Was the Vietnam War Necessary? Essay Sample

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The Vietnam War started in 1954 with the licking of the Gallic and ended in 1975 with the autumn and backdown of Saigon. The United States’ ( U. S. ’s ) engagement in the Vietnam War started in 1963 with support of arms. military preparation. deliberation. and supplies until 1965 when U. S. troops went into conflict with the North Vietnamese ( Szczepanski. n. d. ) . American military personnels did non draw out of the war until 1973. Be the U. S. ’s engagement in the Vietnam War worth the clip. money. and attempt they put into it? That answer depends on whom you ask. Some politicians. civilians. and military forces deemed the U. S. ’s engagement in the Vietnam War necessary ; others. particularly peace-activists. did non. Whether this war was necessary or non. it affected the U. S. and Vietnam in many ways. The Vietnam War affected the U. S. economic system. Vietnamese. and U. S. civilians. and both soldiers from the U. S. and Vietnam. The Vietnam War is still impacting both states today.

The U. S. entered the Vietnam War to forestall the spread of communism ( Szczepanski. n. d. ) . She farther added the manner communism works:
Under communism. none of the “means of production” – mills. land. etc. – are owned by persons. Alternatively. the authorities controls the agencies of production and all of the people work together. The wealth produced is shared out among the people based on their demands. instead than on their part to the work. The consequence. in theory. is a classless society where everything is public. instead than private. belongings. ( Para. 2 )

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Ho Chi Minh ( a Communist leader ) ruled North Vietnam. A democratic authorities under the leading of Ngo Dinh Diem ( after his blackwash was subsequently ruled by General Duong Van Minh ) ruled South Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted both sides to fall in under a Communist regulation. Vietnam is still under a political Communist regulation and a capitalist economic system ( Szczepanski. n. d. ) . She goes on to province. Cambodia. Korea. Russia ( The Soviet Union ) . China. and North Korea is still under some version of communism today. The first onslaught on a U. S. vas ( the USS Maddox ) by North Vietnamese gunboats happened in August 1964. Two yearss subsequently. during a storm. the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were policing the same country. and harmonizing to sonar blips and radio detection and ranging images. the vass thought they were under onslaught once more. These two events are called the Gulf Tonkin Incident. There was an probe into the 2nd incident. and there was no cogent evidence it of all time happened. Harmonizing to Hickman ( n. d. ) . subsequent research and declassified paperss have basically shown the 2nd onslaught did non go on. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent U. S. land military personnels to assail the North Vietnamese March 2. 1965 anyhow.

This started the U. S. ’s full battle in the Vietnam War. Harmonizing to Stephen Daggett ( 2010 ) . a specializer in defence policy and budget. the Vietnam War itself cost the U. S. $ 111 billion dollars. Because of the cost of the war. federal support for several plans was cut. including scientific discipline and infinite plans. The Manned Orbiting Laboratory ( MOL ) plan finally was canceled in 1969. attributed by budget cuts because of the war. Taxes besides increased because of the war. Although the first revenue enhancement act was a decrease in 1964. there was a 10 % surcharge applied to single income and corporate revenue enhancements to control rising prices ( Labonte & A ; Levit. 2008 ) .

They go on to province. throughout the struggle the authorities attempted to avoid raising revenue enhancements. Despite this. the authorities did raise the revenue enhancements from 1968-1970. As indicated by Bruce Bartlett ( 2009 ) who writes for Forbes Magazine. and is a former Treasury Department economic expert and writer: History shows that wars financed to a great extent by higher revenue enhancements. such as the Korean War and the first Gulf War. terminal rapidly. while those financed mostly by shortages. such as the Vietnam War and current Middle East struggles. be given to drag on indefinitely. If Americans are non willing to follow John F. Kennedy and “pay any monetary value. bear any load. run into any hardship” to contend a war. so we should non be contending it. ( Para. 3 )

Another major economic blow to the U. S. was the injured soldiers returning place without limbs and with terrible disablements. Harmonizing to Autor. Duggan. and Lyle ( 2011 ) . after staying stable. at approximately nine per centum in the late ninetiess through September 2000. Disability Compensation ( DC ) registration among Vietnam epoch veterans has since increased quickly. and it stood at 15. 1 % by September 2010. They went on to state. during that same period. the mean one-year benefit received by Vietnam epoch DC receivers increased by 44 % . Furthermore. costs were increased as a consequence of prosthetic limbs needed and rehabilitation costs for injured soldiers ( over 300. 000 ) ( Szczepanski. n. d. ) . soldiers affected by Agent Orange/dioxin ( an weedkiller ) . and drug addicted soldiers. U. S. soldiers were either. addicted to morphine ( the analgesic of pick when injured during the war ) or diacetylmorphine. in position that they could non manage the mental strain of life at place. A figure of soldiers besides suffered mental unwellnesss because of what they saw and what they did during the war.

