Vietnam War Intertextualization

The war in Vietnam was an enduring struggle for independence that lasted twenty years. After being colonized and controlled by Japan, France, and China, Vietnam was ready to revolutionize and gain their independence. Once Ho Chi Minh, the new leader of Vietnam, adopted communism the United States became more worried about Soviet aggression. A communist Vietnam meant that neighboring countries could fall to communism through a theory called the domino theory. As the war began the United States soon found themselves in a state of social, economic, and political turmoil.

The United States had fought wars in the past to stop the spread of communism. Vietnam had been under French control since the 1880s. Then the Vietnamese fought for independence and won in 1954. The country then was split into communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. The Vietcong were a group that opposed democracy in South Vietnam. In the early 1960’s they tried to overthrow the government. North Vietnam

American Exceptionalism was coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in his book Democracy in America. To illustrate how the American way of thought is superior to the other ways of the world, Tocqueville expresses that the American way of thought is distinctively unique and special. This distinction is exemplified through liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and Laissez-Faire Economics. These qualities prove America’s exceptionality and difference from other countries. Although American Exceptionalism originated in the early 1800s, the idyllic values Tocqueville paints in his book can be seen throughout American history. Specifically, in the 1960s, a decade where de Tocqueville’s defining characteristics of American Exceptionalism are

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.

After the conclusion of World War II, tensions arose between the USSR and the US between 1947-1991. During World War II, the two powerful nations were unalike in most ways–geologically, ideologically, and economically– but were unified with their goal to defeat their common enemies. But, after World War II, both superpowers strove to prove superiority over the other. One important distinction between the two were their support of different governmental systems, which created a large amount of tension because the US, filled with anticommunist sentiments, wanted to contain the spread of communism while spreading the ideals of democracy. Amongst this conflict of ideals, the issues extended to military power competition, consisting of an arms

The end of the Second World War brought dramatic changes to the world, including the role of the United States. In an effort to maintain a global position of dominance, the nation engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. While Americans supported a capitalistic model of society, the Soviets supported a Communist one. These two world powers fought to exchange socioeconomic models for alliance and support from third-world countries. The US was frightened by the spread of Communism, especially to their own nation. In the Cold War era of the 1950s, the US initiated a Red Scare, which was the promotion of fear of Communist ideology through aggressive, and sometimes ridiculous tactics. Under the leadership of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the nation

The Vietnam War divided the United States into two separate categories: Hawks and Doves. Supporters of the war were known as Hawks, while pacifists were known as Doves. The Hawks believed the aggression North Vietnam displayed forced the United States into war, whereas Doves felt the civil war in Vietnam was not the United States responsibility and it was causing unnecessary costs and deaths.

Question #2: In what ways did Enlightenment ideas contribute to the outbreak and course of the French Revolution?

Kennedy.4 The Vietnam War was by far the most protested war event of the late 20th century, often drawing crowds and social gatherings to protest. Some propaganda even went as far as to draw on sex appeal of men with signs that read, “Girls say yes to boys who say no.” In fact, some citizens voted for Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1968 solely due to his anti-Vietnam War platform. High profile celebrity Muhammad Ali himself took part in the anti-Vietnam War movements, declaring that he would refuse to fight for equality in another country, citing that African Americans and other minorities had not yet gained equality in America. (Document F) In addition to general exhaustion from war, the American people wanted to focus on domestic equality before moving forward with global equality and democracy. Anti-Vietnam War protests were not necessarily unwarranted, as the anti-democracy Tet Offensive of North Vietnam resulted in the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, with the vast majority of states reporting over 100 war casualties in 1968 alone. (Document E) Economically, the Vietnam War was challenging to manage, as the department of defense budget once again rose to today’s equivalent of 450 billion dollars, adding to an already quickly growing, massive national debt. (Document G)

The United states got involved in the Vietnam war to contain communism. In Document 1 president Harry Truman says, when a country is ruled by the minority with a government that uses terror and oppression, the rights of the majority are being violated, and the United States ' policy must aid them. In communism, the basic human rights are not respected by the government, and the United States have

The Vietnam war was preceded by a very turbulent time in our history with problems here in the states such as racism, women’s rights, and a president being shot. But in Vietnam they were going through a civil war, which they had done before, but not to this extent, this time they got the U.S.S.R. involved. It was communist Russia and North Vietnam against South Vietnam. The U.S. started to get

As the United States struggled against communism in Vietnam, it would face many problems. In the late 1950’s President Eisenhower and later President Kennedy sent military supplies and advisers to South Vietnam. Despite the American aid the Vietcong grew stronger with support from North Vietnam. In August 1964, North Vietnam allegedly attached American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress authorized he president to use force. In 1965 President Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam. The U.S. increase the number of forces in South Vietnam. The war escalated and North Vietnam increased its support to the Vietcong. By the end of 1968 the number of American troops was

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

The era of the Cold War was a tumultuous time where conflict arose in many aspects of American culture and international wars waged to prevent the spread of Soviet influence over other nations. U.S. foreign policy would see much intervention, where nations were used to engage in proxy wars. The United States’ domestic politics would see much panic among congress and many senators, where the looming fears of Soviet influence and communist spies altered how politicians and lawmakers conducted themselves and how laws were passed. The influence the cold War held on American society would have many civil liberties violated and ignored, tensions would erupt consequently leading to protests which see the fabric of tear as demonstrations and

America’s war heroes all have the same stories to tell but different tales. Prescribed with the same coloring page to fill in, and use their methods and colors to bring the image to life. This is the writing style and tactic used by Tim O’Brien in his novel, “The Things They Carried”. Steven Kaplan’s short story criticism, The Undying Certainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, provides the audience with an understanding of O’Brien’s techniques used to share “true war” stories of the Vietnam War. Kaplan explains the multitude of stories shared in each of the individual characters, narration and concepts derived from their personal experiences while serving active combat duty during the Vietnam War,