Vietnam, 1954 - 1968

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Winona State University

HIST 397: Topics in History – America Foreign Relations

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Vietnam, 1954 - 1968

The French had colonized Indochina – Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1867 – exploiting them for raw materials to European markets. However, a Ho Chi Minh nationalistic, communist-led insurgency caused a revolution in Vietnam despite support by the British and Americans. The US supported the splitting of Vietnam into two, with Eisenhower’s administration supporting a noncommunist regime in the south. President J. F. Kennedy deployed US military personnel in South Vietnam. Later, Lyndon Johnson launched aerial attacks against North Vietnam. In the period between 1964 and 1968, Johnson increased ground forces in the region. However, following the North Vietnamese-Vietcong Tet Offensive in 1968, the US initiated talks. Despite initial settlements for Washington to support South Vietnamese regime, in 1975, communist forces kicked out the Americans from Vietnam and took control of Saigon, renaming it Ho Chi Minh City. The war claimed the lives of 58,000 American soldiers, costing the nation $175 billion. The Indochina region was left in ruins and Americans were polarized at home (Merrill & Paterson, p.406). The film captures the events in a documentary as narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

The main topics in the “Vietnam, 1954-1968” are the origins of the Vietnam War, escalation of the American involvement, military and political strategies used by both parties, and the impact the war had on civilians and soldiers from both sides. For example, the film gives a background of the conflict, including the end of the French colonial rule after Vietminh forces took control of Dien Bien Phu (01 min 46s). Concerning escalation, the US became increasingly involved in the war from advisory roles to full military engagement, starting with the deployment of General William Westmoreland, a veteran of Korea and World War II (12 min 08s). Gen. Westmoreland acknowledges that the US had no prior experience in such a war and it was a learning curve, where trial and error appeared to be the strategy. For instance, in August 1964, US destroyer USS Maddox exchanged fire with North Vietnamese torpedo patrol boats, but two days later, the captain picked a false alarm of an attack (13 min 10s). For the Vietminh, Tran Bach Dang of the National Liberation Front explains how they established contact and guided people to fight back, led by the protest movement of students and intellectuals, including Catholics and Buddhists (15 min 13s). The impact on civilians and soldiers is explained throughout the film, including how civilians were killed in the bombings, houses razed down, and soldiers killed in ambush attacks.

The documentary uses a variety of audio and visual materials to achieve its objectives. Driving the whole film is Kenneth Branagh’s narration, which cohesively guides the viewers through the events, providing commentary and context for the happenings. When interviewing the subjects in a non-English language, the narrator assumes the translation role to help the viewers understand better. The documentary also uses an archival footage, capturing real events from the war, including battle scenes, political rallies by Soviet and American leaders, and the everyday life in Vietnam. For example, one footage shows Americans protesting for the return of soldiers from Vietnam – an anti-war movement that damaged President Johnson’s reputation (36 min 43s). Additionally, it adopts interviews, including testimonies from veterans, political figures, and historians, who explain their experiences, justifications, and lessons from the war. Another component is text captions, which are used to give a translation of the speeches or voices when the narrator does not translate using audio. That is the case with Moscow’s encouragement of liberation movement as per the speech given on October 12, 1960 (05min 14s).

The filmmaker’s objective is to educate, engage, and analyze. Overall, it providers an in-depth first-person point-of-view of the Vietnam War and why it became the most significant event of the Cold War. Providing a historical background plays an integral role in educating the listener about how, why, and when the events occurred. In the events surrounding the Maddox and C. Turner Joy, Americans can learn that the Americans may have deliberately played propaganda in some situations just to escalate the situation. There is no evidence that North Vietnamese attacked the Maddox (Paterson et al., p.370). The filmmaker possibly wanted to engage viewers to deeply understand the Vietnam War, specifically the Tet Offensive in detail as an important part of the US history. The film also helps the viewer to examine the political, military, and social aspects of the conflict. The fact that the events were relayed to Americans on tape, which helped influence political events locally, shows that the film may have intended to challenge Americans to objectively assess events to explore motivations and consequences.

I like the documentary because it provided an in-depth analysis of the Vietnam War, even including the background, causes, and consequences, and how it related to the Cold War. From the analysis, we can see the hand of Soviet Union, China, the US, and their allies. Including personal accounts from both sides provides a more balanced, trustworthy, and comprehensive account, which may help us understand why the US succeeded or failed in the War. In one instance, Bui Diem, South Vietnamese diplomat explains the failures of McNamara, who failed to consider the opinions of the Vietnamese (22min 42s). Such interviews with veterans and political figures add a human dimension to the historical narrative, making it more relatable and thought-provoking. As highlighted, the documentary adopts a balanced perspective,giving multiple viewpoints, including from neutral entities, Americans, Vietnamese, and Soviets. The documentary is important for both historical and intellectual perspectives because it gives a detailed account of the War, an event that shaped the U.S. history completely. The fact that a President was assassinated and another resigned during the conflict, shows why it the conflict was complex in relation to both domestic politics and international relations. The documentary helps us to reflect intellectually about the nature of war, propaganda machinery, the ethics of foreign interventions, and the mainstay implications of military and political decisions.

References

CNN. (n.d.). Cold War: Vietnam, 1954-1968 [Video]. Winona State University. https://winona.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/le/content/6541818/viewContent/66712334/View

Merrill, D., & Paterson, T. G. (2005). The Vietnam War. In Major problems in American foreign relations, volume II: Since 1914 (7th ed., pp. 406-446). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Paterson, T. G., Clifford, J. G., Brigham, R., Donoghue, M., Hagan, K. J., Kisatsky, D., & Maddock, S. J. (2015). American foreign relations: A history, Volume 2, Since 1895 (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.