1.3 million-3.9 million is the estimated amount of innocent civilians who died during the Vietnam War (Bia). Although the Vietnam War was difficult and demanding for soldiers, the lives of the Vietnamese civilians were forever changed. The war affected the everyday lives of civilians by either making them flee the country to safety or by the countless attacks or killings they endured. The trials that the civilians faced during this time seem unrealistic; they suffered things that some could never imagine. The Vietnam War started in 1954. It was between North Vietnam and the Vietcong (South Vietnamese communists) versus South Vietnam and America. More than 3 million people were killed, including 58,000 Americans. The Vietnam War is one of the longest wars America has been a part of. It is also considered one of the worst wars America has been a part of. Although, Vietnam is one country today, years ago it was divided up into two due to differences amongst the government (history.com staff). Typically, when people learn about the Vietnam War, they never focus on how the Vietnamese felt. Most times they look at their point of view of the American people and listened to stories told by our nurses and soldiers. Even after the war, the media never really took an interest in the Vietnam’s point of view. In order to ensure they were safe, people started to leave Vietnam. Over the years, the population of Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S increased after the Vietnam War. Three waves of immigrants came to the U.S from Vietnam (Batalova and Rkashuam). There are “fewer than a thousand who actually fled successfully. “Those who fled and were unsuccessful died from starvation, drowned, or were killed by pirates” (AmericanForeignRelations.com staff). The first wave of migration started in 1975 due to the falling of Saigon (Batalova and Rkashuam). A total of 125,000 refugees fled from Vietnam in hopes of finding a new place to live. They realized that Vietnam was not the place to live because they could no longer survive there. The first wave consisted mainly of political leaders, army officers, and skilled professionals (AmericanForeignRelations.com staff). The first wave of people was chosen because they were “considered targets due to their relationships with the government.” They had to make sure that they got out alive before anything bad happened to them. The second and third wave of refugees was referred to as "boat people" due to the fact that boats were their only source of transportation they had. Unlike the first wave of refugees who were educated and rich, these were more the opposite; they came from poor rural areas (Batalova and Rkashuam).Even though the first wave had people who were more important to the
…show more content…
It means the "first morning of the first day" and is their version of our New Year 's. Not only does it combine the festivities from some of the western holidays that we celebrate (i.e. Christmas and Halloween), but it also celebrates “the union of nature, humans, and culture” (both living and dead) (Nguyen). Because of this very special holiday, both North and South Vietnam called a truce so that they could celebrate. On January 31, 1968, the first day of their holiday, there was a surprise communist attack done by Vietnam (History.com staff). Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam at the time, decided along with some of the leaders of Hanoi, that attacking the South during Tet would be a great plan so they dropped the truce and attacked. One reason why he planned the attack was so North Vietnam could finally have the victory they wanted. Another reason was because Ho Chi Minh wanted to stop the attacks/bombings from happening up in the north (U.S Department). The north decided to take the holiday as a good opportunity to get revenge on the South. North Vietnam knew it would be a good idea if they attacked now because they knew people would be gathered together and would actually think there had been a truce. It took about a week of “intense fighting was fought by 11,000 U.S and South Vietnam troops to evict Viet Cong in North Vietnam.” All of this became known as the Tet Offensive (History.com staff). Unfortunately, this was not the only act of
It means the "first morning of the first day" and is their version of our New Year 's. Not only does it combine the festivities from some of the western holidays that we celebrate (i.e. Christmas and Halloween), but it also celebrates “the union of nature, humans, and culture” (both living and dead) (Nguyen). Because of this very special holiday, both North and South Vietnam called a truce so that they could celebrate. On January 31, 1968, the first day of their holiday, there was a surprise communist attack done by Vietnam (History.com staff). Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam at the time, decided along with some of the leaders of Hanoi, that attacking the South during Tet would be a great plan so they dropped the truce and attacked. One reason why he planned the attack was so North Vietnam could finally have the victory they wanted. Another reason was because Ho Chi Minh wanted to stop the attacks/bombings from happening up in the north (U.S Department). The north decided to take the holiday as a good opportunity to get revenge on the South. North Vietnam knew it would be a good idea if they attacked now because they knew people would be gathered together and would actually think there had been a truce. It took about a week of “intense fighting was fought by 11,000 U.S and South Vietnam troops to evict Viet Cong in North Vietnam.” All of this became known as the Tet Offensive (History.com staff). Unfortunately, this was not the only act of