Path+to+War

The French had Vietnam as a colony, but during the 1900's the Japanese invaded and took over Vietnam. They sent aid to Vietnam to a group of Gorilla fighters called the Vietnamin, who had a communist leader who greatly admired the US, he was called Ho Chi Minh. After the end of WW2 Japanese pulled their troops out of Vietnam, the Vietnamin saw this as an opportunity to get rid of the French too. The Us started getting worried about the spread of communism, and when Ho Chi Minh asked the US for help to overthrow the French the US didnt respond because they saw France as an ally and wanted their help to stop Russia and the spread of Communism. The Vietnamin turned to China for help, and they got help from Russia and China. The US said that they would help France fight to get their colony back. Vietnam was divided in two part by the 17th paralell. Vietnam was supposed to elect a leader and Ho Chi Minh was expected to win, but the US didnt want a communist leader, they wanted Ngo Dinh Diem, to win, but he was very unpopular. After he became President he was killed becasue he was so unpopular. When Vietnam split into north and south the US supported the south. When the north set up the NLF party President Kennedy, in response, began assembling military equiptment and advisors. Then the North launched an attack against two US ships based at the Gulf of Tonkin. The US congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowing the US to expand its war efforts. Finally in 1965 presidnet Lyndon Johnson led the first US bombing in North Korea and led to the first Marines landing in Vietnam.