Vietnam War Changed American Culture

The Vietnam soldiers suffered from multiple social difficulties. They were considered an unstable and dangerous group of people. Many of the men were treated like outcasts. The men were bombarded with hate. Lots suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. 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

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. According to The University of Virginia’s document, “The 6:00 Follies: Hegemony, Television News, and the War of Attrition”: “Vietnam... is often is

The Vietnam War started when French invaded Vietnamese territory and took it as their colony in 1887. Later in 1954, Vietnam was officially split into North(communist) and South(capitalist) Vietnam. The Viet Minh was the communist group who wanted to declare independence from France. The U.S did not want communism to be spread and that was the reason why they joined the war and supported the South. For the United States, a communist Vietnam meant the spread of the Soviet Union influence abroad the Asia’s territory (domino theory). However, later on most Americans changed their minds and the war became unfavorable at home. Then, President Gerald Ford officially ended the Vietnam War in 1975. The Vietnam War expanded divisions between the American

The United States issued a military draft in 1940 in order to fill the spots of the armed forces that were not being filled voluntarily. It was a safety net in order for America to know that we would have back up if anything were to happen in the world. 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.

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.

In the early 1900’s European countries began competing and with that they were also building strong army’s and navy’s. After a while, the United States got involved and were in need of the people’s support. It took convincing but once people got on board with the idea of going to war, war fever in the United States was at an all-time high. The United Nations had not yet been established which meant conflicts were not getting resolved. This was unlike anything the U.S. had done before. The battle was overseas which made it that much more difficult. The rise of Industrialization was happening once again because factories began wartime production. Since men were being drafted out to fight, women took over their jobs. The labor force shifted from

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

The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The

Soldiers were dying, and they continued to be sent over to fight. The war itself provided a major wave of anti-war rhetoric that is still prominent today. The anti-war rhetoric was pushed through politicians, celebrities, concerts, protests, average citizens of different economic classes, but most importantly through song. “In the 1960s, several now-influential artists appealed to the disaffected counterculture’s emphasis on peace and love, especially with the sliding approval rates of the Vietnam War. As public approval of the Vietnam War dwindled in the latter half of the 1960s, popular music artists began to record songs that reflected this disapproval and ultimately became a new method of protest (Hopkins).” Not to mention, “not only has music been a direct means of anti-war protest, but the culture of peace and love, seen especially in the Woodstock festival, has also pervaded the minds of the public” (Hopkins). The controversial Vietnam War affected many people in the United States, but the war caused a socio cultural revolution through the power of

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.

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. “I had a buddy that had 20 other siblings in his family, the church even prompted families to have lots of kids” Smith recalls. Many houses were made in an assembly line type manner in these suburban areas to accommodate this new lifestyle, this made production faster and costs more inexpensive. “When the

The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns in the Vietnam War launched by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam People’s Army which killed over five thousand American soldiers. How did the Tet Offensive influence American politics, society, and the overall development of the war in Vietnam? This question plagues many historians, politicians, soldiers, and veterans. The Tet Offensive influenced American politics by forcing politicians to take a stand one way or another on the viewpoint of the war, influencing American society by causing people to see the reality of war itself, and influencing the overall development of the war by showing that the enemy was not, in fact, about to collapse in defeat as the government had told the public for years.

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

My original topic was the conscientious objectors in the Vietnam War, but I decided to broaden my topic to include the Selective Service System and conscientious objectors from World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, Korean War, and the Cold War. I decided to broaden the topic, because I felt that there was not enough information during the just the Vietnam War alone. If I had tried to stretch the information out, it would have not of been a quality paper. My paper will be based around; how the Selective Service System and the contentious objector laws have changed and why they have changed. I became interested in this topic when I decided to do something related to the Vietnam War. Dr. Shedd told me some intersecting topics that were related to the Vietnam War. The topic of conscientious objectors really stuck in my mind, because though I knew about conscientious objectors, I had never look into them. As I started my research, I became more interested in the topic.

The Vietnam War was a long, torturous, and costly war. America had officially joined the war in the beginning of 1950. They were providing massive military and economic support to France during the French Indochina War, France’s attempt to control Vietnam. The military and economic support was provided by the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Before Kennedy’s death, he announced that he would try to remove the U.S. forces from South Vietnam. After Kennedy’s death, Lyndon Johnson came into office as the new President. His opinion’s and beliefs were opposite from Kennedy’s, as he continued to send large amounts of American troops to fight the South Vietnamese, wanting to