T he Vietnam War - PowerPoint Presentation

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The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War In the 1950's the United States began to send troops to Vietnam. During the following 25-years the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2,5 million people on both sides were killed.

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History For much of Vietnam's history it has been under foreign rule, primarily by the Chinese. In 1860, France began its domination of the area and had, by the late 19th century, implemented its colonization in a number of regions around the Gulf of Tonkin. During WWII, the Japanese government took control of much of the area and set up a puppet regime that was eventually forced out by the Vietnamese at the end of that war in 1945.

After WWII and until 1955, France fought hard to regain their former territories in the region, but with a poorly organized army and little determination among the troops, their efforts soon collapsed. The French were finally defeated at

Dien Bien Phu on the 8th of May 1954 by the communist general Vo Nguyen

Giap

. The French troops withdrew, leaving a buffer zone separating the North and South and set up elections in order to form a government in the South. The communist regime set up its headquarters in Hanoi under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Many North Vietnamese left the country and fled south where the self-proclaimed president, Ngo

Dinh

Diem had formed the Republic of Vietnam.

Between 1955 and 1960, the North Vietnamese with the assistance of the southern communist Vietcong, tried to take over the government in South Vietnam, and in November 1963 President Diem was overthrown and executed. The following year, the North Vietnamese began a massive drive to conquer the whole country aided by China and Russia.

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United States Fearing a communist takeover of the entire region, the United States grew more and more wary of the progress of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietcong. Communism had become the evil menace in the United States and with expansion of Soviet rule into Eastern Europe, Korea and Cuba, the Americans were bent on stopping communism from spreading any further.

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Facts 2,709,918 American served in uniform in Vietnam.85% of returning Vietnam Veterans successfully adapted to civilian life.

Read MoreDrug usage of Vietnam Veterans is the same as

as people who are non Vietnam Veterans of the same age group.86% of Americans who died in Vietnam were Caucasians 1.2% were other races, 12.5% were blackBecause of the Vietnam war south easy Asia did not become a communist hot spot the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of communist conflict because of the Vietnam war.

During world war 2 infantryman in the south pacific saw on average 40 days of combat in 4 years. During the Vietnam war an infantryman saw 240 days of combat in 1 year.

58,148 Americans were killed during Vietnam, 34,000 were wounded  out of 2.7 million who served.

75,000 Vietnam Veterans were disabled.

87% of Americans have a great deal of respect for Vietnam Veterans.

5 men in Vietnam who were killed were only 16 year of age.

The oldest man killed in Vietnam was 62 years old.

As of January 2004, 1875 Americans are still unaccounted for in Vietnam.

97% of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharge, 91% of Vietnam Veterans were they are glad they served.

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Ho Chi-MinhHo Chi-Minh was born on May 19, 1890, in Nghe An Province, Vietnam. In 1921, he organized the Intercolonial

Union. He was elected to the Committee of the Peasants' International Congress in 1923. In 1936, he took charge of China’s Indochinese Communist party. He declared Vietnam’s independence in 1945 and became the first president of the republic in 1954. He died on September 3, 1969, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

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