Walter Dean Myers once stated that “One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards, had a negative effect on the viewing public. The military in Iraq specifically banned the photographing of wounded soldiers and coffins, thus sanitizing this terrible and bloody conflict.” The Vietnam War, fought in 1955 to 1975, was the longest war in American history. This war was a conflict between the Communist North Vietnam and its ally Viet Cong, and South Vietnam and its ally the United States. During the Vietnam war, tensions in the United States were extremely high. Increasing opposition to the war was causing major division amongst the American people, and many feared that Vietnam could potentially see a victory. This war was by far one of the most unpopular wars to the American people that ended with the withdrawal of the United States, and the unification of Vietnam under Communist rule. …show more content…
During the Vietnam War, President Eisenhower placed CIA operatives and many different military advisers into Vietnam. President John F. Kennedy was the one to finally make the decision to send American soldiers over to Vietnam so that we could fight. President Lyndon Johnson announced and ordered the very first authentic combat by American troops, and finally, President Richard Nixon was the one who ended the war all together. Unfortunately for America, despite all the decades of resolve, whopping amounts of money, over 60,000 American lives and injuries, the United States had still ultimately failed to achieve all of its
The period from 1960’s to 1970’s was a hardship time for Americans because of Vietnam invasion. In an attempt to contain and defeat communism, the United States, oblivious of the enemy capability and filled with pride, invaded Vietnam at a cost of large financial expense and human lives. North Vietnamese military supported by forces of China and the Soviet Union fought the American force ferociously and was able to force America to end its invasion in 1975. As with most other third world countries, Vietnam also has a long history of colonization by European powers.
The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975.The nation as a whole began to uproar over the war and the major consequences of the war. There were many reasons why so many Americans were against the war. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam (Wikipedia). Not to mention, many young people protested because they were the ones being drafted while others were against the war because the anti-war movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and
This is because the USA were still unable to make a substantial breakthrough, and the Viet Cong could not overthrow the American forces. Despite the Viet Cong suffering heavy loses and the North Vietnamese Army taking over, there was no change in terms of tactical advantages or disadvantages for either side. Overall the Tet Offensive was a turning point in the war, as it led to a change in public opinion, which triggered the end of the war. Due to these factors the Tet offensive was an extremely significant event. The military significance of Tet to American tactics was not very large at all, but it was a turning point in terms of the credibility and attitude of the military.
The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.
A prime example of Walter Conkrite 's work for society is seen from his conclusional reporting on the Vietnam War. Like many others of his generation, he was informed by the government that the war in Vietnam was met with numerous victories and achievements. Optimistically, he continued to believe in the power of America to win the war. Therefore, after venturing to Vietnam to see the situation for himself, he was slightly unnerved by the chaos he saw around him, "unready" for another abnormal war that had no justification. More and more causes of discontent like the unreasonable destruction of natural scenery for military use, the talk of "body count" as measurement for winning the war, and the surprisingly effective Tet Offensive started
President Lyndon Johnson 's continued support for the South Vietnamese was a culmination of misunderstandings and misconceptions throughout the war. Johnson inherited a difficult issue from Kennedy, and his choices were few and crucial. The United States entered the war confident of, if not certain of, success. However, a small-scale military effort quickly expanded into a vast military crisis. Events of Vietnam locked the United States onto a path of immense military intervention and ultimately destroyed Johnson 's presidency.
In 1955, the United States entered the Vietnam War, a war that would last twenty years. This war had proved to be one of the deadliest wars of the time. During this time, it brought a great divide throughout the country. People felt as though the war was unnecessary and the government was sacrificing innocent lives. There were riots and peaceful protests throughout the country because many people wanted to war to end and were beginning to stand up for their rights.
The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The “Domino Theory” was a direct cause of the war. The war resulted in much death; innocent civilians and young Americans were killed. The Vietnam war also resulted in rioting, distrust for the United States government, and the loss of many lives. 58,000 Americans were killed and 300,000 were wounded.
When the long lasted Vietnam war ended in April of 1975, more than five thousands of Americans had been killed. Years after, American still suffered from far-reaching post-war consequences. The Vietnam War has affected the U.S. economically, socially, and politically. First, the war decreased the U.S. economy.
In summary; James Buchanan 1861, Abraham Lincoln 1861, Franklin Roosevelt, 1942, Harry Truman 1950, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon 1964-1975. Seven presidents engaged the U. S. Military in armed conflict without a formal declaration of war. Each convinced in their own righteousness in what they were doing. Regardless, in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts 94,889 United States Servicemen were killed, 256,587 wounded, and 15,286 were taken prisoner or still missing.
The Vietnam War was a war that conflicted with many Americans due to the wrongful morality and actions taken during the war. The U.S. took action in the war to continue the fight to keep communism from spreading. The war was a shock for America as it took a defeat in the end, North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam, the side we had backed. Although America did not have the most casualties, this was a win, but overall, physical casualties were not only lost in this war but mentally it took a great toll. In the book, A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo, his story begins with a memoir that allows readers to develop a deeper understanding of a soldier in war.
As I said earlier, Americans started to realize that the government was lying to them, and trust in the government declined by about 40%. Americans started to get angry that their sons and daughters were dying in a war for a foreign country they probably had never heard of before. People began to argue “that civilians, not enemy combats, were the primary victims…” In 1967, 35,000 people began to protest outside of the pentagon. People had enough of all of the lying and death.
The Vietnam War was a harsh time in history that impacted the United States greatly with many negative effects on the economy, society, and political aspects of the country. During the time of the early 60s, the United States pushed to get involved in the Vietnam war and the main goal was to prevent communism from spreading any further in surrounding Asian countries. Over the course of the war and the time the U.S. spent in Vietnam, conflict began to arise for the country and the trust people had in their own country. Problems during the war made a deep impact on the country and left great effects that still exist to this day. The economy, society, and politics were all altered due to the war in both negative and positive ways.
Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War The two events protested the war in Washington, D.C. On 24 April 1971 and Anti-Vietnam War demonstration in 1967 demonstrate a large number of the American population were opposed to U.S. involvement in the South Vietnam during the course of the Vietnam War. Public opinion was strongly against the war from 1967 to 1970, which resulted in only a third of Americans supposed that the U.S made a right decision over participating in Vietnam War. It is why special groups led the anti-war movement to avoid America 's involved in the Vietnam War.
Chapter 3: How realistic was the Vietnam war in the movie? One major event that happened in the movie was the Vietnam war, after graduating, Forrest volunteered for the United States Army, where he befriended former shrimp fisherman Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue, and they agreed to go into the shrimping business together once they end their service. Once they had arrived in Vietnam, they are assigned to First Lieutenant Dan Taylor. One day while on patrol their platoon is ambushed.