Many soldiers suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ) . That figure has tripled since 1998 to 2010. from more than 98. 000 to more than 268. 000 ( Autor. Duggan. & A ; Lyle. 2011 ) . It was a really hard passage from the war to everyday civilian life for many soldiers. Not many veterans speak of what it was like on the frontlines. nor do they talk of what they did during the war. These same Vietnam War veterans had to cover with a less than hero’s welcome when they returned to the U. S. No heart tape parade or ceremonials. merely their loved 1s to welcome them place. non their state. Harmonizing to Pete Dougherty. manager of homeless veterans plans at the VA: Overall. 45 % of participants in the VA’s homeless plans have a diagnosable mental unwellness and more than three out of four have a substance maltreatment job. while 35 % have both. ( Para. 4 ) The Vietnam War is still stalking the U. S. and Vietnam today. Over one-quarter ( more than 190. 000 ) of homeless people in the U. S. are Vietnam Veterans.

Countless soldiers will acquire disability income for the remainder of their lives because of hurts ( both physical and mental ) caused by the war. U. S. soldiers every bit good as Vietnamese soldiers are enduring from unwellnesss ( different malignant neoplastic diseases ) due to the Agent Orange exposure during the war ( Szczepanski. n. d. ) . Harmonizing to Fuller ( 2012 ) . “by the clip the crop-dusting stopped. Agent Orange and other weedkillers had destroyed 5. 5 million estates of wood and cropland. an country approximately the size of New Jersey. ” Many of these same soldiers’ kids have been born with mental and physical disablements due to the Agent Orange exposure. These unwellnesss range from mental disablements. physical disablements every bit good as untreatable unwellnesss. The U. S. will give Vietnam 43 million dollars to assist clean up Da Nang International Airport ( a chief U. S. military station in South Vietnam during the war ) ; the clean up will take four old ages ( Fuller. 2012 ) . He states farther. there are subdivisions of the airdrome that have Agent Orange exposure as far down as six-feet resistance. Nothing will turn at that place ; the dirt and everything in it are dead.

He goes on to province: Over a decennary of war. the United States sprayed about 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other weedkillers in Vietnam. Cambodia. and Laos. holding merely after scientists commissioned by the Agriculture Department issued a study showing concerns that dioxin showed “a important potency to increase birth defects. Many Vietnamese people still suffer from the side effects of Agent Orange today. Harmonizing to Nguyen Van Rinh. a retired Lieutenant General who is now the president of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. “I would wish to hold one message sent to the American people ; the predicament of Agent Orange victims continues.

I think the relationship would lift up to new highs if the American authorities took duty and helped their victims and turn to the consequences” ( Fuller. 2012 ) . America should make all they can to turn to any issues. either medical or political sing the Vietnam War. Relatively talking. this war still is non over. In decision. the Vietnam War cost America 100s of 1000000s. More than 55. 000 U. S. Soldiers lost their lives. There were over 150. 000 injured U. S. soldiers and more than 1. 900 are losing in action. The Vietnamese casualties and wounded numbered in the 1000000s. including adult females and kids. Today this war is still bing the U. S. 1000000s of dollars in clean-up attempts and cases by Vietnamese soldiers and their households. Furthermore. the Vietnam War is bing America 100s of 1000000s of dollars for wellness attention for U. S. Soldiers injured in the war. The U. S. ’s engagement in the Vietnam War was non necessary.

Mentions

( 2007. November 7 ) . Veterans make up 1 in 4 homeless. USA Today. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //usatoday30. usatoday. com/news/nation/2007-11-07-homeless-veterans_N. htm Bartlett. B. ( November 29. 2009 ) . The Cost Of War. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. forbes. com/2009/11/25/shared-sacrifice-war-taxes-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett. hypertext markup language Daggett. S. ( June 29. 2010 ) . Costss of major U. S. Wars. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. fetal alcohol syndrome. org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22926. pdf Fuller.

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