The Cold War era was a time of change and rebellion.

Most importantly, it was an era of

war. The Korean War and Vietnam War were both an attempt to contain communism.
Including, The Bay of Pigs Invasion was also an attempt to contain communism. None of which
were to be successful.
The Korean War began on June 25, 1960, and lasted until July 27, 1953. After WWII,
Japan left Korea, Korea’s former rulers. The Northern part of Korea surrendered to the Soviet
Union. The Southern part of Korea surrendered to the United States. Separated at the 38th
Parallel, North and South Korea became two vastly different countries. Suddenly, North Korea
invaded South Korea causing the Korean War. To prevent South Korea becoming Communist,
the United States sent troops to help fight off North Korea. In the beginning, North Korean
troops seemed unstoppable. Then, South Korean troops seemed unstoppable. With aid from
China, a newly Communist country, North Korea was able to push the war back to the 38th
Parallel. The Chinese involvement created a 2-year stalemate. To end the stalemate, General
MacArthur called for an atomic bombing in China. His efforts were denied which cost him his
job because he got fired shortly after this incident. Lastly, in 1953, the Soviet Union ceased fire
in North Korea ending the Korean War. However, Korea is still divided at the 38th parallel which
makes people think the Korean War was a loss of money and American lives.
Another attempt to contain Communism was America’s involvement in the Vietnam
War. From May 1954 to July 1954 a meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland. An agreement
was made to temporarily divide Vietnam along the 17th Parallel with an election planned for
1956. The north was given to the Communists. The south was given to the Nationalists. The
ruler of Northern Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh. The ruler of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem.
Eventually, a rebellious and communist group rose from the south. They called themselves the
Vietcong. The United States, in an attempt to contain Communism, sent troops to help the
Southern government of Diem fight off the Northern communists and the Vietcong. Many US
citizens were against the Vietnam War. They were known as “Doves”. US Citizens who did
support the Vietnam War were known as “Hawks”. After fighting for 20 years, the Vietnam War
came to an end. Leaving Vietnam as a Communist country.
In another attempt to contain communism, President John F. Kennedy prepared about
1,500 Cuban exiles, who fled Cuba when it became a Communist country. The plan was to,
basically, overthrow the Cuban government and make it a Democratic government. This all
failed. The airstrike did not go as planned and the distraction group never arrived. In addition,
the main unit was outnumbered and many soldiers were killed or imprisoned.
In conclusion, the United States mostly failed at containing Communism in Asian
countries. But, the United States was successful in containing Communism in countries like Iran
and Guatemala. All in all, the Cold War era was a very nerve-racking time for the whole planet.
Who knows what could’ve happened if Korea and Vietnam became Democratic nations instead
of Communist nations. Including, if the Bay of Pigs Invasion was successful and the Cuban
government was overthrown, who knows what could have happened.

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This was perfect! You did a great job of showing me your depth of knowledge about the
Cold War era. Thank you for coming to talk to me about a different structure for this assignment.
I'm very glad you felt comfortable asking me and I hope I was helpful in making these different
arrangements! Great work :)