Vietnam War
Southeast Asian quagmire
The Vietnam War was a prolonged conflict (1955–1975) in Southeast Asia, primarily between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with the United States heavily involved in support of the South.
American involvement escalated dramatically in the 1960s, becoming deeply controversial and sparking widespread protest.
The war ended with North Vietnamese victory and reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.
In American discourse, "Vietnam" alone often invokes the war: He served in Vietnam, another Vietnam suggests a military quagmire.
Former Vietnamese capital
- HanoiVietnam's seat of government
- Ho Chi MinhVietnamese nationalist leader
- Gulf of TonkinInlet between Vietnam, China
- Pentagon PapersLeaked Defense Department documents
Vietnamization · Paris Peace Accords · French Indochina · Geneva Accords · partition · Johnson · Nixon · Westmoreland
Organized protest against warfare
- draft resistanceOpposition to mandatory military service
- conscientious objectorOne refusing military service morally
- Kent StateOhio public university
- moratoriumTemporary prohibition or delay
counterculture · civil disobedience · flower power · peace symbol · teach-in · sit-in · silent majority · Jane Fonda
Coordinated 1968 guerrilla assault
- siegeEncirclement forcing surrender
- firefightExchange of gunfire
- search and destroyTactical elimination mission
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
infantry · air strike · casualties · ambush · patrol · reconnaissance · mortar · M16
Preventing hostile expansion
- domino theoryContagious political collapse belief
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- communismCollective ownership system
- SEATODissolved Asian defense pact
détente · Truman Doctrine · Red Scare · McCarthyism · Iron Curtain · Warsaw Pact · NATO · Khrushchev
Vietnamese communist guerrilla force
- Ho Chi Minh TrailWartime supply route through jungle
- tunnelEnclosed underground route
- booby trapHidden device to harm
- punji sticksSharpened bamboo defensive spikes
jungle warfare · insurgency · ambush · sapper · infiltration · cadre · cell · AK-47
Chronic reaction to horrific events
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- survivor guiltDistress from enduring when others perished
- combat stressWarfare-induced psychological trauma
- shell shockWar-induced psychological trauma
nightmares · homecoming · readjustment · VA hospital · therapy · memorial · grief · loss
Saigon
Former Vietnamese capital
- HanoiVietnam's seat of government
- Ho Chi MinhVietnamese nationalist leader
- Gulf of TonkinInlet between Vietnam, China
Pentagon Papers · Vietnamization · Paris Peace Accords · French Indochina · Geneva Accords · partition · Johnson · Nixon · Westmoreland · McNamara
antiwar movement
Organized protest against warfare
- draft resistanceOpposition to mandatory military service
- conscientious objectorOne refusing military service morally
- Kent StateOhio public university
moratorium · counterculture · civil disobedience · flower power · peace symbol · teach-in · sit-in · silent majority · Jane Fonda · Muhammad Ali
Tet Offensive
Coordinated 1968 guerrilla assault
- siegeEncirclement forcing surrender
- firefightExchange of gunfire
- search and destroyTactical elimination mission
artillery · infantry · air strike · casualties · ambush · patrol · reconnaissance · mortar · M16 · helicopter assault
containment
Preventing hostile expansion
- domino theoryContagious political collapse belief
- Soviet UnionFormer communist superstate
- communismCollective ownership system
SEATO · détente · Truman Doctrine · Red Scare · McCarthyism · Iron Curtain · Warsaw Pact · NATO · Khrushchev · Mao
Viet Cong
Vietnamese communist guerrilla force
- Ho Chi Minh TrailWartime supply route through jungle
- tunnelEnclosed underground route
- booby trapHidden device to harm
punji sticks · jungle warfare · insurgency · ambush · sapper · infiltration · cadre · cell · AK-47 · hit and run
PTSD
Chronic reaction to horrific events
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- survivor guiltDistress from enduring when others perished
- combat stressWarfare-induced psychological trauma
shell shock · nightmares · homecoming · readjustment · VA hospital · therapy · memorial · grief · loss · disabled veterans
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, US Constitution
- 1960sBeatles, Star Trek, hippie movement, space race, civil rights
- 1970sdisco, Watergate, Nixon, Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars
- 70sdisco, bell-bottoms, Saturday Night Fever, pet rock, leisure suits
- American WarsWWI, WWII, Desert Storm, Indian Wars
- Sixtieshippies, Beatles, Woodstock, JFK, LBJ
Vietnam Warpeace
Freedom from disturbance
peacetime · Paris Peace Accords · détente · armistice · ceasefire
Vietnam WarAmerican victory
U.S. military success
World War II · Gulf War · Operation Desert Storm · decisive victory · D-Day
Vietnam WarWorld War II
Second global military conflict
World War I · declared war · War of 1812 · Mexican-American War · Spanish-American War