Intervention in Vietnam

For a period of thirty years, from 1945 to 1975, the United States employed countless numbers of financial, material, and human resources toward Vietnam in an effort to shape and control that country's political destiny. Large scale American military involvement effectively began in March of 1965, with the landing of U.S. Marines to defend DaNang airfield. By March of 1969, the number of U.S. forces alone deployed to prosecute the Vietnam War exceeded 600,000. By war's end, more than 3.5 million (estimated) combat casualties were sustained by the U.S., South, and North Vietnamese forces. How did the United States come to be involved in this Southeastern Asian nation? What political forces were in action that caused American leaders to view the fate of Vietnam as a critical national security interest? Who was responsible for the 46,000 Americans killed in action during this unpopular war?This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.