What Is It Like To Fight In The Vietnam War?

When I hear or see the term "the Vietnam War," I consider that being the "war" the US participated in during the period of about 1957 or 1960 through 1975.

Prior to World War II, Vietnam was a French colony for a hundred years or so. After World War II, the Communists drove the French out, culmanating with the LAST major battle being a long, bloody battle in the northwest of the area later known as North Vietnam. That battle was at a place called Dien Bien Fu [spelling?]. I think that was sometime in 1954.

This resulted in Vietnam being "partitioned," by the United Nations, into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Communist North Vietnam was not satisfied with that settlement, and wanted to control ALL of the country, and immediately began to attempt to take over South Vietnam.

The United Nations, several "free" nations, and the United States thought that this was wrong, and attempted to help South Vietnam maintian it's sovereignty.

In fact, when the French were kicked out of Vietnam in 1954, then President Dwight D. Eisenhauer helped to form a group of Western Pacific nations interested in preventing the "spread" of Communism, and not being taken over by the Communists. South Vietnam was one member of this group. This group also included non area nations, such as the United States, Australia, South Korea, Great Britian, and others I cannot recall at this time.

That group, called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization [SEATO] all signed a treaty agreeing that if any member nation was invaded by the Communists, then all member nations would support and fight with the threatened nation in defending itself.

To my recollection, France was not a member of NATO, and did not participate in "this" Vietnam War.

When the North Vietnamese army and the South Vietnamese Viet Cong revolutionaries became too much for the South Vietnamese government to handle, South Vietnam envoked the South East Asia Treaty, and requested full assistance from all member nations. That was about 1962 or 1963, I think.