ABSTRACT
T he war in Vietnam is undoubtedly the best-known military conflict of the post1945 era. This is in large part due to the extensive involvement of the United States in the war during the 1960s. Indeed, in the years following the initial
dispatch of American ground troops to Vietnam in 1965, the war brought home to ordinary Americans the sacrifices which the global role of the United States demanded of them. With unexpectedly high casualty rates, the war managed to undo President Lyndon Johnson’s career while dividing the nation between supporters and opponents of the conflict. Moreover, as it ultimately had the outcome successive American administrations had vowed to prevent, that is the unification of Vietnam under communist rule and the take-over of neighbouring Cambodia and Laos by communists, the Vietnam War has long since been viewed as a uniquely American tragedy.
