The Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a very harsh and emotional time for many people. From the Vietnamese to the United States, the Vietnam War was a tragedy. People said the Vietnam War was the longest battle of the Cold War. It all started because the Vietnamese wanted to gain their independence. They no longer wanted to be under the control of France. France did not want to give up the land it had ruled for years. France was getting supplies and goods from Vietnam, so they didn't want to give it up, so they fought for it. Ho Chi Minh was the president of Vietnam, as he can be said to have been in control of North Vietnam. He wanted Vietnam to be a communist country much like the Soviet Union. After Ho Chi Minh gained independence from Vietnam, the French began fighting to regain control of South Vietnam. Thus they entered the war. They came to war with complete confidence. They ended up retaking two major cities that they had lost before. The French didn't fare very well, so they communicated with the United States. The United States joined because President Truman didn't want to lose France as an ally, so he helped by giving them aid. Truman did not want to lose Vietnam to communism. France was losing the war, even though the United States supported it. They soon realized that the war was over for the French because the Vietnamese controlled too much of the south to reconquer Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was trying to convince other countries to become communist countries. “President Eisenhower believed that if the United States lost Vietnam to communism, it would not be able to get the resources it needed anywhere in Southeast Asia.” (Gary B. Nash "American Odyssey" p.770). Eisen...... middle of paper...... bibliography Bonds, Ray. The Vietnam War: The Illustrated History of the Conflict in Southeast Asia. London: Salamander, 1983. Print.Isserman, Maurice. The Vietnam War. New York: Facts on File, 1992. Print.Nash, Gary B. "23." American Odyssey: The United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1999. 768-801. Press.“China and the Soviet Union recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” 2014. The History Channel website. March 30, 2014, 12:12 pm http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/china-and-soviet-union-recognize-democratic-republic-of-vietnampicture citations:America Anti-war protest. 2013. NpSzczepanski, Kallie. The Vietnam War (American War). NdNpBrowne, Malcolm. Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk sacrificing himself. 1963. NpPulitzer, Nick Ut's. Trang Bang after the napalm attack. 1972. N.