Robert Taylor Mrs. MorseEnglish 11, period 4 25 February 2002 The Vietnam War During War there are always difficulties and causalities just because of enemies or accidents on your own side. People who die in war should have a special place or thing to be remembered by. In The Monument by Gary Paulsen and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien there is war. They deal with the Vietnam War which lasted from 1945 to 1975. The war started when the Japanese seized control of Vietnam on March, 9th, 1945. In the summer of 1945 famine struck Hanoi which caused two million people to die. In July, 1945 Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fall in the control of the French. In August the Japanese surrender ending World War II. Vietnam becomes independent and Ho Chi Minh the president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. On September 13th the British troops arrive in Saigon and then on September 22 the French attack the Viet Minh. 2 days later the Viet Minh massacre 150 French soldiers. 2 days after that there is an American killed on accident. He was Lt. Col A. Peter Dewey. The French arrive to restore their power in October, 1945, which causes the Viet Minh to start guerilla tactics. The first Indochina war started on December 19, 1946 and lasted 8 years. October seventh through December twenty-second the Viet Minh lost 900 solders. The French establish the South Vietnamese National Army in July 1949 it was also called the ARVN, which were mostly draftees[1]. . In October 1949 Mao Zedong's Communist forces defeat Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Army in the Chinese civil war. The U.S. adopted a policy of containment. The Peoples Republic of China and the U.S.S.R recognized the democratic republic of Vietnam in January of 1950. In February 1950 the Viet Minh began an offensive against
French outposts in North Vietnam. The United States military involvement in Vietnam begins as President Truman gives $15 million in military aid to the French. General Giap begins his main attack against French outposts and the French lose 6000 men and large stores of military equipment to the Viet Minh on September 16th, 1950. 11 days later the U.S. establishes a Military Assistance Advisory Group in Saigon to aid the French Army. At the end of March of 1951 3000 Viet Minh are killed. At the end of May through the middle of July 10,000 French are killed or wounded. ...
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French outposts in North Vietnam. The United States military involvement in Vietnam begins as President Truman gives $15 million in military aid to the French. General Giap begins his main attack against French outposts and the French lose 6000 men and large stores of military equipment to the Viet Minh on September 16th, 1950. 11 days later the U.S. establishes a Military Assistance Advisory Group in Saigon to aid the French Army. At the end of March of 1951 3000 Viet Minh are killed. At the end of May through the middle of July 10,000 French are killed or wounded. By end of1951, French causalities in Vietnam surpass 90,000. Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th U.S. President in 1953. The siege at Dien Bien Phu occurs at the end of March in 1954. The U.S. did not want to take action. May 7 the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu. The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Communists ceded the North, while Bao Dai's regime is granted the South. The accords also provide for elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country. The U.S. opposes the unifying elections, fearing a likely victory by Ho Chi Minh[2].In January, 1955 the first shipment of U.S. military aid to Saigon arrives. The U.S. offers to train the South Vietnam Army. Ho Chi Minh accepts U.S.S.R. aid in July. The Republic of South Vietnam announced that Diem is its first president on October 26th, 1955. Diem commenced a brutal crackdown against Viet Minh people in the countryside in January. The last French soldier leaves South Vietnam in April of 1956. The U.S.S.R. recommends permanent division of Vietnam into North and South in January 1957.in October the Viet Minh guerrillas begin a widespread campaign of terror in South Vietnam including bombings and assassinations. By year's end, over 400 South Vietnamese officials are killed. IN July of 1959 4000 Viet Minh guerrillas from North Vietnam go to infiltrate South Vietnam. Two U.S. military advisors, Maj. Dale Buis and Sgt. Chester Ovnand, are killed by Viet Minh guerrillas in South Vietnam. The National Liberation Front is established by Hanoi, which is a Communist political organization for Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam at the end of 1960. In May of 1961President Kennedy sends 400 American Green Beret 'Special Advisors' to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in methods of fighting against Viet Cong guerrillas. Viet Cong guerrillas control most of the countryside in South Vietnam in December. The presidential palace in Saigon is bombed by two South Vietnamese pilots on February of 1962. On November 2nd, 1963 Diem is taken into custody by rebel officers and the vehicle stops and Diem is assassinated. November 22 President Kennedy is assassinated. Minh lost his power on January 30th, 1964. IN Mach secret bombing raids begin. On August 2nd the U.S.S. Maddox is attacked by North Vietnam patrol boats. 