Vietnam

Brief: Unofficially began in 1961 when the United States began taking measures to ensure that the Communist North Vietnam did not take over South Vietnam. U.S. influence in the region however began much earlier, during the first Indochina war, during which France was trying to maintain its colonies in Southeast Asia. This war was the longest in U.S. history and considered one of America's worst military defeats ever.

Stats

Americans Killed: Approx 58,156

Americans Injured Approx 303,704

Missing in Action Approx 2,338

Severely Disabled 75,000

100% Disabled Approx 23,214

Amputations and Crippling Wounds Were 300% higher than in World War II

Vietnamese Dead Approx 1,921,000

Cambodians Dead Approx 200,000

Laotians Dead Approx 100,000

Southeast Asians Wounded 3,200,000

Analysis: This is one of the United States's greatest military tragedies. The main objective was not accomplished. The United States was unable to keep Vietnam from falling to Communism; however, the secondary accomplishment was accomplished, Communism did not spread to other Southeast Asian countries. Facism did spread to Cambodia after the war when the brutal Khmer Rouge took control of the country after the war. 

The amount of carnage on both sides is a major downside. The Vietnamese causalities imply that the United States is being over zealous in its attempt to stop communism, which results in other countries having a negative perception of the United States. The American casualties angered many people in the American public, who believed that the United States shouldn't be in Vietnam and thus the soliders were dying in vain. 

Maybe even more important than the conflict itself, Vietnam affected American foreign policy in future years. Many of the interventions after Vietnam were an attempt to reestablish the superiority of the United States military in the eyes of other nations. Many countries believed that Vietnam was one of the worst military defeats ever suffered by the United States and it is hard to dispute. The United States invested all of its money, troops, attention, and supplies to Vietnam, yet they still failed to attain the objective. 

The Bottom Line: 

The damage to the American morale and American military, devastating casualties, and negative future effects makes this intervention a...

 Failure