Amazon.com description: Product Description: Reciting the words of America's Declaration of Independence, on September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam's independence from France and set in motion more than three decades of war. After the French withdrew, five American presidents committed U.S. resources to Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism. Starting with military advisers in 1954, America's involvement in the conflict escalated until more than two and a half million Americans had served by the war's end in 1975. As more and more Americans were killed in a war that seemed unwinnable, the U.S. public became increasingly divided over the country's involvement. The Vietnam War explores a terrible conflict that has taken on new relevance for young people today as they face America's military role in Iraq and elsewhere in a volatile world.