Vietnam was originally split into two: South Vietnam & North Vietnam

North Vietnam was communist and wanted to take over North Vietnam, becoming one. 

South Vietnam didn't want to be a communist country and so they retaliated. 

Ho Chi Minh  helped found the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 and the League for the Independence of Vietnam. He was the president of North Vietnam for 25 years and was a communist leader. 

Ngo Dinh Diem was the preident of  South Vietnam at the start of the war, however, he was assassinated during the 1963 military coup. He wanted a democratic nation. 

Vietcong

The Vietcong were South Vietnamese supporters of the communist national liberation front.  They were allies of the North Vietnam troops who wanted to counter South Vietnam and create one communist state of Vietnam.  

The United States was afraid that if Vietnam became a communist country that it would create a domino effect and turn other countries communist too. They didn't want communism to spread to South Vietnam and potentially the rest of Asia. For this reason, they decided to send money, supplies, and military advisers to help South Vietnam, their allies. 

The event that led to the big involvement in the Vietnam War was caused by President Johnson. The United States and North Vietnam had an altercation in the waters of the Gulf of Tokin. When the U.S general saw more ships he informed the president that they were going to be attacked. President Johnson gave the green light to retaliate. However, the general then said that it may have been a false alarm and they should look into it more before retaliation. President Johnson decided to retaliate anyway, but it turned out to be a false alarm and the North Vietnamese were not attacking. Johnson then released open warfare on Vietnam, making the United States involved in the war. 

Fighting styles with the Vietcong were very dangerous. They consisted of some scary methods, many of which were booby traps. When it came to attacking the Vietcong would typically do hit and runs. They would attack American soldiers and then run away before their soldiers would start a big fight, putting the Vietcong at a disadvantage. They would attack the U.S soldiers when they were tired and retreat whenever they retaliated. 

    Some people in America criticized the war while others supported it. These are two groups to describe these people: Hawks and Doves. 

Doves broke Johnson's war policy. They were liberals, pacifists, students, and civil rights leaders. They questioned the war morally and strategically. 

Hawks was mostly conservatives and supported Johnson's war policy. They believed that communism should not spread. 

    Because so many people disagreed with the war protests broke out.  A well-known protest is Kent State.  Students were throwing rocks at national guards and one guard thought they heard a sniper shot so he fired his gun which led to the other guards firing into the crowd of students. Four students died.

    Another issue that happened because of the war was something called Tet Offensive. It was named after the Vietnamese lunar new year. It was an assault on 36 provincial capitals, 5 major cities, and the U.S embassy in Saigon.