The Vietnam War witnessed the death of many civilians as well as the armed troops of both American and Vietnamese origin. The war sparked off following the defeat of Japan in World War II which rendered Japan troops to vacate from Vietnam leaving the French colonial administration in full control of the country. Primarily, the defeat and departure from Vietnam led to the division of the country into two factions, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. This division became the center of the conflict subject to the type of rule to be administered in both. Ideally, the leaders of the North and the South both wanted the unification of Vietnam however, Ho, the Northern Vietnam president was transfixed in leading the country using the communism model in China. This was contrary to the form of leadership that was practiced in the south under the French administration. In essence, the communist policy that was intended by the north became a factor that conveniently attracted the United States to participate in the war.

South Vietnam received support from its anti-communism allies including the United States to help in its fight against the north and its communist policy. However, the French armies lost against the northern armies and the French colonial administration came to an end. The Geneva Conference Treaty thus led to the division of Vietnam based on the commonly referred to 17^th Parallel. Southern Vietnam was under the leadership of Diem who strongly opposed the communism rule of the North. The effect of this division of Vietnam was that, the efforts sought to try and reconcile the country remained strained due to the different political and administration ideologies.