Vietnam is a small Asian country, 9000 miles away from the United States. Yet America felt that its national interest were threatened strong enough to fight a war over there. Their fear was caused by the spread of communism at that time. The role of communism was extremely important in this conflict. The United States had to enter the war to stop the spread of communism in Asia since the North Vietnam were communist. If North Vietnam converted Vietnam into a communist country, it could become very powerful and go on to persuade other countries to become communist. The U.S. believed that Vietnam could become powerful, and it was willing to go through anything to stop that, including sending millions of US troops to Vietnam and watching them die live on TV, and this greatly effected the American culture and society. The Vietnam War changed the lives of many people. "By the end of 1965, 184,314 troops were in Vietnam" (Alterman 11). "Within a year, the number had grown to 385,000"(Alterman 11). Back in America, they were suffering as their sons died overseas. All this effected American society greatly. Moms were losing sons, sisters were losing brothers, and children were losing dads. The Vietnam War had a horrible outcome. “More than 47,000 Americans were killed in action, 11,000 died of other causes, and 303,000 were wounded”(Alterman 11). As more Americans continued to leave for Vietnam, the American people responded with disappointment and that caused the American society to lose faith in the government. At this time a series of protests took place across the nation. Students and professors began to organize teach-ins on the war at university all across America. This really showed how the war had effected America society, causing protests, and marches.When President Johnson sent in the first combat troops, and ordered the bombing of North Vietnam in 1965, the antiwar movement in the US grew even larger. "Many Americans ...
