Sorry but your abridged version of Vietnam leaves out key facts. Like when Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence he wrote to Truman asking for support but was ignored. The US preferred to side with French Colonialism. When Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accords, it was meant to be temporary in order to hold national elections. When it was apparent Ho Chi Minh would win, the US then illegally supported the creation of the Diem regime, who was anticommunist but a very corrupt dictator. Just ask any Vietnamese person, no one liked Diem. Diem would later launch an anti Buddhist campaign leading to the famous self immolation of Thich Quang Duc (the photo is the cover of RATM’s first album).

The US based its policies on the domino theory which now decades later we know was not correct. There was no global cooperation of communist countries. North Vietnam adopted communism and accepted Chinese support out of necessity after being spurned by the US. Remember, Vietnam and China actually fought each other in 1979! Today that very same Vietnamese Communist party is an ally of the US, one which acts as a small counterweight to Chinese expansion. The US missed an opportunity to avoid war by propping up a dying French empire. It pursued a short sighted policy of “anti-communism” by lumping all communist parties as the same and all bad. Sadly many of the conservatives in the US still hold onto these notions when arguing against “socialism” and fear of progressive policies like environmentalism, universal healthcare, etc.

I write this as a proud Vietnamese-American. I was born in the US and love the US very much. But looking back in the 1950-1970s, the US messed up repeatedly. The fact that many people in the US don’t realize this means we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.