Ac Brown

            When The U.S. decides to get involved in a war, the government first deliberates if we have a moral imperative to act or if our involvement will benefit our country in some way in the long run. U.S. military engagements can be defined by the desire for America to support other countries to sustain the government that the people of that country want. America desires to insure the freedom of self government to different countries because we value that ability so much in our own country. American government desires to assist other countries in need. Our government also looks for a moral or more important justification before deciding to enter a war, looking for our involvement in a war to benefit our own country as well as the countries we assist.

U.S. Troop Deployments by Country  

            The Korean War is an example of America taking action in another country to protect the people from being taken over by a government that did not agree with our own. It was the first struggle when anticommunist forces tried to stop the spread of communist control. The U.S., with Truman as the president at the time, did not condone communists planting their power in yet another country.  "If we don't put up a fight now," Truman worried; there was "no telling what they'll do." Truman showed true concern, not only for Korea internally, but for the possibility that the Soviet Union and China were going to try to expand communism throughout Asia. The U.S. took this opportunity to assist South Korea, not only for their sake, but for the sake that other countries might not soon give into or be taken over by communist control. America believed that if South Korea was left to its own defense and then failed, that no other smaller country would resist communist invasion and control. That belief came with the worry that communist leaders might be confident in overriding nations that are closer to the U.S. In the attempt to prevent any of these events from happening, the U.S. got involved in the Korean War.

The Korean Conflict

            The Vietnam War is another war fought in the struggle to keep out communist rule. North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam to impose communist rule. Once again the U.S. reached out to support a noncommunist benefit. The U.S. assumed the job of training the armed forces of the newly formed noncommunist Republic of Vietnam. But as the fight to defend democracy against the internal forces of communism grew, the U.S. became more involved in the war against communists. The great efforts by the U.S. and our troops continued to be matched by the determination of the North Vietnamese to bring their country together under communist control. In 1973, the American troops were taken out of the war, leaving South Vietnam against the North Vietnamese that were steadily moving in. The South’s independence was short lived after U.S. troops left. The communists in the North finally took over the South in 1975. This war is an example of the U.S. fighting against the communists but not succeeding for the country that they were fighting for. It was in the U.S.’s best interest to leave this war; however, it only shows that with the help of American troops, other countries have a better fighting chance to self govern. This also shows why America can better justify getting involved in a war, if their assistance will possibly bring freedom to another country.

American Deepening Involvement in Vietnam 

            The U.S. got involved in Grenada in 1983 for the similar reasons as the Korean and Vietnam Wars. However, it did differ slightly. Under Ronald Reagan, our president at the time, our troops invaded the Caribbean island to overthrow its socialist government. This time, instead of fighting to prevent the establishment of unwanted governments, the U.S. was fighting against and desired to get rid of a government that was already in control in that country. Our troops were stationed in Lebanon in 1982 for a completely different reason than before. The U.S. troops served an interposition force in Lebanon. America assisted the Lebanese government, in its fragile state, to maintain their own power and control in their politically volatile country. In this instance, U.S. got involved in another country to help them preserve the government that they had, when and if it was threatened. In the cases of Panama in 1989 and the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. overthrew dictators that were ruling unfairly over countries.

U.S. Troops in Gulf War

Whether we have to push out a dictator or prevent the establishment of corrupt governing, the U.S. is concerned with the well being of other countries and maintaining a fair government for them. The U.S. thoroughly contemplates a justification to entering a war, or thinks about if the overall importance of supporting another country is worth it for our own country. The main reasons that America gets involved in wars is when another country experiences threats to their governments well being.

U.S. Troop Deployment by Region and Decade  

• Chronology of U.S. Military Involvements This site helped me get started on my research. It gave a chronology of American military involvements from 1960-1999 with a simple description of each war.
• U.S. enters Korean War This site gave me a better knowledge of why the U.S. got involved in the Korean war. It also gave me in sites about what president Truman had to say about the war and why he thought it was important for the U.S. to take action. 
• The Korean War This site furthered my understanding about the U.S. involvement in the Korean War. It also helped me find Americas justification on entering the war. 
• U.S. Campaigns of the Vietnam War This site gave me information on the reasons the the U.S. got involved in the Vietnam War. 
• U.S. Global Troop Deployments This site gave me multiple pictures of graphs of U.S. troop deployments in different countries and regions of the world. These graphs helped me know where U.S. troops had spent a lot of time fighting.  
• Lebanon 1982 This site gave me information on the reasons that the U.S. troops stationed in Lebanon.