The Vietnam War stirred up violent passions in this country. To this day, few events in American history seem to cause as much anger and resentment as did that conflict. Many Americans believe that the U.S. should not have gotten involved, that the whole war was a disaster, and that there was absolutely no way to win. April 30, 2010, one week from today, is the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, to North Vietnamese forces. It therefore seems like a good time to set the record straight on the war.
As most people know, the U.S. went to war with North Vietnam to uphold the policy of containing communism. Many people wonder what is so bad about communism. Jimmy Carter even described the fear of this system as “inordinate.” Well, Jimmy, take China as an example. After decades of civil war in which millions of Chinese were killed, the Chinese Communist Party finally took control of the country in 1949. In the ensuing years, anyone who showed the slightest hint of “counter-revolutionary” thinking was either shot or sent to “thought reform” camps utilizing psychological torment. The Chinese people were made to revere CCP Chairman and professed anti-intellectual Mao Zedong as a god. Beyond the practical goal of halting Soviet influence, itself crucial enough, U.S. policy makers sought to save South Vietnam from a system whose results had become painfully obvious in the past decade.
Many believed that the war was a complete military failure on the part of the U.S. But throughout the period of combat operations, from the early 1960s until 1972, American forces prevented North Vietnam from taking over the South. From that standpoint the U.S. was succeeding. On the other hand, U.S. forces were sustaining heavy casualties. But they had done so in World War II and Korea as well; so the question is, why was Vietnam viewed with so much more horror and outrage? The answer is that during Vietnam, Americans saw far more pictures and footage of maimed and dead U.S. soldiers than they had seen during the previous wars. News reporters, as well as war protesters, capitalized on these images to give Americans a convincing picture of defeat.
Although U.S. forces gained numerous tactical victories against the North Vietnamese Army, those victories amounted to little during President Johnson’s administration. The Vietnam War was a stalemate until Richard Nixon became president. In his first year as president in 1969, he started to withdraw our troops in Vietnam. By 1972, almost all of the troops were home. But at the same time as U.S. troops were being withdrawn, the bombing of the North Vietnamese capital commenced with devastating effect. The goal of the bombing was to force the North Vietnamese to negotiate with the U.S. for an end to the war. The strategy worked: On Jan. 23, 1973, North Vietnam and the U.S. signed the Paris Peace Accords, which ended the fighting in Vietnam. Under the terms of this treaty, South Vietnam remained independent and non-communist, and it was under this treaty that the U.S. officially ended its role in Vietnam.
Two years later, North Vietnam broke the treaty and again invaded South Vietnam.† President Gerald Ford asked Congress to provide financial aid to the South Vietnamese army, but even though the U.S. had made a pledge to support South Vietnam after the end of the war, Congress refused to send any aid. Without any U.S. forces to worry about, facing only under-equipped South Vietnamese forces, the NVA was successful. The worst predictions of such an eventuality came true. Thousands of South Vietnamese were killed and thousands were sent to the “thought reform” camps.† Thousands more fled the country in boats and became refugees. Many drowned along the way. And sure enough, communist forces took over neighboring Cambodia and Laos, where even more were killed and imprisoned. American efforts in Vietnam were an attempt to protect millions from an evil, oppressive system; the above effects were what it was trying to prevent. Vietnam was a just war for the U.S. to fight.
The loss of life in Vietnam is considered to have been senseless. This is certainly true ó just as senseless as is the loss of life in any war. But there are things worse than war. When it comes to conflict, we must ask ourselves: are we willing to accept the consequences of refraining from violence? Because we may demand peace and refuse to pick up arms, but forces of evil will rarely do the same.
On April 30, just take a moment to remember those who perished as a result of communism in Vietnam. As with any loss of life, we must never forget.
Joseph McCarthy is a contributor to the Voice. He can be reached for comment at JMcCarthy11@wooster.edu.