Throughout the history of the United States, war has become a very questionable topic. The simple idea of war already exudes a barbaric resolve to conflict, but yet it still occurs and even gets support from the public most of the time. Out of all of the many wars the United States has been through, one of the few that stood out to be very unpopular among the public was the Vietnam War. Of course, war itself already contracts negative opinions from many people, but the Vietnam War, in particular, was one of the most hated by almost all people on the home front. It is a subject of question as to why this war, compared to previous ones the United States has been in, was often ridiculed instead of supported during its time. A few of the main …show more content…
People would expectantly believe that there would be no problem in going to war against a small country, but once they find out that it happens to be a much bigger problem and the dead body count of our country continues to rise higher and higher, then it becomes an issue. People do not want to keep on supporting a war that continuously racks up deaths, especially if it is a war that was initially thought out to be a cakewalk. The problems that the United States army faced in Vietnam is illustrated in No Cause Other Than Our Own Survival by Lt. Philip Caputo. “The discovery that the men we had scorned as peasant guerrillas were, in fact, a lethal determined enemy and the casualty lists that lengthened each week with nothing to show for the blood being spilled broke our early confidence. By autumn, what had begun as an adventurous expedition had turned into an exhausting, indecisive war of attrition in which we fought for no cause other than our own survival.” This quote from a Vietnam veteran briefly describes the ugly turn the battle took and how hard it was on the army. There was simply nothing glorious about the Vietnam War in its time. People felt as if it were a pointless struggle that could have been avoided, it appeared to have brought out the dark side of the United States, and it seemed more of a loss than a benefit in the long
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
In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.
The war just showed signs of failure. The government put such a great amount of work into there lies only for every one of the certainties to turn out later. Nothing the government said we could trust. The armed force influenced it to appear as though it was Nobel thing they were doing by assaulting Vietnam the way they did however it wasn't at all courageous. The grim pictures showed in document 7 showed more than enough to show the citizens that America went to Vietnam causing mass terror on civilians."
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.
He cites the “domino theory” for communism as the primary reason for the war. The theory was that if Vietnam became communist then, it leave way for other countries to become communist as well. At the end of the war, the United States had wasted its resources, had millions die, growing unrest due to anti-war movements and lost the war. The US lost the war, according to PAT, due to generals’ odd strategies and the president’s reluctance to pursue the war in the first place. Schweikart and Allen explanation differs from Zinn’s, again, due to focusing more on war strategies and fighting rather than the causes and
Taylor Price Tensions of Vietnam The Vietnam War was one of the most protested and hated wars ever fought by the United States. Though the end of previous wars were celebrated by civilians and soldiers alike, the Vietnam War never came to a victorious resolution. The soldiers of previous wars were loved and thanked for their service, while some Vietnam veterans felt ignored and even hated.
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.
The Vietnam War was fought to stop the spread of communism that threatened the United States way of life. War strategies that were used were harsh, major battles bloody, and war opposition at home was high. The leaders of our countries decisions caused devastating effects that not only shook our country but the whole world. The United States had fought wars in the past to stop the spread of communism.
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.
Grace Fullenkamp Ms. Yane AP Lang March 14, 2018 The Korean War The Korean War was not a conflict in which the United States needed to be involved as to its horrific outcome is testament. Yet, in the 1950s, the U.S. thought it was believed that the only way to stop the spread of communism was to fight back against the potential formation of communist governments. When war broke out in Korea, it became a place for the United States to make a statement against communism on a global front joining with South Korea to combat the communist North.
On November 1st, 1955, a country divided into two, North and South Vietnam will soon have a war known to many countries around the world. The Vietnam War, or the Second Indochina War occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. At the time, Vietnam had a dispute on what the country should be, Communistic or Republic, which had led war breaking out. North as the Viet Cong group while the Republic Of Vietnam group was South; eventually unexpected events started to unfold, leading towards the end of the war. To this very day, The Vietnam War has changed the ways how many civilians live their lives, especially my family.
Word had gotten back to the Pentagon and finally the Vice President, who was now President Votten. The reality of the situation was that President Washington was still President and Commander –In-Chief of all military forces. Vice President (President) Votten briefed President Washington and recent events in the field, along with the President Washington was Brigadier General Clayton and Sergeant Major Dognillo. “I’ve got a question.” SGM Dognillo said.
It is quite difficult to compare two wars that happened 180 years apart from each other, the Vietnam war 1955 to 1975, and the American Revolutionary war 1775 to 1783. Yes, both wars are all that different from each other, in fact I would say that they were the two least similar wars in American history. These wars are very similar because they both used guerilla warfare, a form of irregular warfare that uses tactics such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, and mobility to fight a larger less mobile military force. However a major difference in the wars was that the Revolutionary war was fought to gain independence, while the Vietnam war was fought to maintain independence. Another difference is that the U.S. were ‘Victors’ in the Revolutionary war, and were not so in the Vietnam war.
The big failure America in the Vietnam War is the shameful history of tragic scene for arrogant American, whose pain is still difficult to ease. The crucial event also had a profound impact on today 's international situation. It is believed that the failure included political, economic, military and cultural background and other aspects, which are that common. When it comes to the controversial subject, I hope to put forward some fresh views from where I stand. 1.
The year was June 23rd, 1968. It was wet, mucky, and the air was filled with a thick sweat that seemed to never dissipate. We were in the middle of thick, green, tropical jungle in Saigon, Vietnam. Me and my friend Carlton were in a platoon of 6 other men. We were sitting there smoking our cigarettes and telling old stories of the good old days when were back in America.