How did the US get involved in a war in southeast Asia?

Answer 1

The U.S. became involved in the Vietnam War first by sending over Military advisors to help train the South Vietnamese Military in all types of combat operations(example-recon patrols/ air assault operations/ facs air support for ground forces).Then in 1964, North Vietnamese gunboats attacked U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin,President Johnson Ordered the U.S. Navy and the Airforce to strike back at selected targets in North Vietnam. In 1965, President Johnson ordered Army and Marine units into South Vietnam to strike at the enemy in South Vietnam.The U.S. Marines landed in Da-Nang and cleared the area of V.C. .The Armys' 1st Air Cavalry took the fight to the NVA in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley.This Battle was the first mass use of Helicopters as a way to transport troops & their equipment ,fly the wounded and dead to medical units and fly support using helio gunships.

Answer 2

* Inititally to assist its ally, France, in their struggle to maintain their colonial holdings in Vietnam. * Subsequently, to honor treaty obligations with the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). * Involvement was thought to be necessary to prevent communism from taking control completely in that area (see The Domino Effect).

Answer 3

The Cold War continued to worsen when the Russians placed Ballistic Missiles on Cuban land just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida and JFK called the bluff by threatening war unless they were removed which they were but for a short time the world was on the brink of nuclear war and self destruction. The president then set a goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade and became more involved in politics in Southeast Asia by training South Vietnamese pilots.

Answer 4

When the communist backed Viet Minh defeated the French in 1954, US President Eisenhower & the free nations backed the new Republic of South Vietnam in 1955. The Genena agreement signed in 1954/1955 separated the two nations at the 17th parallel.

Answer 5

In 1954, the Vietminh forces of Vietnam defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and the nation was temporarily divided into two sections, north and south. The people of the south chose Ngo Dinh Diem as their ruler and Ho Chi Minh ruled the north. Diem refused to go along with the planned elections in 1956 to unite the nation so the Vietminh members in the south created the Viet Cong and the war between north and south for control of the country began. The government of South Vietnam requested military advisors from the United States to help train the South Vietnamese army. Ho Chi Minh was a communist and during the Cold War of the 1950s and 60s, the aim of the US government was containment of communist power and not to let it spread. The Eisenhower administration provided South Vietnam with money and advisors to help stop the threat of a North Vietnamese takeover. The United States also was pledged by treaty (SEATO) to aid the member nations in southeast Asia, if they were attacked by a foreign (communist) power. Following the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, President Lyndon B. Johnson also believed in containment and the domino theory. If one nation falls to communism, the next nation will fall, and the next, etc. It became the aim of the Johnson administration to prevent a communist takeover in Southeast Asia. In August, 1964, President Johnson reported to the nation that American ships had been attacked by North Vietnam gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin, in international waters. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President the power to use whatever force necessary to protect our interests in the area. At the time, the truth was not reported. > http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2261 In February, 1965, the Viet Cong attacked an American military base near Pleiku. Using the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson sent in 3,500 Marines, the first official troops, to South Vietnam. By the end of the year, there were 200,000 US troops in Vietnam.

Answer 6

The Peoples Republic of China, a communist country was close enough to Southeast Asia to influence it towards their brand of Marxism-Leninism. The former French colonies in Southeast Asia had strong ties to comminist leaders in the Soviet Union and China. The US foreign policy in dealing with any expansion of communism was to take steps to contain any such expansion. With that said, the collapse of French influence in Southeast Asia brought about an increase in communist revolutionists. By sending advisors to South Vietnam, it began the first steps to become increasing involved there.

Answer 7

In 1955 the Eisenhower administration received reports that the communists were infiltrating into South Vietnam. He sent in US Military advisers.