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Nicholas Adams
Instructor Waters
War in Vietnam
November 30, 2011
War in Vietnam
In 1964, President Johnson was informed that American destroyers had been attacked by North
Vietnams torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin forcing Johnson to request for more troops into Vietnam.
The North Vietnamese came in direct violation of the Geneva agreements of 1962. As President of the
United States, America will continue on its basic policy of assisting the free nations of the area to defend
their freedom (Johnson). President Johnson wanted conflicting nations to know that the United States
will continue to protect its national interests. President Johnson wanted peace in Vietnam and
Southeast Asia. Johnson has been sustained by a single principle: “That what we are doing now in
Vietnam is vital not only to the security of Southeast Asia, but it is vital to the security of every
American” (Johnson). The spread of communism throughout Asia had to be stopped and America
needed to try and do their part to assure that South Vietnam maintained control.
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in August of 1964 allowing the President to “take
all necessary measures” to protect American forces and “prevent further aggression” in Southeast Asia
(Johnson). “Tet” is the first day of the Vietnamese New Year, and the Tet Offensive was when the
surprise attack on the South Vietnamese and the United States positions in South Vietnam began.
Independent journalist Michael Herr wrote one of the best books written about the Vietnam War and
shares his experience on war from the battlefield. Herr describes the Tet Offensive and the Battle for
Hue as a never ending darkness along with a fog of death, and a temperature that was bone chilling
(Herr). The Tet Offensive was the largest military operation conducted by either army. The attack was a
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surprise to the South Vietnamese and United States troops but overall was ineffective. United States
could have won the war in Vietnam after the Tet Offensive but ultimately wasn’t in America’s best
interest to continue fighting. War is expensive. The type of military movement that took place in
Vietnam, cost upwards of two billion dollars. This has an impact on our national security and immediate
action must take place to protect the American people and the American dollar. Johnson believed in
setting strict priorities in Americas spending and without acting promptly and decisively would raise
strong doubts throughout the world about America’s willingness to keep its financial house in order
(Johnson).
The United States made it their constitutional duty to assist South Vietnam defined in the
Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, and America must be a country of her word. Johnson
continued to search for a resolution and peace. America believed a threat to any nation in that region is
a threat to all, and a threat to us (Johnson). The gulf of Tonkin Resolution declared support to the
President, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States and to
prevent further aggression (Johnson). Section two discusses the United States national interest and to
world peace. The United States and its accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia
Collective Defense Treaty are to assist Southeast Asia in defense of their freedom. Furthermore, Section
three states that the resolution will expire when the President determines the peace and security of the
area is assured by international conditions (Johnson).
The Tet Offensive was affective in the mental aspect of war. Television cameras recorded a
captured Viet Cong soldier who was led into the street and without a word, was shot in the head (Herr).
The media hyped up the event that made American have doubt in their minds and gave the communists
a sense of victory in their mind, when technically the greatest result from the Tet Offensive was the
communist casualty rate. According to Herr, Battle for Hue was the worst battle in the Vietnam War. If
an American soldier wasn’t going to die by a bullet, then plague or even depression would consume him
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(Herr). The Battle for Hue consisted of few American soldiers but was considered to be one of the
fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. More than 10,000 enemy soldiers were defeated within a four
week period for the Battle of Hue. Herr expresses how the environment conditions were the soldier’s
worst enemy. Most men had to sleep on the cold floor, virtually on top of one another preying they
weren’t going to get mortared in the middle of the night (Herr).
How does an army win a war whose men don’t know what they are fighting for? I believe the
United States neither won nor lost the war in Vietnam, and although the Tet Offensive was an
aggressive tactic, it didn’t give communists an edge. Hue was Vietnam’s cultural capital. When the
United States took Hue back over from the North Vietnamese it re-established hope in Southeast Asia
and was the turning point in the war.
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Work Cited
Herr, M. (1977). Michael Herr, Dispatches, pp. 70-84. Retrieved From, Primary Source C.D.
Johnson, L. (1964). Message to Congress. Vietnamwar.com. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, July 1967, pp. 120-122. Retrieved From, Primary Source C.D.
Johnson, L. (1968). Address to the Nation. Volume I, entry 170, pp. 469-476. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1970. Retrieved From, Primary Source C.D.