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

Need some help? How about ... //Creating America// [|This cool animation] [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline] Causes of the Vietnam War video below

After their loss in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French colonial rulers admitted defeat in Vietnam.At the Geneva conference it was decided that the French and their allies were to move south of the dividing line and to prepare for French withdrawal from Vietnam. The communist-led Viet Minh were to move n orth. H  o Chi Minh  , leader of the revolutionary army, led the northern part of the country. Ngo Dinh Diem became prime minister in the south. Diem, believing that the popularity of Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh would lead to a communist win in the elections, refused to allow the scheduled vote in 1956. The United States, which had supported the French, continued to back Diem. Diem asked for U.S. military assistance and advisers—and got them.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 900 U.S. military advisers to Vietnam. Under President John F. Kennedy, the number increased to 11,000 by the end of 1962. U.S. government officials feared a communist takeover of Vietnam. They predicted that if Vietnam went communist, the other countries in the region would follow. In theory, the thousands of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam were advisers.

In August 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that a U.S. military ship, the USS // Maddox, //  had been subjected to an unprovoked attack by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Johnson ordered U.S. war planes to begin bombing targets in North Vietnam. The U.S. congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson the power to take whatever actions he sees necessary to defend southeast Asia.

In 1965 President Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder, a limited but long lasting bombing offensive. Its aim is to force North Vietnam to stop supporting Vietcong guerrillas in the South. In 1965, the first U.S. ground troops were sent to Vietnam. 