Vietnam War

Summary

Like any other war the Vietnam War had a lot of devastating effects after the war ended. It also had many causes that changed many things after this war. "The Vietnam War was fought between 1964 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos, and in bombing runs over North Vietnam."1.There were two opposing sides. On one side it "was a coalition of forces including the United States, the Republic of Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea." And on the other "was a coalition of forces including the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the National Liberation Front, a communist-led South Vietnamese guerrilla movement."1 The war started out when "Ho Chi Minh proclaimed it (Vietnam) independent of France."2 The French were obviously against that and "wanted to reestablish their rule in Vietnam but were beaten." 3It is said that the United States took part in this war because "The U.S. " had " to enter the war to stop the spread of Communism in Asia since North Vietnam was Communist."2 This war was the "longest war in which the United States took part of."5. The following are the estimates of the amount of people that died in Vietnam:

"The lowest casualty estimates, based on the now-renounced North Vietnamese statements, are around 1.5 million Vietnamese killed. Vietnam released figures on April 3, 1995 that a total of one million Vietnamese combatants and four million civilians were killed in the war. The accuracy of these figures has generally not been challenged. 58,226 American soldiers also died in the war or are missing in action. Australia lost almost 500 of the 47,000 troops they had deployed to Vietnam and New Zealand lost 38 soldiers."1

In the following paragraphs I will explain about the causes and effects of the Vietnam War.

Besides the various amount of people that died in the Vietnam War the war brought many effects to the environment. "After the war, southern Vietnam's agriculture, business and industry were devastated."1. This means that the land was ruined because of all the destruction that went on in the Vietnam War. "The infrastructure had suffered heavily"5. The community was basically destroyed. The transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons were all damaged. In fact for the road system "Sixty percent had been almost completely destroyed."5. More than half of the infrastructure got destroyed because of the war. Meaning that it will take a long time and a lot of money to rebuild. The transportation in Vietnam was severely damaged since "134 bridges out of a prewar total of 475 had been destroyed, and only 582 miles of railroads out of 873 miles existing before the war were in operation."5. The United States didn't help Vietnam in getting back on their feet instead the "United States Presidents tried to punish Vietnam for the losses suffered by their country. They cut off all trade to Vietnam."5. Without any help and their economy severely damaged it caused Vietnam "to beg for help from the Soviet Union."5. Because of all the environmental destruction "More forests have been lost in Vietnam since the US/Vietnam war ended in 1975 than during it. Because of post-war lumbering operations (the rebuilding of 10 million homes, schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation systems)"2. Because of this "40% of the country is now considered wasteland."2

The war also damaged the ecology with the new technologies they used in the war. The following explains my point:

"The Vietnam War introduced many new technologies, some of which contributed to Vietnam's ecological change from a once-pristine habitat to an almost apocalyptic state following the war. These technologies included chemical deforestation techniques, Rome plows and new, more destructive bombs."4

This means that the habitats with the organisms in them were destroyed and killed. This was caused because the United States brought "a new style of warfare that used chemicals to clear large areas of land." 4 This tactic was also meant to be "useful in the age-old war tradition of destroying the enemy's crops in hopes of encouraging surrender."4These tactics brought by the United States not only affected the ecology but them as well since today they think the Vietnam veterans that were exposed by the chemical Agent Orange are the cause of birth defects. The following method proves my point:

"One of these methods was to ask each Vietnam veteran father

whether he believed that he had been exposed to Agent Orange

during his tour of duty in Vietnam. The answers showed that

Vietnam veterans who thought that they had been exposed were no

more likely to have had a baby affected by anencephaly or spina

bifida than were Vietnam veterans who thought that they had not

been exposed."6

Also "the basic principles of ecology: the environment is interconnected. If you negatively impact one area, the results will spread."4This means that the chemicals that affected one area eventually spread to another area affecting the organisms and the environment as well. Besides the United States using chemicals to clear out the land they also used the "Rome Plow."

"The machines are estimated to have cleared approximately 1,000 acres of land

daily at a rate of about one acre of land per hour, and every day they operated a fleet of 150 tractors. Not only did the Rome Plows kill massive numbers of animals and tons of vegetation, they also caused erosion, a problem that is still a concern of ecologists today."4

With all this destruction being done to the ecology "Many species of animals and vegetation were greatly reduced and, in some cases, became extinct."4. All of these effects done to the ecology were caused by the tactics used in the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War was also the cause of the critical effects on the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. By this I mean that "About one in three Vietnam veterans who served in-country suffered from full or partial Post Traumatic Stress Disorder a quarter century or more after the war. More than two in three Vietnam veterans suffered from full or partial Post Traumatic Stress Disorder