The second part of the Vietnam War began in 1954. After the French Army left, there were two vietnams: North Vietnam and South Vietnam There were also two governments. Both governments wanted to be the only government for all of Vietnam. So from 1954 until 1960, the North and the South were fighting all the time. The North Vietnamese slowly grew stronger. By the beginning of 1965, the North Vietnamese were winning the war. But the U.S. government did not want the North Vietnamese to win. So in March 1965, the United States began to help South Vietnam. They sent guns and airplanes to help the South. At first, the United States set only a few soldiers, but by July 1965, there were about 75,000 American soldiers in Vietnam