Two reasons. First we thought it was necessary to fight to prevent the spread of Communism. And second because we were too stupid to look at history and realize that it was probably smarter to leave the Vietnamese alone. It was incredibly dumb to pick a fight with people who fought China for 600 years so they could be left alone. And I enlisted in 1963 and reenlisted in 1967, and given what I knew then, I'd probably do it again.
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The Vietnam war was the longest war American had fought in. We got involved with the war in 1954 and it ended in 1973. 58,000 Americans were killed in the war and 2-3 million Vietnamese were killed as well.
Argumentatively, Vietnam never gained any independence from China. China always controlled Vietnam, that's why it was called IndoCHINA. France fought China and won Vietnam in the 1860s. So, again, argumentatively, Vietnam never was an independent nation until April 30, 1975. 1. Prior to 30 April 1975, there were TWO Vietnams, not one. 2. From 1946-1954 Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia were in transition (changing); a colony of France but not a colony of France...as they were in limbo; fighting. 3. From 1940-1945 under Japanese rule.
The nation of North Vietnam (which no longer exists...it's called Vietnam today). The country that the US was allied to, South Vietnam, doesn't exist either...it was consumed by North Vietnam. The official name of SOUTH Vietnam was the "Republic of South Vietnam."
The Vietnam War was being fought unconstitutionally because Congress had not formally declared war.
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