Vietnam

=__ US-Vietnam Conflict __=

by Ben Mischo, Drew Warner, Steve Pirelli

** May 7, 1959 - April 30, 1975 **
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 * ~ Anti-Communists ||~ Communists ||
 * = South Vietnam ||= North Vietnam ||
 * = United States ||= Viet Cong ||
 * = South Korea ||=  ||
 * = Australia ||~ With Support From.... ||
 * = New Zealand ||= North Korea ||
 * = Philippines ||= Soviet Union ||
 * = Thailand ||= Republic of China ||
 * = Kingdom of Laos ||= Pathet Lao ||
 * = Khmer Republic ||= Khmer Rouge ||

__Basic Info__
The [|Vietnam War] was the longest military conflict in U.S. history. The hostilities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and wounded 304,000. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. At the end of the Indochina War (1946-1954), the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. The South was controlled by Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French. In 1965 the United States sent in troops to prevent the South Vietnamese government from collapsing. Ultimately, however, the United States failed to achieve its goal, and in 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Communist control.

[|Time Line of the Vietnam War]
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__Napalm__
One of the most famous weapons used in the Vietnam War was [|napalm]. Napalm is the thickener use in flammable liquids in warfare. This chemical came about during World War II and was made up of mainly benzene and polystyrene. A group from Harvard under the leadership of Lous Fieser came up with napalm. It was mainly used in bombs and in flamethrowers. Its use in flamethrowers was as a fuel instead of gasoline because it didn't splash or drain as quickly as gasoline. "Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine," said Kim Phu`c, a napalm bombing survivor known from a famous Vietnam War photograph. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Napalm generates extremely high temperatures upon oxidation on the skin." It's first known use was near St. Lo, France on July 17th, 1944. Napalm was best known during the Vietnam War to clear land of Viet Cong hiding spots and was mainly used by the United States.

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__Tet Offensive__
The [|Tet Offensive] was a military campaign by the Viet Cong starting on January 30th, 1968 and going until September 23rd of the same year. The purpose of it was to attack military and civilian command centers in South Vietnam. Also, they wanted the population to take over the Saigon government and win the war in one shot. The Tet Offensive was launched during the most important holiday to the Vietnamese. For the holiday, North and South Vietnam had announced a cease-fire for three days so South Vietnam was not prepared. Once launched, over 80 thousand Viet Cong troops attacked a hundred cities and towns, one of them being Saigon. This city was the focal point of the entire offensive since it held six targets. After all of it, the allied forces had won but did not succeed in the propaganda part of it.

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