Vietnam War

The 1950s marked the beginning of a nineteen war in Vietnam between the Northern and Southern areas of the country. At that time, France's (who ruled over Vietnam then) rule was harsh and made living hard for Vietnamese. Though there are other reasons for the causes of the war, the goal of the North was to rebel against the Southern government. The war took place not too long after World War I.

America didn't get involved right away, but they marginally took minor steps towards ultimate involvement. They ended up aiding the Southern part of Vietnam, as they feared that if the North were to succeed it would mark the beginnings of communist rule, which the U.S. did not want to spread in a 'domino effect'. That type of reason for the U.S. is common in most wars as a lot of countries who might be affected by some other country's wars. Such things happened with others too like in France and Europe in the terms of a battle for absolute monarchy.

Eventually, American military forces withdrew their troops from the war and exchanged prisoners just before a ceasefire, where they came back with a vengeance.

Within the war, there were many different terms to refer to the Vietnam enemies (some ranging between abbreviations or phrases that were usually very derogatory). The main term for a northern soldier was a "Viet Cong", which was slang for a Vietnamese Communist. they were usually called this by American soldiers or southern Vietnamese soldiers.

Conditions were absolutely dreadful for anyone not native to the terrain. Everywhere you stepped could be a landmine or a booby trap, hidden by the tall elephant grass. Elephant grass usually ranged any six feet to twenty feet, which (you could imagine) made it very hard for soldiers to maneuver through. They were blinded not only to the surroundings, but the war itself.  



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/causes.htm