2 days later, the Maddox, joined by a second destroyer U.S.S. C. Turner Joy begin a series of vigorous zigzags in the Gulf of Tonkin, while at the same time, South Vietnamese commandos in speed boats harass North Vietnamese defenses along the coastline. Crew members reading their instruments believe they have come under torpedo attack from North Vietnamese patrol boats. Both destroyers open fire on numerous evident targets but there are no actual sightings of hostile boats. Two Navy jets were shot down during the bombing raids, which resulted in the first American prisoner of war, Lt. Everett Alvarezon August 4th. On November 1st the first attack to Americans by Viet Cong in Vietnam occurs at Bien Hoa air base. A mortar attack kills five Americans, two South Vietnamese, and wounds nearly a hundred others. In December 10,000 NVA soldiers arrive in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Viet Cong terrorists set off a car bomb at the Brinks Hotel, in Saigon. Two Americans are killed and 58 wounded. By the end of the year there are 23,000 American military advisers and 170,000 Viet Cong in Vietnam on December 24th. Viet Cong guerrillas attack the U.S. military complex at Pleiku, which killed eight Americans, wounding 126 and destroying ten aircraft on February 6th, 1965. Operation Rolling Thunder begins as over 100 American fighter-bombers attack targets in North Vietnam in March. On March, 29th Viet Cong terrorists bomb the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The U.S. Special Forces camp is attacked by the Viet Cong in Phuoc Long on May 13th. Viet Cong destroy two million gallons of fuel in storage tanks near Da Nang on august 5th. Operation Starlite begins on august 18th it is the U.S. first major ground operation in Vietnam. 45 Marines are killed and 120 wounded. Viet Cong suffer 614 dead and 9 taken captive. The Battle of Ia Drang Valley begins on November 14th. The two-day battle ends with NVA retreating into the jungle. 79 Americans are killed and 121 wounded. NVA losses are estimated at 2000. In Saigon on December 4th, Viet Cong terrorists attack a hotel used by U.S. military personnel, killing eight and wounding 137. Operation Attleboro occur son September 14th, 1966 155 Americans are killed and 494 wounded. North Vietnamese losses are 1106. Afire resulting from a punctured fuel tank on the USS Forestall in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 134 U.S. crewmen on July, 29th, 1967. The Chinese shoot down two U.S. fighter-bombers that by accident crossed their border. Three American POWs are released by Hanoi in July, 1968. In October, the U.S. releases 14 North Vietnamese POWs. 36 U.S. Marines are killed by NVA who raid their base camp in February 1969. In Saigon over the past week, 450 civilians were killed during Viet Cong terrorist raids throughout the city, the highest weekly death toll to date on May 6th, 1970. U.S. troops withdraw from Cambodia on July 30th, 1970. On July 1st, 1971 6,100 American soldiers depart Vietnam. Hanoi releases 591 American POWs. The last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam. On March 29th, 1973 the remaining American troops depart Vietnam. The war ended in 1975. The Things They Carried is about the Vietnam War. Jimmy Cross is a lieutenant who loved Martha. Ted lavendar dies. He was shot in the head while going to the bathroom. The troops burnt every thing in Than Khe. Kurt Lemon gets killed. He is Rat (Bob) Kiley friend. Mary Anne was Mark Flossie’s, a medic, girlfriend. She learnt how to inject morphine, to cut arteries, and how to pump up a plastic splint. She also visited the Green Berets at night. Kiowa was sucked into the field and died. He was later found by Norman Bowker. Lieutenant Cross wrote a letter home to Kiowa’s father to tell him of the death. Norman Bowker received seven awards during the war. He received Combats Infantry badge, indicated a real soldier, Air medal, Army Commendation medal, Good Conduct medal, Vietnam Campaign medal, Bronze star and the Purple Heart. Norman killed himself after the war in his hometown YMCA by hanging himself with a jump rope. Azar was shot twice. When he was shot he landed on Rat. Then Rat got wounded and he was shipped off to Japan. The lieutenant also got hurt. Jimmy Cross returned to Vietnam with his daughter for her tenth birthday. The Monument is not strictly about the Vietnam War but it is about deaths in wars. Mick Strum comes to Bolton and starts to draw place in the city. The town has a court house meeting for the monument. Mick wants to make it have 18 trees and a plaque for each person who died in a war. He got what he wanted, so they put in the trees, benches, and plaques. The Vietnam War should also have its own monument somewhere in the United States. [1] This was stated in The Causes and consequences of The Vietnam War by David Wright (1996). [2] Stated in the History place.com website.
