However, by 1954, the French armed forces proved that they were incompetent and ill-equipped, even with American aid, to deter the insurgency of the communist Viet Minh; after its resounding defeat at Dien Bien Phu, France abandon its attempt to regain control of the country. This left the United States and another administration to deal with the fallout. President Eisenhower continued with America’s Cold War ideology of containment in Vietnam; along with economic aid, he increased the United States’ commitment to include military “advisers” (Faragher, et. al, pg. 717). He theorized (Domino Theory) that losing Vietnam to communism would result in other countries in the Southeast Asian region succumbing to the same fate (History.com). Even …show more content…
Without a doubt the Vietnam War changed the American culture. It sparked a huge anti-war protest movement around the country led by students. They question whether American involvement was worth the sacrifices being made by so many. The draft policy made the war more about socioeconomic as it was seemly affecting only minorities and the poor; the wealthy were able to avoid the draft. Thousands of American refused to join the military and burnt the draft cards in protest (Faragher, et. al. pg. 779) As the death toll rise, so did the protest and the violence at home, as some Americans began to believe that peaceful protests were doing very little (Faragher, et.al. pg. 779). The war also created a counterculture that expressed its protest through music. One of the significant turning points of the war was the televising of the war. Networks and photographers brought the war into every American’s home and made it real. The images and reports of people suffering horrified many Americans who became more distrustful of the government and its policies (Faragher, et. al., pg. 776). The anti-war movement may have been responsible for the government reevaluating its positions about Vietnam. The government did away with the draft and the military became an all-volunteer force. For the veterans of this controversial war, their return home was mostly unheralded compared to veterans of other wars. They received very little respect from the anti-war movement. Many struggled, as
Firstly, the Tet Offensive influenced America’s politics by forcing politicians to take a stand on their viewpoint of the
“There is at the outset a very obvious... connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America,”(Document E: Martin Luther King, Jr.). During the period of the Vietnam War, division struck the United States due to people’s vast opinions, this caused a rift in the country and began protests. Citizens of the USA did have legitimate reasons to protest the Vietnam War, but not all agreed with that. American citizens had many different reasons to protest the Vietnam War, but the biggest reason was that people were realizing how horrific wars truly were.
The American culture began to change after World War II. Everyone wanted to settle down after the war, who wouldn't want to start a family after surviving a world war? “They wanted to settle down and start something of their own” says Bill Smith, a baby boomer and Vietnam veteran. This change of culture consisted of many men who had just gotten out of the war to move to suburban areas and have children. The veterans were seeking happiness.
The Vietnam War happened from 1954 to 1975, it was the longest war that the United States ever fought beside the Civil War. Vietnam is located southeast of Asia, near Thailand. The Vietnam War was fought over communist expansion. More than 3 million people were killed in this war. The war began with South Vietnam and North Vietnam.
This policy impacted American history. The Vietnam War draft had a huge effect on American
When the Vietnam war started late in 1955, my grandmother, Margery (Marge) Affeld was 14 years old. As she recounted to me her memories of the war she recalled that she was already living in California, engaged to be married to my grandfather. As the interview continued she talked about her stance on the war and Americas reaction to the war. She spent most of her time however, talking about the change of American leadership throughout the war and how it consequently shaped and changed America's viewpoint on the war. Marge says, "I was not in favor of it, but was beyond college age
The American soldiers that served in the Vietnam War also had major readjustment problems. This changed the way people viewed the government, media, and Constitutional
Also, newspapers revealed stories and government secrets that proved that the American people were being lied to ( New York Times vs. the United States). The Vietnam war is believed by some to be a war deeply rooted in economics. Many aspects of the United States were affected directly. The Great Society programs were suffering because the money that was put towards the war, could have been used to help poverty programs.
The military draft has been a controversial topic for many years in American society. The idea of a military draft has drastically changed between World War II and the Vietnam War. During the times of World War II, military service and draft was widely accepted by many Americans. During the World War II era, citizens felt that they had an “unlimited liability to perform military service when required by the state” (James 2). But as time progressed, military service and draft in the Vietnam War, constructed many doubts amongst many Americans.
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
It also gave more responsibility to the citizens of the United States. We live in a free country and in turn what are we doing for our people? The military draft was a solution to the growing laziness and unwillingness to help in the United States. Although the draft could be reinstated in a different manner, it would be very beneficial for the United States to reinstate the draft in order to have a plan if anything war related were to come up. Overall, having the draft reinstated would prove a great idea for the United States.
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.
According to document E, American public were disappointed with their government because they were responding with National guard to protesters. Protests in the Kent State University lead to death of four youth which more heightened tension between Americans. These students just wanted to show their point of view about the Vietnam War but it lead to violence and tragedy as long as the government wanted to silence people. Apparently, John Filo felt agony while he was taking that photo since he was a journalism student at Kent State University. New generation of Americans started realizing that the Vietnam War was a mistake.
Propaganda was used as a way to get the people of the United States involved in helping with war
1. What problems did the United States face in the Vietnam War? 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.