Oral+History+Research-+Cold+War+in+America

Topic- Cold War in America Interview Subject- Bob Wells (my dad)

In the U.S. during the Cold War, the was a big fear of communism which earned the name: The Red Scare. People in the U.S. were extremely frightened of the idea of communism spreading. The events of the communists overthrowing the Chinese government, the Rosengerg trial, and the Mccarthy hearings didn't do anything to lessen the fear of communism.

The Bay of Pigs was one of the worst times for America during the Cold War. JFK inherited the plan from the Truman administration. It was a plan have Cuba exiles attempt to overthrow the Cuban government and assasinate Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader at the time who was friendly with the Soviet Union. The C.I.A organized the attack. It was a total disaster because all of the Cuban exiles weren't well trained and did not have sufficient weapons to match the Soviet funded Cuban army. Most of the soldiers were killed or imprisoned. There was some miscommunication between the exiles and the U.S. government because the exiles thought that air support would be provided by the U.S. but Kennedy claimed that wasn't part of the deal.

In 1962, there was a standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba which is only 90 miles from the coast of Florida. When Kennedy learned that there were missiles pointed at the U.S., his first move was to place a blockade around Cuba. Then, he informed the citizens. Most people were thoroughly frightened of the prospect of missiles being fired at the United States. The missiles could hit American cities in a matter of minutes. The Kennedy administration had a huge dilemma on their hands and they experienced 13 extremely stressful days, wondering if the missiles would be fired and trying to decide what the right moves were. The Soviets finally agreed to withdraw nuclear weapons from Cuba if the United States agreed that it wouldn't attack Cuba and to secretively take nuclear missiles out of Turkey. Kennedy agreed not to attack Cuba but they didn't take the missiles out of Turkey. The Soviet Union and the United States to engaging in one of the most deadly and destructive wars in history. It would have been a huge nuclear war between two of the big super powers.

The Vietnam war was part of the indirect fighting between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The U.S. was fighting alongside the South Vietnamese against the Viet-Cong and the North Vietnamese army. The V-C and the NM army fought guerrilla style warfare which frustrated the American troops because they never knew where the enemy was. The terrain was treacherous because the V-C and NM army were experts at setting booby traps from anything they could find. Also, the weather was hot and humid and the American soldiers always had to watch out for snakes in the undergrowth. The troops mostly had to cut their way through the brush and they had to be on the lookout for ambushes and tunnels. There wasn't a real clear cut winner of the war but it was a hard war for the Americans because the V-C and NM army had a clear homefield advantage.

"Bay of Pigs invasion." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 24 May 2010. [|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com]. "red scare." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 24 May 2010. . "Cuban missile crisis." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 26 May 2010. .

"Vietnam War." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 27 May 2010. .
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