“Teaching the Vietnam War makes one understand how the form of a story determines and is determined by its content” (Franklin 246). The Vietnam War was one of America's most controversial wars. Many aspects of it remain subject to great uncertainty. These aspects of the Vietnam War are the subject of discussion and debate, they were debated during the war and the debates have continued. The Vietnam War was indeed a time of confusion. Why did the war start? What was the real reason the United States got involved? What was the objective of the war? What were American soldiers actually fighting for, or indeed, what were they dying for? How do you explain war to someone who hasn't experienced it, especially if you're not on your side? There is no real answer. You can give facts and figures, but that leaves out the true character of a war. It is also necessary to give the human point of view. As with any war, the Vietnam War had many points of view: the protesters, the politician, and last but not least, the soldier (although there are many other stories that could and should be told). Through facts and figures and the eyes of those who were there, an individual could learn about the Vietnam War, although it remains unclear how many people actually want to understand the war. Facts and figures are one of the first things to learn about the Vietnam War. war (although many would dispute the facts). The Vietnamese fought an anti-colonial war against France between 1945 and 1954. They received $2.6 billion in financial aid from the United States to support their efforts. The Geneva Convention followed the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, where Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam all gained independence. Vietnam was temporarily divided...... middle of paper ......n Vietnamese dead. Even today, many Americans still wonder whether the American effort in the Vietnam War was necessary, whether it was a sin, a mistake, or a noble cause, or an idealistic effort, if unsuccessful, to protect the South Vietnamese people from the North. In order to truly understand the war and determine your own answer to the many questions that remain, you must look at the war from all angles and understand the many facts that it produced. Dr. Carl Sagan wrote, “One must know the past to understand the present.” The Vietnam War represents a large part of America's past. It's important to know about the Vietnam War and those who lived through it, so you can learn how America became the way it is today and where it might be headed, whether or not we learned from our mistakes or are we destined to repeat again those made during the Vietnam War.