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by Anonymous on May 15th, 2005

Anonymous

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When did the U.S. first become involved in the Vietnam situation leading up to the Vietnam War?

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Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

  • by Encyclopedia_John on May 17th, 2005

    Encyclopedia_John

    From 1949 the U.S. sent aid to the French forces fighting to keep French colonial rule in Vietnam. Then in 1954 America refused to allow free elections to be held throughout Vietnam because they were afraid the communists would win the elections.

    According the to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, "In April–July 1954 the Geneva Accords, which were signed by French and Viet Minh representatives, provided for a cease-fire and for a temporary division of the country into two military zones at latitude 17° N. The last of the Geneva Accords - called the Final Declaration - provided for elections, supervised by the commission, to be held throughout Vietnam in July 1956 in order to unify the country. Viet Minh leaders appeared certain to win these elections, and the United States and South Vietnam would not approve or sign the Final Declaration; elections were never held.

    Until 1960 the United States had supported the Saigon regime and its army only with military equipment, financial aid, and, as permitted by the Geneva Accords, 700 advisers for training the army. The number of advisers had increased to 17,000 by the end of 1963, and they were joined by an increasing number of American helicopter pilots. All this assistance, however, proved insufficient to halt the advance of the Viet Cong, and in February 1965 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam, hoping to prevent further infiltration of arms and troops into the south. Four weeks after the bombing began, the United States started sending troops into the south. By July the number of U.S. troops had reached 75,000; it continued to climb until it stood at more than 500,000 early in 1968."

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  • by Rumpleforeskin on June 9th, 2005

    Rumpleforeskin

    I've read that the left-sympathetic OSS (Office of Strategic Services, precurser to the CIA), immediately following WWII, actually backed Ho Chi Minh. In the upheaval resulting from the dissolution of the OSS and the creation of the CIA -- and the ensuing swing towards the right -- this policy was sharply reversed, with the U.S. then backing the idea of setting France up with a colonial empire in Southeast Asia. My source for this is "A History of the American People," by Paul Johnson.

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  • by KuebleD on November 19th, 2009

    KuebleD

    One could argue that the United States was always concerned with the situation in Vietnam as it was a direct result of the spread of Communism in the Cold war. However, the United States did not have the authority of a United Nations Sanction to actually enter Vietnam as a military power. So from 1960 to 1964, the United States served only as an advisory role to the South Vietnamese Government. By 1964 however two U.S destroyers had been torpedoed by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Tonkin Gulf (these are small surface vessels not submarines) thus prompting congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This provided the Amercian Government with just cause to enter the Country of Vietnam as a full Fledged military power.

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  • by Will on July 4th, 2007

    Will

    The late Eisenhower admin, Kennedy picked it up, and Johnson made it big time.

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