Frequently asked questions...

The Vietnam War was a protracted conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. So many questions about the Vietnam conflict exists. These are but a sampling for consideration.

Why build a local Vietnam veterans' memorial?

At least 220 Tarrant County residents died as a result of the conflict in Vietnam. Currently, there’s no local monument to honor those killed in Southeast Asia. A permanent display in Fort Worth’s Veterans Memorial Park on Camp Bowie Blvd. designed by a local student, will honor American service members for their sacrifices, as well as commemorate the loss to the families and loved ones.

Was the Vietnam War technically a war?

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress sole authority to issue declarations of war. Since 1941 Congress has declared war only six times, all during World War II. Congress authorized troop deployment in Vietnam, but, because it did not issue a declaration of war on North Vietnam or the Viet Cong, the Vietnam War is, technically speaking, not considered a war in the United States.

How did Westmoreland influence the war’s outcome?

As head of U.S. forces in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland pursued a war of attrition: the number of dead enemy fighters was the key measure of merit. In response to Westmoreland’s requests for more forces, the American presence in Vietnam grew to well over 500,000 troops. Domestic support for the war plunged as U.S. deaths rose.

Did President Nixon support the Vietnam War?

Richard Nixon, arguably, tried to prolong the Vietnam War during the 1968 presidential campaign in an effort to win the presidency. Once he became president, he sought to establish enough stability in the region for the South Vietnamese government to take over. The result was an expanded U.S. military presence and increased military activity in neutral Cambodia. After hasty attempts of “Vietnamization”—the process of training and arming South Vietnamese troops for fighting alone after U.S. forces would pull out—all U.S. troops were evacuated by March 29, 1973.

What is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange is a mixture of herbicides used during the Vietnam War by the U.S. military to defoliate forests and clear other vegetation. This herbicide mix was deployed in urban, agricultural, and forested areas in Vietnam to expose the enemy and destroy crops. Agent Orange was used along with several other herbicides, code-named Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green.

How many people died during the Vietnam War?

In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., lists more than 58,300 names of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed or went missing in action. Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam, South Korea had more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen.

When was the Vietnam War?

The commonly accepted dates for the Vietnam conflict are 1954 to 1975. Most of the military fighting occurred between 1957 and 1973. Because Congress never officially passed a vote to declare a war, the United States was never technically at war with North Vietnam.

What was the purpose of the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War was fought to determine which political regime would gain control of the country and reunify it after French occupation. France backed Emperor Bao Dai in South Vietnam, while the majority of Vietnamese citizens supported Ho Chi Minh in the northern Democratic Republic of Vietnam. After the French defeat of 1954, the resultant treaty proposed a 1956 nationwide election to unify Vietnam. Instead, President Ngo Dinh Diem enlisted U.S. support to oppose Ho Chi Minh’s Communist agenda.

Why did the United States get involved in Vietnam?

The United States got involved in Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia. The domino theory, prevalent in the U.S. government, posited that if Vietnam became communist, it would lead to communist conquests of surrounding countries; victory in Vietnam was crucial to stopping the communist expansion.

What was the Tet Offensive?

The Tet Offensive was a major military assault on South Vietnam by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops during the Vietnam War in 1968. Both South Vietnam and U.S. military forces suffered massive casualties, and the assault had severely detrimental effects on civilian support for the war in the United States.

What were the protests against the Vietnam War?

The protests against the Vietnam War were a series of demonstrations against American involvement in the conflict between North and South Vietnam. Protests were initially peaceful and included sit-ins or teach-ins or marches, but they eventually erupted into violence.

How many people died in the Vietnam War?

There were 1.4 million casualties during the Vietnam War. This number accounts for casualties on both sides of the conflict. Over 2 million soldiers of both sides were wounded in the war but not killed.

The United States deployed over 2.5 million soldiers to the Vietnam War and lost 58,220 of those soldiers. An additional 303,644 American soldiers were wounded during the war. The number of soldiers under 20 years old who were killed in action is 11,465. There were over 4 million civilian casualties on both sides during the war. Despite these figures, 74 percent of veterans say they would have served in the war again.

Other countries also suffered casualties in the Vietnam War: New Zealand lost about three dozen soldiers, Australia lost more than 500 soldiers and South Korea lost 3,000 troops in the war.

What were the consequences of the Vietnam War?

In addition to the untold consequences for military families due to the massive loss of 58,000 American lives during the conflict, the Vietnam War led to the end of the military draft in the United States, a reduction in the voting age to age 18, restriction of a sitting president’s ability to send military forces into combat, weakened and undermined morale among the U.S. military and caused damage to the American economy.