I was watching "Apocalypse Now", could not understand WHY VIETNAM WARS WAS FOUGH

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   SAQIB6608posted 10 years ago

   I was watching "Apocalypse Now", could not understand WHY VIETNAM WARS WAS FOUGHT?
   
   Its a wonderful movie let me tell you.  Amazing performances by Marlon Brando and Co, excellent direction, great camera work according to its time, but I have really been wondering what was the MAIN AIM of Vietnam War? ?
   I mean it was part of that BLOODY COLD WAR, But still ?? ?
   Honest and Broad concepts please.

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   chef-de-jourposted 10 years ago

   This is the river boat journey right? Based on the Conrad novel Heart of Darkness I think. Yes it's a classic movie with Mr Sheen headlining, and Brando of course?
   The USA vowed to fight the spread of Communism. North Vietnam wanted to take over south Vietnam and turn it communist. The USA backed the south but couldn't defeat the communists and had to pull out, controversially. Vietnam became a socialist republic a few years later. Many movies have been made in an attempt to understand what went wrong for the USA.

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      SAQIB6608posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Rightly guessed about the movie.
      Why did the US indulged for so many years even facing such huge colllateral damage. Same case now in Afghanistan. NATO and ISAF are joint mil forces but they contain greater chunk from US.

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   cjhunsingerposted 10 years ago

   SAQ
   
   Having served in Vietnam, as part of the advance contingent in 65-66, I have some experience with the war, but never saw the movie. There is so much here that should be said, in detail, but it would be academic at this point. As Chef pointed out the idea was to stop the advance of a Communist take over of the South by Ho Chi Minh. 
   Vietnam was Johnson's war, as Kennedy  was initially sympathetic to the halt of Communism was opposed to sending troops. I found this quote by Kennedy that may be interesting. "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in the long run, adverse military consequences."

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      SAQIB6608posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Great cjhunsinger . How your was the experience in V? I just asked because i was so moved by the movie. I would strongly suggest you watch the movie and comment please if you find time.

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      cjhunsingerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      SAQ
      Not fond of war movies.

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      SAQIB6608posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Its not just a typical  "war" movie, there are many facets to be observed. I can't go on with SPPOILERs here

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   Old-Empresarioposted 10 years ago

   The Vietnamese were fighting for their independence from French control. Vietnam belonged to the French as a colony and the French were fighting the Vietnamese people in order to hold onto their colonial possession. It started immediately after the end of World War II when the Japanese left Indochina and the French returned to Indochina. The US aided France because we had some economic stakes in Vietnam. The Vietnamese, needing a powerful ally, called themselves Communists and began receiving military aid from the Soviets. At this point, the US could denounce the Vietnamese as part of the Communist Menace and could dedicate vast resources to stop them. The French were defeated and gave up their colony and left. The US took over the fight and the war became a meaningless attempt to make a point. Once we were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, we felt we had to show we were capable of winning. There was a North Vietnam under Communists control. South Vietnam had a "tin-pot" government propped up by the US. North Vietnam fought to conquer and annex South Vietnam. Supporters of this in South Vietnam fought US troops and their own government so that the South could be united with the North.
   
   To answer your question briefly, there really was no purpose other than to control something. This type of war was one the US had done many times elsewhere in the past. But this time it lasted longer and was bloodier. When the US first committed to it, no one imagined it would last very long. And it slowly escalated over a number of years. By 1968 the US woke up and came to grips with the fact that it was in a full-blown war.

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      cjhunsingerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Old
      It was never a full scale war. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a fraud. To render a reasonable accounting of this travesty you need to go back to the late 1800's.

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      SAQIB6608posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Old-Empresario Thanks for your responce. Agree with last paragraph  of your answer.

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