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Our justification is the US's involvement in the Vietnam war is one of self-defense. Lee Harvey Oswald was the man who shot JFK and when interrogated, he was found to be a communist sympathizer. The fact that communist has already reached US soil could have only intensify the Vietnam war.

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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ngo-Dinh-Diem
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ngo-dinh-diem-assassinated-in-south-vietnam

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President JFK's decision of US involvement in Vietnam was justified by the country's fear of communism. In 1961, JFK was convinced that Communist China was actively supporting North Vietnam. Fearing Communist domination in South-East Asia, JFK approved a US military campaign in Vietnam that supported the nationalist government, while sending more troops to Vietnam.
In addition, maintaining America's economic and political interest in regions of South-East Asia became another justification for JFK's involvement.

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Distance from Major Cities in United States to Cuba

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Distance from Major Cities in United States to Cuba

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Due to the relatively close position of Cuba to the US, intercontinental missiles could easily reach major cities in the US. The US sees the positioning of missiles in Cuba as an act of war with Russia.

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After 13 days of intense standoff, the United States finally created a compromise with the Soviet Union. Soviet Union agreed to remove the nuclear weapon from Cuba and America needs to promise not to launch an attack on Cuba and remove the missiles form Turkey. This event greatly enhanced the tension between the United States and Communist Countries. Thus, later when communist spread to Vietnam, United States tried their best to stop the influence of Communism in Vietnam.

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In 1954, following the defeat of the French colonialists at the hands of the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu, the last battle of the First Indochina War, the country of Vietnam was divided into northern and southern halves, ruled by separate regimes, during the Geneva Conference.

by 1959, the communist guerrillas known as the Viet Cong and the Viet Minh (the Northern Vietnamese military) had launched an insurgency in Diem’s country. This insurgency marked the beginning of the Second Indochina War.

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In 1963, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) launched a coup against Diem's regime in South Vietnam. The coup was the culmination of nine years of autocratic and nepotistic family rule in the country. Diem and his brother were both executed. The US met with the general that started the coup and stated non-intervention.

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The United States initial support of Diem was revoked after his strict regime devolved into an autocracy in an isolated South Vietnam. The United States would justify their involvement by citing human rights violations and discrimination against Buddhists, as well as Diem's rejection of the Geneva Accords' proposition calling for free elections to be held in order to establish a national government—a complete rejection of democracy and all that the United States stands for.

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Soviet Union installed nuclear weapons in Cuba, which is only about 90 miles from the coastline of the United States. When the United States realized the existence of the missiles, President Kennedy notified the whole country about the nuclear weapons. The United States immediately created naval blockage around Cuba.

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By Emperor Bao's request, Diem began serving as the prime minister of South Vietnam in 1954. In the year following, he became the president of South Vietnam, dethroning Emperor Bai in a referendum. Ignoring the 1954 Geneva Accords' call for a free election to instill a national Vietnamese government, Diem created an autocratic government in South Vietnam. With the hemp of the US government, he successfully settled hundreds of thousands of refugees from North Vietnam. Diem also imprisoned and killed people who opposed his regime insisting that they were rebels and supported communism. Diem's strict regime alienated South Vietnam, the US eventually moving to withdraw its support for the leader.

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After the idea of "containment" was adapted into use, the "domino theory" which predicts that if one country fell to communism, other nearby countries would fall as well truly shocked many Americans. In response to this, the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) was formed in 1955 to deal with this threat. President Eisenhower sent 700 military personnel to Vietnam including military and economic aid. In May 1961, JFK 500 more special force troops and many military advisors to support the western government in Vietnam. By 1962, there were approximately 11,000 military advisors in South Vietnam

From 1961-to 1963, JFK sent more aid and support to Vietnam's pro-democracy government. He established the MACV (Military Assistant Command, Vietnam) to report the progress of the war back home. The uneasy news of how effective the Saigon military and the health of the south Vietnamese began to appear in American Media. The deaths of 3 US servicemen and the downing of 5 helicopters prompted Kennedy to find out more about what was going on in Vietnam.

The Kennedy Commitment | Miller Center
JFK and Vietnam: The September 1963 TV Interviews | JFK Library

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The United States
Soviet Union

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https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Gulf_of_Tonkin_Incident
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/gulf-of-tonkin-resolution-1

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The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in 1964, was a major turning point in United States military involvement in Vietnam.

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred in August 1964. North Vietnamese warships purportedly attacked United States warships, the U.S.S. Maddox and the U.S.S. C. Turner Joy, on two separate occasions in the Gulf of Tonkin, a body of water neighboring modern-day Vietnam. President Lyndon Baines Johnson claimed that the United States did nothing to provoke these two attacks and that North Vietnam was the aggressor. Subsequent reports show that the United States actually provoked these attacks by supporting South Vietnamese commandos operating in North Vietnam and by using U.S. warships to identify North Vietnamese radar stations along the coastline of North Vietnam. There remains no doubt that the North Vietnamese attacked the U.S.S. Maddox in the first incident, which occurred on August 2, 1964, although it does appear that the United States provoked this attack.

The second attack, which took place on August 4, 1964, continues to be the subject of debate. There are witnesses who say the attack took place, and those who said it did not. Because it took place during the night, the details are uncertain. Operational commanders on the two ships in the Gulf of Tonkin that night were convinced an attack did take place. Eyewitness evidence from highly trained, experienced sailors, marines, and commanders reveals radar detection of torpedo boats, searchlights from a North Vietnamese boat, thick black smoke from the target, and lights from boats moving at high speeds. A detailed investigation and testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations included a ranking North Vietnamese commander who reported he participated in the attack and stated that it did take place. However, the National Security Agency (NSA) chose to declassify more than 140 top-secret documents and oral history interviews and concluded that there was no second attack on U.S. ships in Tonkin by the North Vietnamese torpedo boats. This was based on historian Robert Hanyok's research and analysis citing no concrete signal intelligence evidence of an attack. There was no naval command-and-control communications or target-radar emissions as there had been in the August 2nd attack. He said there was only confused and conflicting testimony of the men on board and the equipment involved in the incident. Over the years, interviews have taken place to clarify the events related to the incidents.

