Resons for Us involvment in Vietnam

I don’t think that Sources B and C do support the evidence of A because in Source C we don’t know why the Buddhist monk set himself on fire and it doesn’t show if he definitely did set himself on fire. Source B is part of a speech made by President Johnson in 1964 and often with speeches that people in politics make they don’t even mean anything that they say, they say other things to make an impact on the country and get them worried over the subject. The speech is saying that if they quit fighting in Vietnam then there is going to be wars in America. This doesn’t support source A because the monk setting fire to himself could have nothing to do with the war in Vietnam, he could just be setting himself on fire because of something to do with his religious beliefs and source B is only saying where the next wars could be if they quit on their fight in Vietnam whereas source A is all about how Kennedy wishes to help South Vietnam.

How useful are these sources in helping you to understand the reasons for US involvement in Vietnam?

Both the Sources state that America and Vietnam want different things. The US want a non-communist Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh wants to see the growth of international communism and that the Communist Party and his people will stay together for a peaceful, united and independent Vietnam. Source D is written by Robert McNamara who is the US secretary of Defence, so whatever he says is what the government will say. These sources are useful in helping to understand the reasons for US involvement in Vietnam because they tell you both sides of who wants what, what Ho Chi Minh wanted in his will and what the US government want. The US wanted to get involved so that they could eventually wipe out communism and they are saying that if South Vietnam let them help that they wont push them into serving as a Western Base or to become part of the Western alliance. I think that with the approach that the US made it would have let South Vietnam take up their offer.

‘The USA sent combat troops to Vietnam solely to protect its advisers and the South Vietnamese government from attacks by Vietcong and North Vietnam forces.’

I agree with this view because in Source A it states how Kennedy wanted to help the South Vietnamese by giving them aid and the technology they needed. In Source D it states that the US wanted a non-communist South Vietnam and that South Vietnam must be free to accept outside assistance in order to maintain its security. And in Source F is a speech made by Kennedy saying that it doesn’t matter if a nation doesn’t want them to help but they will still give them the offer of their help. I also disagree with this view because Ho Chi Minh stated how he wanted Vietnam to be in his will but the US wanted to change it. The US helped the South Vietnamese fight but the US also destroyed many villages in South Vietnam because they were unsure whether they were loyal or if they were part of the Vietcong Force.