Before US involvement, the French had colonial rule over Vietnam since the late 19th century. However, the French had a major threat to their rule, Ho Chi Minh, who became the North Vietnamese leader. It wasn’t until the French defeat at Dien Bein Phu in 1954 that the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel. The division lead to the creation of communist North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies.

The United States felt that their involvement was crucial in preventing the spread of communism, and communist takeover in South Vietnam. They believed that if South Vietnam fell to communism, then many other countries would fall too. Eisenhower supported the anti-communist leader Diem, however no official elections were held in South Vietnam to appoint him “president,” therefore leading to the spread of communism in the South. Once John F. Kennedy was appointed president in 1961, he had to deal with the creation of the National Liberation Front (Vietcong) army in South Vietnam. This Vietcong army was aided by the North, and fought a guerrilla war against the anti-communist forces. Guerrilla Warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which armed civilians use military tactics (ie. ambushes, sabotages, raids, hit and run tactics, and mobility) to fight a larger but less mobile military.

Diem was assassinated in 1963, leaving the anti-communist party in pieces. And once Lindon B. Johnson became president, he took the reins, and didn’t want another China. He wanted to keep pressure in South Vietnam to defeat the Vietcong, and relied on air superiority to do so. They conducted search and destroy operations, including ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. However, US involvement ended on August 15, 1973, and the war ended in April of 1975 as a result of the North Vietnamese capturing Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The North and South were reunified in 1976, becoming the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war had a huge human cost in terms of fatalities. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese civilians killed range from 800,000 t0 3.1 million. About 200,000-300,00 Cambodians, 20,000-200,000 Laotians, and 58,220 US service members died in the war.

I met an older gentlemen this last weekend in Kentucky. He used to be a “bootlegger” before he went legit and attained a license and opened a distillery for his moonshine. What a character! It turns out he loves to talk…and in doing so I found out he served in Vietnam. He loved being over there as a rescue pilot so much that he was sent to Okinawa for mental help. Long story short he finally made it back to the states with multiple purple hearts, a new Japanese bride, and infant son. Some skeptics say that our soldiers were never spit on or disrespected upon return. Without prompting he told me that he was dressed in his dress greens holding his baby boy, and along side his loving bride. He was spit on and called a “baby killer” when he was leaving the Chicago airport. The funny part was he said he snatched those “hippies” by there long hair and was escorting them outside to “teach’em some manners.” The MP’s got involved…but elected to see how the lesson would turnout. The lesson was taught, he guaranteed me. It sounded like a drunken story until he was showing off some FB pics.

Today Professor Putman mentioned in class the JFK and Nixon televised debate was in September 1960, it caught my attention. During the televised debate Nixon was very nervous, that he was pouring sweat and was not feeling well. John F. Kennedy was very relaxed, even had a tan and comfortable speaking. Most people listening on the radio thought Nixon won. People that watched the televised debate said John F. Kennedy was a blow out. I think it is interesting how appearance is how JFK won. This was the closest election in history. John F Kennedy only won by 100,000 votes. Below is a picture of the televised debate of Nixon and JFK.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-10-03/debates-fail-to-decide-elections-amid-mythology-of-kennedy-nixon

I went to see Fast and Furious 7 when the movie trailer for N.W.A came on. N.W.A was one of the most notorious rap groups of all time. These five master minds created some of the greatest rap songs to this day. They were telling a story about how life in Compton was everyday through their music. People disliked N.W.A because some though they were glorifying killing, gangs, drugs and money. These five men became successful enough to get their lives out of the streets and made a statement to people around the world they could not be stopped.

Recently in class we discussed African American artists and their rise to fame during the 1950’s and 60’s as a response to the dominant white culture of the time. These artists played music that, at the time, was scandalous to many conservative American families, and the fact that white children also liked their music served to aggravate racial tensions that had been slowly simmering beneath the surface of American society. The movie “Get On Up” chronicles the story of one such artist, James Brown, and his rise to fame despite the many hardships he faced as an African American in in the United States during one of its most turbulent periods of racial unrest.

http://www.unique-design.net/library/god/patriot/kennedy.html

As talked about in lecture Monday, professor talked about JFK taking over Vietnam and making his changes. This quote is very powerful when reading what President Kennedy it is obvious that he is saying it is never to late to change history. Which is true everyday we have the opportunity to change our own history.

The vinyl record player was invented back in 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison. Our parents all have fond memories of listening to their record players as kids. However, even though we have more modern technology now such as iPods and mp3 players, record players are starting to make a comeback. I personally bought one, and I have albums from recent artists such as Taylor Swift. I find it interesting how history can blend together when a record player from a previous generation meets modern times with popular music from current artists on vinyl.