Memphis and the Vietnam War

American involvement in Southeast Asia began in 1954 when the United States government offered support to a corrupt but pro-American democratic government in South Vietnam and lasted until the fall of Saigon in 1975. While Congress never officially declared war, thousands of American soldiers died and billions of dollars were spent in attempts to contain the threat of communism in North Vietnam and prevent its spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. President John F. Kennedy began sending military advisors to Vietnam during his presidency, and in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson escalated the conflict under the auspices of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. By 1968, there were over half a million American troops fighting in Vietnam. President Richard Nixon announced a plan for the Vietnamization the war, and in 1970, he ordered troops to invade Cambodia in order to cut off enemy supply lines. Public support for the war…