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guys if you ever want to hear about
- southern folklore and traditions (america)
- the vietnam war
- nathan shelley and/or roy kent from ted lasso (but especially nate)
- birds of prey
- franziska von karma from ace attorney
- the summer of like (aka warped tour 2005) (aka petekey)
- bears in trees
- queer history
- lgbtq theory
then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ask me about it i have so many words to say
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DiB✩⛧
talking to you :thumbsup:
talking to you also :thumbsup:
by rotraptor; ; Report
snuff04
im not from the U.S so i dont really have a clear idea about what the Vietnam war was, could you help me?
absolutely!!! so, for some background, vietnam was a french colony from 1887 to 1954, when they were defeated by the north vietnamese. the north vietnamese, aka the NVA (comprised of the vietminh and vietcong), wanted to unite the north and south under a totalitarian communist regime based off of the goverments of china and the USSR. (similar motive to the korean war) meanwhile, the south vietnamese (who i will be referring to as "the south") wanted to establish a western democracy similar to the united states.
u.s. military advisors were gradually brought in to the south from the 50s to 1961, and american troops officially entered nam (nam = nickname for vietnam during the war) in 1965, which is considered the start of the usa's involvement in the war.
the south was backed by the united states, while the NVA was primarily backed by the USSR. (this involvement greatly increased cold war tensions)
while the u.s. provided soldiers to the south, the USSR provided weapons and other supplies to the NVA. the NVA was considerably more organized than the south/u.s. front, which gave them a huge advantage. they were also, of course, far more familiar with the landscape than the american troops were.
there were a lot of challenges because of the terrain and weather, especially considering that vietnam is almost always in its "wet season." americans frequently got infected injuries and trenchfoot due to the sheer amount of flooding. the NVA also were very good at setting up ambushes and the vietcong, a part of the NVA which operated in the south, dug elaborate tunnel systems which connected cities and villages. some american soldiers had the role of "tunnel rats," which was when you had to crawl through these dark tunnels ahead of your platoon to make sure it was clear. most tunnel rats died, either due to a cave-in, explosions, or an underground ambush by the NVA. landmines were also frequently set up by the NVA, so a lot of people got blown to pieces.
meanwhile, the war in nam was very unpopular with many american citizens, especially the younger generation. most soldiers who got sent home were shunned by their friends and family and even had trouble finding jobs or a place to live, especially if they had become disabled. (this treatment is a huge part of the homelessness crisis today)
in 1967 and 1968, the tet offensive in saigon (the capital of the south) essentially brought an end to u.s. involvement in nam. the NVA had staged an attack against the american marine base in khe sanh. meanwhile, they had the vietcong setting up an ambush attack in saigon. their diversion worked, meaning that saigon was woefully unequipped to deal with the attack.
while tet was a failure for both the south and the NVA, it did the most damage to the war's reputation at home in america. so many people opposed it (seeing as this was the first televised american war) that LBJ (the president at the time) slowly began withdrawing troops from nam. the u.s., NVA, and USSR began peace negotiations in paris in 1968. eventually the south also joined the negotiations. (there was a whole will-they-won't-they thing there that would take hours to type out, but there's lots of videos on it if you're interested in that aspect) a bunch of unsanctioned attacks happened and nixon was elected president. (his involvement in peace talks would later contribute to watergate)
nixon began vietnamization, which was the process of removing u.s. troops and replacing them with south vietnamese ones. eventually the united states fully withdrew from the war in 1973. the NVA won the war, and vietnam was united into its current state.
that was a very brief summary that really skipped a lot of stuff because i don't want it to seem overwhelming, but if you want to learn more about it i know a lot of good resources that i would be more than happy to send you! i also recommend that you read "the things they carried" by tim o'brien, it's a wonderful and engaging novel which is what really sparked an interest in the vietnam war for me :)
by rotraptor; ; Report
THIS IS WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN I THOUGHT SEND THEM also you explain very well !!!!!
by snuff04; ; Report
!!! thank you so much <3 i'm so glad you're interested, a lot of people have a huge misunderstanding of what all happened in vietnam during the war and it is one of my absolute favorite things to talk about
https://www.youtube.com/@zachwood1218 - a really great youtube channel (run by one of my history teachers!)
https://www.vietnamveteransplaza.com - the NYC vietnam vets' group. great first-hand information in short form
https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War - britannica's article on nam. high quality verified info!
https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive - texas tech's vietnam archive. super thorough
https://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war - the US gov's nam archives. has pretty much every source you could want
https://info.library.okstate.edu/warprimarysources/vietnamwar - a list of verified primary sources and access links from oklahoma state uni
by rotraptor; ; Report