Napalm Girl Photo Essay

By the time The Vietnam War ended there were so many people wounded and killed. The war was a controversial matter from beginning to end. It will always have an impact on how the government and military make decisions. As it would affect anyone it effects the families of the soldiers. In fact, was anyone aware that in total 1.57 million people were dead after the Vietnam war (Phillips and Axelrod)? Just as many were injured, some more severely than others. The Vietnam war had many negative outcomes for both Vietnam and the United States.

The Vietnam 1 Running head: SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE VIETNAM WAR The Vietnam War's Effects on American Society Halley E. Moore Metro High School- St. Louis The Vietnam 2 Abstract The Vietnam War had a profound effect on American society. It changed the way we viewed our government, the media, and our Constitutional rights. Because of this shift in perspective, the country was torn apart and yet still came together in new and different ways.

The Vietnam War was, and continues to be, one of America's darkest moments, one that nearly tore the nation apart. In order to stop the spread of communism in Europe and Asia, the United States aided French imperialists and their reoccupation of Vietnam. At first, the U.S took a position of neutrality to both countries, but by early 1947, they began fighting in support of France. This war, lasting over 20 years, became the longest and most unpopular war in the 20th century. Overall, the Vietnam War was detrimental to the United States because it caused a massive debt from the 1960s to the 1990s, turned the American people against their government, and many troops were neglected and despised upon their return.

The War not only affected those in Vietnam, but those still at home in America. Americans had split into two groups, known as the hawks and the doves. The hawks were people who supported the war and wanted the country to be victorious in its fight with Communism. The doves were the people that disagreed with the war. These were traditionally students, and people of the younger generation. Many veterans when they would return home, would join in these mass protests. One popular protest, which took place at Kent State University, resulted in 9 wounded people with 4 dead. The police at Kent State took action against a mass protest by opening fire. This is the evil that is created through war. Without the Vietnam war, there is no protest at Kent State. Without the Vietnam war, the college kid’s lives are spared. Without the Vietnam War, thousands of lives could have been saved. Neil Young said it best in his song Ohio. Ohio discussed the brutality of war but mainly the police brutality against the kids at Kent State. Vietnam was a tragic stain in American history.

In Nick Ut’s photograph from 1973 ‘The Napalm Girl of Trangbang’ which is about the Vietnam war and these

In 1961 the worst war ever fought by America had just started. The Vietnamese of the north also known as the Viet Cong had invaded the south to take control of the entire country. America and other democratic countries felt the spread of communism to this country would be a stepping-stone for other communistic countries around the world, also known as the Domino Effect. America, as cocky as they were, invaded Vietnam to help the southern Vietnamese. Although America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, it extremely underestimated the dedication of their enemy. Backed by China and the USSR, the Viet Cong were a determined and very tough enemy. The Vietnam War as a whole was a terrible act by the US government. Vietnam was

The war in Vietnam was a war against communism that tore apart the US. The United States of America plunged together with its allies and played a tremendous role as far as fight against communism is concerned. A huge number of American soldiers were deployed in Vietnam a practice that coupled with much unpreparedness. The soldiers were not aware what exactly they were up to in Vietnam. Most Americans at the time were very much against the act. It was one of the most deliberating wars America plunged herself into and the only one to have been lost. Most intriguing is the amount of publicity and media buzz created by the film industry. Vietnam War was the topic of many television networks, music and Hollywood. Journalist and veterans and scholar were never left behind and went ahead to produce tones of literature on the legacies and lessons to be learnt from the war (Hochgesang, Lawyer, and Stevenson). The exploitation of the soldiers and rejection of the veterans created just as much interest as the war had created. One such commentary came from George Kennan, who depicted the war as one of the most disastrous mission The United States has ever undertaken (Westheider 155-159).. This essay will establish the effects the war had to the US soldiers.

After the Vietnam War, soldiers suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder in countless numbers. The trauma they saw, endured, and witnessed forever changed and scared their lives. Men, like Tim O'Brien the author of the novel The Things They Carried, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder and it took them years to regain their lives after their return home. In the excerpt from his novel, O'Brien shows the reader how the men endured this mind-altering experience in the jungles of Vietnam through the details of all the items the men carry.

Imagine going to school and having to watch a video about what to do incase of a nuclear bomb, or hearing a siren and jumping under your desk to take cover. This was the reality for most kids during the cold war. The Cold War was a stressful and tense time. It was like a long drawn out argument with your sibling. It was between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War started in 1947 and ended in 1991. One part of the Cold War was the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War there were many veterans who suffered as soldiers, prisoners of war, and veterans.

On the 8th of June 1972, photographer ‘Nick Ut’ took an iconic photo of a group of young kids running away helplessly as soldiers escorted them out of the danger zone, (the danger zone was an explosion of napalm that burnt and basically disintegrates everything). Early that day Nick heard that there was fighting happening in North Vietnam near the occupied village of Trang Bang. He stopped on the nearby bridge with other soldiers and journalists. It was around 1pm when a south Vietnamese plane dipped down aligned with the highway and dropped the napalm bomb on the village, which turned out to be an accident. As thick black smoke filled the air, emerging from it was multiple civilians crying and screaming as burnt flesh fell off their fragile

One of the most deadly bombs during the Vietnam War would be identified as Napalm. If, you were a veteran and seen it action, then you would agree. A lot of people may not know what the purpose was for this one bomb.

The Vietnam War was coming to a quick close during the spring of 1975. The North Vietnamese was closer and closer gaining on the South Vietnam. War orphans and abandoned

While the American advisors played a decisive role in the weaponry used against the Vietcong, the ARVN were intrinsically connected to all war efforts. The weapon that produced the most amount of devastation to the landscape, to humans, and to villages was a chemical weapon called “Napalm”. Napalm was invented by Frederick Fieser during the second World War.

The ear in Vietnam had ended and on the 30th April 1975, the NLF took

This photo was taken near Trang Bang, of a 9 year old girl (Phan Thị Kim Phúc) whose clothes were burned off during the Napalm strike on 8 june 1972 by photographer: Nick Ut. between the period (1957-1975), Vietnam became independent from France, Vietnam was separated into two parts; North Vietnam(communist) and South Vietnam(capitalist), North Vietnam wanted Vietnam as a whole to become Communist, however; the United States and South Vietnamese army tried to prevent this happening(Domino Theory). Therefore the bombing happened in North Vietnam causing Phan Thị Kim Phúc to be running in the middle of the streets with no clothing.