What did the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War share in common?

The Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis are related to some degree. Both events were related to the spread of communism. In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union was installing offensive missiles in Cuba aimed at targets in the United States and Latin America. The Soviet Union became friendly with Cuba after the Cuban Revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959. We weren’t happy to have a communist threat in the hemisphere, let alone only 90 miles from our shores. There were took actions to challenge the aggressive actions of the Soviet Union in Cuba. We instituted a blockade around Cuba and told the Soviet Union that any attack in the western hemisphere would be viewed as an attack on the United States. Eventually, a deal was reached, and the missiles were removed.

In the Vietnam War, we also were fighting the spread of communism. North Vietnam wanted to unite all of Vietnam under communist rule. We provided aid to South Vietnam to prevent this from happening. In the beginning of the conflict, the aid included money and weapons. Then military advisors went to South Vietnam. Eventually, soldiers were sent into South Vietnam. We were there to prevent the North Vietnamese from spreading communism to South Vietnam. When a ceasefire agreement was signed in 1973, we left South Vietnam, and South Vietnam remained noncommunist. However, within two years after we left South Vietnam, North Vietnam defeated South Vietnam, making Vietnam a communist country.