a question historians continue to debate. One of the main reasons it remains a source of contention is the belief that the U.S. government feared the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The domino theory, which posited that the fall of one country to communism would lead to the fall of neighboring countries like a row of falling dominos, played a significant role in shaping U.S. policy towards Vietnam.
The arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of direct U.S. military involvement in the region. Over the years, U.S. troop levels in Vietnam would escalate, culminating in over half a million soldiers being deployed to the conflict.
A guide to the complex political and military issues involved in a war that would ultimately claim millions of lives reveals the intricate web of alliances and rivalries that characterized the Vietnam War. The conflict was not simply a battle between North and South Vietnam, but also a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In the decades after the departure of the last U.S. combat troops from Vietnam in March 1973 and the fall of Saigon to communist North Vietnam, the wounds of the war continued to fester. The Vietnam War deeply divided American society and eroded public trust in the government.
With the Pentagon Papers revelations, the U.S. public's trust in the government was forever diminished. The classified documents exposed the extent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and revealed a pattern of deception and manipulation by government officials.
Nov. 14-18, 1965: In the Ia Drang Valley, American troops fight their first large scale battles against the North Vietnamese Army. The intense fighting highlighted the brutal nature of the conflict and foreshadowed the years of bloody warfare that would follow.
For almost thirty years, by means financial, military, and diplomatic, the United States tried to prevent Vietnam from becoming a Communist stronghold. Despite these efforts, the fall of Saigon in 1975 marked the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the beginning of a new chapter in Vietnam's history.
