The Tet Offensive During The Vietnam War

The opinion of the public in the United States’ government was affected from the Vietnam War. In the beginning, most of the Americans supported the war but when more conflicts occurred and more troops were shipped the support started to decrease. What began is that some college student movement against the war then it became as a national protest. By the end of 1965, most of the soldiers who had been fighting in the war were drafted into war. Some Americans opposed the draft and believed it is unfair. The Vietnamese war was the first war to be televised instead of writing down news in newspaper

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. The U.S. draft is controversial between many Americans opinions because of its unfairness.

Approximately 2,700,000 American men and women served in Vietnam (va.gov). The war had a deep impact on the American veterans and our society. Prior to Vietnam, Americans have traditionally supported the military and have shown respect for soldiers (Moffett). Soldiers were viewed as heroes. Unfortunately, soldiers returned from the Vietnam War were treated with disrespect by the American public. In turn, disillusioned veterans returning from the war developed serious physical and psychological problems. American society subsequently lost faith in the government and their leaders for many years to follow.

On August 7th 1964 the United States Congress passed into law the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which, for all intents and purposes, officially brought the United States into the Vietnam War. Following this resolution, a draft was instated to increase the number of men that could be sent to war. Shortly after men started to be signed into conscription for the United States Military, a public outcry started over the use of a draft to increase military size. The draft was found to be unfair to American Citizens because certain groups of men were severely disadvantaged, the draft was illegal in many ways, and veteran’s future lives were harmed, among other reasons.

January 31, 1968 North Vietnamese attacked over 100 cities throughout South Vietnam on thirty-five of forty-four province capitals, thirty-six district towns, and many villages and hamlets. Dubbed the “Tet Offensive” because it coincided with the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday, Tet, was a turning point in the Vietnam War. Most historians agree that the Tet Offensive was the turning point in the Vietnam War as events shifted the role of United States involvement in Southeast Asia as the shock it produced was the catalyst that led to the reevaluation of U.S. policy. While intelligence failure contributed to the shift in the Vietnam War, most historians have disagreed on the role of the media in aiding the American public’s views against the war.

Many people in the 1960s and early 1970s did not understand why the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. Therefore, they had no desire to be a part of it. The Selective Service System, which was used to conduct the draft, had aspirations of directing people into areas where they were most needed during wartime. However, people took advantage of the draft system’s deferment policies to avoid going to war. Others refused induction or simply did not register. There were also people who left the country to escape the draft. The Vietnam War proved to be an event that many Americans did not agree with, and as a result, citizens took action to elude the draft entirely or to beat the draft system.

During the Vietnam War, Americans were greatly influenced by the extensive media coverage of the war. Before the 1960’s and the intensification of the war, public news coverage of military action was constrained heavily by the government and was directed by Government policy. The Vietnam War uniquely altered the perception of war in the eyes of American citizens by bringing the war into their homes. The Vietnam War was the first U.S uncensored war resulting in the release of graphic images and unaltered accounts of horrific events that helped to change public opinion of the war like nothing it had ever been. This depiction by the media led to a separation between the United States government and the press; much of what was reported flouted

Two nations, both alike in military, battled for the world, to see who would set the scene, for their political differences result in new violence, leaving the blood of civilians on their hands, now unclean. During the mid-20th century, communist and capitalist ideas were being spread by two superpowers, the United States and the USSR. Both nations interfered in multiple different countries to coerce them to participate in a war that would determine the new political power and ideology of the world. However, many countries were divided on the issue, resulting in multiple communist and capitalist revolutions, as well as civil wars. These countries, after receiving economic and military support from the USA and USSR, went from being mere skirmishes

By 1968, more than half of the American people relied on television as their principal source of news. What they saw informed, engrossed, and unsettled them. CBS Evening News anchor Harry Reasoner referred to it as “horrors and failures.” The Vietnam War dominated the network newscast as it never had before. Suddenly the war was everywhere. The impact on the American public would indeed be great. It set off a critical reaction to the war within the American media and gave greater credence to arguments against the war that a vocal protest movement had been voicing for some time. The media coverage of the Tet Offensive had a great influence on the eventual outcome of the fighting and its aftermath. Clarence Wyatt, author of Paper

During the Vietnam War, Americans were selected for military service by a government agency called the selective service. Those young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty six were forced into an involuntary process called the draft. Protesting against conscription or “the Draft” had always been a part of wartime America. Though for many citizens the Vietnam War would be the drawing line. Mentioned in What’s Your Number? an article written by Historynet, the first drawing of numbers using a draft lottery system to select who would and would and would not be drafted for the Vietnam War took place on December 1, 1969 (Historynet 2009). This marks the beginning of turmoil and uncertainty for those men born between the years 1944 and 1950

Vietnam was an entirely new type of war for the United States. It still remains morally and historically problematic in today’s society. The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on American society and culture, primarily because it was the first war to be televised. The American press played a significant

Vietnam War and the draft that was used to accumulate soldiers for the war. While thinking of

The public was on board the war train for the first few years of the war, until they found out what it was actually like in Vietnam. Public view of the war immediately changed negatively. When the news reached the soldiers in Vietnam, reactions were mixed. While they could understand why the people didn't like the prospect of war, they were still killing-even when they didn't want to-for their country. Some soldiers didn't know how to respond. One solder wrote to his mother and told her that for one second he felt as if he was on vacation because it was so beautiful in Vietnam. Another one told his mom “not to worry, there is nothing I can't handle”. While the soldiers could handle the physical horrors happening to them, it was the mental stuff that was breaking them down.

The United States military eventually became one of low morale and deteriorating race relations. This was contrary to the image we liked to have of our military. Young Americans found that the draft and the war violated their moral and religious ideas (Accettola 169). In the United States, young men should have been able to practice religion and have their own ideas without restraint. Through deferments, exemptions, legal technicalities, and noncombat alternatives, the draft rewarded people with money and power (Stoner and George 77). The draft was contrary to American ideals in that it unfairly rewarded some who had more than others. The draft hurt military efficiency by substituting motivated volunteers for unmotivated draftees. It was bad for troop morale and performance, so it endangered the mission (Bodenner). The draft endangered the American mission in Vietnam by lowering morale and performance, therefore endangering the United States as a

If the draft was unfair regarding social classes, there lies a deeper issue in how the social value of jobs played a role in the inequalities that ended the draft. Possibly biased deferments widened the gap, creating a working-class military and eventually leading to the end of conscription in 1973. In order to look closer at this issue, I will examine how lower class men were at a possible disadvantage, what standards were established to send a man to war, and what biases were