The Vietnamese fought for decades to free themselves from the colonial rule of the French, the Japanese, and later the US. They didn't need the USSR to convince them to do so, although the aid provided was certainly a good thing.
It's deeply ironic (or betrays your complete ignorance) to call the North "puppets" when they had wide support throughout Vietnam, unlike the Western-backed South government. The US prevented a democratic election of the entire country in 1956 because they knew that the communists would win it. Eisenhower estimated that Ho Chi Minh had 80% support.
Me with chili crisp