Because of President Johnson's claims, the United States Congress issued the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This proclamation authorized Johnson to retaliate for the alleged attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin. The resolution allowed the president "to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom." In essence, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution permitted Johnson to increase the United States' involvement in North and South Vietnam. Before Johnson became president, approximately sixteen thousand Americans were acting as advisors to the South Vietnamese military. Historians debate whether or not these soldiers were simply acting as advisors or were actually waging war against South Vietnamese revolutionaries and their North Vietnamese allies. Nevertheless, after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Johnson increased the number of American troops serving in South Vietnam to more than 500,000. These men and women were clearly engaged in actual fighting.

The United States' escalation in the Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on Ohioans. Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans were members of the armed forces during the Vietnam War, although not all of these men and women served in North or South Vietnam. Of the Ohioans serving in the military, 2,997 of them died in Vietnam, while another twenty thousand suffered wounds. Beallsville, Ohio, lost more people per capita in the Vietnam War than any other community in the United States. Other Ohioans actively protested the war, especially once the federal government eliminated college deferments and it became common knowledge that the United States military was also bombing countries neighboring Vietnam. The most famous protest occurred at Kent State University, where the Ohio National Guard killed four people, but other protests erupted at college campuses across Ohio and the rest of the nation as well.

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Gulf of Tonkin Incident - Ohio History Central

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October 1962
Lasted for 13 Days

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This event gave the U.S. .direct justification to attack Vietnam as a self-defense move

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By 1964, Vietnam was embroiled in a decades-long civil war, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the beginning of the United States’ formal involvement in the Vietnam War, with the stated goal of stopping the spread of communism in the region.

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Education, world peace, national security

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President John F. Kennedy, under the suggestion of his political advising group, headed to the west, where he informally began his presidential campaign for re-election. Before arriving in Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy had already traveled to nine other states to deliver his speeches, in which he emphasized on natural resources and conservation efforts, education, national security, and world peace.

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Ngo Dinh Diem (3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963), final prime minister of the State of Vietnam, president of South Vietnam until his assassination in 1963.

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Dallas, Texas

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The Gulf of Tonkin Incident lasted for two days. From August 2, 1964, till August 4, 1964

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The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam.

Congress after an alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution effectively launched America’s full-scale involvement in the Vietnam War.

According to the U.S. Navy, both Maddox and Turner Joy reported being fired upon by North Vietnamese patrol boats, but later doubts surrounding the veracity of the second attack, on Turner Joy, emerged.

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NOVEMBER 22, 1963

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The French occupation made this region into a capitalist opportunity. The construction of infrastructure enabled the mass production of goods like rice and rubber. With the rise of Ho Chi Minh, the possibility of protecting this capitalist entity would surely be in danger.

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During WW2, French colony Vietnam occupied by Japan until March 1945

After the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh, a communist organization led by Hồ Chí Minh, declared Vietnamese independence

French regains control over Vietnam after Japanese defeated by Allies

French send more army troops to South Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh’s resistance army in North Vietnam fights back!

An independence war, known as the First Indochina War, broke out in late 1946 between French and Viet Minh forces

The United States had been supporting the French out of concern that a victory for Ho’s forces would be the first step in communist expansion throughout Southeast Asia

The French eventually surrendered after massive casualities (1946-1954)

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World leaders from 9 nations meet in Geneva, France to decide the political future of Asia – talks lasted for two months

Nations and Ho Chi Minh decided on an agreement – Vietnam would be split by a demilitarized zone called the “17th parallel” and the territory was divided into North and South Vietnam until an election was held that would help reunify the two halves

An election that would unify the two halves wouldn’t happen for another 20 years...

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Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890  to Vietnamese official in the French Regime. He received a French education. After participating in an anti-french demonstration he was expelled from school. He left Vietnam in 1911 and lived in exile for 30 years.

By early 20th century, Vietnamese nationalism was on the rise because the people weren’t happy with French rule and the French colonial government harshly punished those who resisted the empire

After WWI he tried to deliver a petition for Vietnamese independence to Woodrow Wilson that outlined plans for independence but it was never delivered to President Woodrow Wilson

Minh became founded Vietnamese nationalist group fighting for independence called VIET MINH

He had many aliases and traveled to many European counties. He spent time with French socialists, Chinese communists, and lived in NYC as a baker.

1941: Ho snuck back into Vietnam and called for Vietnamese independence. He gained support from locals and founded the Viet Minh, a North Vietnamese counter-insurgency military

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History.com
Jstor.com

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Colonial Vietnam “French Indochina” (1858 - 1954)

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Colonial Vietnam “French Indochina” (1858 - 1954)

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1858: The French colonial empire occupied and seized Vietnam with a bloody invasion of port of Da Nang

Over the course of 50 years, the French took claim over territories that would later be called Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (they named it “French IndoChina”)

French set up a series of puppet emperors and employed French-speaking Vietnamese officials

French lived on plantation estates and in cities like Saigon in which they built structures inspired by French architecture

French put citizens to work building roads, canals, railroads, bridges and farms to mass produce crops like rice and rubber

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Ngo Dinh Diem's Election, Rule, and Assassination 

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Ngo Dinh Diem's Election, Rule, and Assassination 

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Newspaper displaying headline of US blockade

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Missle Crisis