Books with title Fighting the Vietnam War

The Vietnamese declaration of independence initiated a chain of events that involved the United States in the longest war in American history, a war fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia and within the American conscience. This anthology of speeches presents a debate about the Vietnam War that began before the war and continued for more than half a century.

Few Americans would have been able to find Vietnam on a map when the frist U.S. troops arrived there. As history has shown, what was initially put forward as an effort to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia evolved into a military and political quagmire for the United States. As battles raged half a world away, tensions in the U.S. peaked between those who backed the involvement and those who questioned it. For the first time ever, returning veterans were greeted by criticism and hostility for the sacrifices they and their fallen buddies had made for a cause they may not have fully understood but felt committed to defend. Discover what led to the war and to the turning of public opinion against it in the form of massive antiwar protests. Learn how the war and its effects back home changed Americans' attitude toward combat and how the Vietnam experience caused long-lasting changes in U.S. society, plitics, and culture.

The Vietnam War sparked one of the most controversial periods in American history. Although Vietnam had been fighting for its independence for thousands of years, the United States didn t enter the picture until the 1950s. Increasing tensions between North and South Vietnam officially brought the U.S. into the war in 1964. At the same time, a military draft was instituted. People struggled to understand the role of the U.S. in Vietnam. Americans began learning more about the Vietnam War through television. As the first televised war, Americans were treated to horrific scenes with their evening news. Popular magazines and newspapers published the effects of battle on their front pages. These images added to the antiwar sentiment. Meanwhile, three million U.S. troops faced constant danger in a war eventually determined to be unwinnable. After more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed, the U.S. finally pulled out of Vietnam in 1973, and South Vietnam fell in 1975. The effects of the war would last much longer.