Vietnam War

            The Vietnam War was the most controversial war in U. Also called the Indochina War, it was said to have been started in 1957 when communist rebels of North Vietnam launched an attack on The South. The country was divided because of the communistic views of the North. Because the North was trying to take over and make it a communist country the U.S. then got involved. In 1958 we sent our first troops in. This caused much controversy throughout America. It still affects all the people who grew up in that generation, whether you were a veteran who actually fought or just an ordinary citizen. The war finally ended on April 30, 1973 with a defeated America going home, after the North Vietnamese had taken over the south.
             The U.S. first got involved after president Dwight Eisenhower said, "If we let the communists take over, the other Asian countries would fall like dominos." At that time he pledged to assist the South Vietnamese government with war. By 1954 there were 342 American military personal there. The mounting communist assault against the south then prompted president John F. Kennedy to increase the troop strength to 16,000 by the time he was assassinated in 1963.
             One of the biggest ways the U.S. acquired the troops, was by the draft. This was a method to get people to war. Anyone from the ages 18 to 26 had to sign up. After you signed up, they would give you a card that said that you registered for the draft. The draft card had to be carried by every male to show the police. Anyone who refused to be in the draft would be put in jail. Many of these people either fled the country or just hid out. These people were known as draft dodgers. Some thought that these people were unpatriotic and therefore un-American. This caused even more controversy.
             The war also caused people to protest all over the U.S. especially on college campuses and at the nation's capital. One of the worst tragedies happened at Kent State University on May 4th 1970.