Vietnam+-+Path

VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and  Creating America, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between **two and four complete, well written paragraphs **
 * **contain the following terms ** - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Rolling Thunder
 * be** IN YOUR OWN WORDS ** (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * **contain two images ** THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should **end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam ** in 1965

Path to War

There were many factors leading to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Things started with **France** owning Vietnam. A Vietnamese **communist** leader **Ho Chi Minh** wanting an independent Vietnam led a communist revolt but was arrested by the French Government. Due to his arrest he fled to China and the Soviet Union. Ho Chi Minh's communist group was called the Vietminh who successfully overthrew France to liberate Vietnam. With Vietnam now being a communist country the U.S. wanted to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam. With the Geneva Accords Vietnam was temporarily split with the Communist northern part led by Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam led y **Ngo Dinh Diem**. In the late 50's the North and South start a civil war. In order to keep the war under control President Eisenhower sent **military advisors** to Vietnam in 1959.

In 1964 two American ships were sunk by Northern Vietnamese ships in the **Gulf of Tonkin. Truman** sent a lot of money to France with his containment plan and not wanting communism to spread. **Kennedy** supports an overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem due to their bad government. **Johnson** is the one who starts to commit the U.S. to the war he believes that it's time to stop expansion of communism. When the U.S. is commiteted to the war the first plan was **Operation Rolling Thunder** where the U.S. dropped massive amounts of bombs on North Vietnam.