The War Of Vietnam War Essay

Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.

In the middle 1960s, every male in America had to register for Selective Service Draft at age 18. He would then be eligible for the draft and could be inducted into the Army for a period of two years. If you were a college student, you could receive a deferment and would be able to finish college without the fear of being drafted. However, once finished with college, a students name would be put to the very top of the draft list and could be deployed at anytime. The anti-war movement was about young men being drafted and then sent into war that most Americans did not believe threatened the security of the US. The Vietnam War was America’s rebellious war, a war without popular support

Gonyea, D. (2014). LBJ Legacy: Vietnam War Often Overshadows Civil Rights Feat. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2014/04/09/300836769/civil-rights-act-anniversary-may-polish-lbj-s-image

Problem that the Vietnamese war veterans faced was the psychological effects which was very common for Vietnam veterans to have. The main cause of this is because it was different compared to other wars in the past like the condition that the soldiers were in. Studies has shown that a World War II soldiers experienced up to a total of 60 days under combat like conditions. A Vietnam infantryman endured on a comparable basis 300+ days therefore Vietnam veterans have more likely to develop psychological problems than a World War II veteran. (POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), 2001)

The Vietnam War made impacts on the movement back home. As in 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. even went against his own beliefs of not speaking out about the war he began preaching that it is truly sad to see African American people and the poor who can not make a living, being drafted (Doc C). Not only were they being drafted they were also dying at a much higher rate then just about every other group in society (Doc C). MLK also stated that these individuals were fighting to establish peace and rights over in Vietnam, while they did not even have these for themselves (Doc C). During the Vietnam years there still was some of the American population who supported the war, but would not speak out publicly about supporting the actions. This group was given the name the silent majority. Richard Nixon while in office spoke out about the group saying that the silent majority needs to speak out publicly as all the messages going around about the war are negative (Doc G). He also said in his speech that even though some people may not like the war everyone should help in the mind of creating peace in South Vietnam and that without everyone coming together in the nation that the US military could be defeated in the war (Doc

The Vietnam War was a unforgettable war that has had lasting effects on the United States and was a poor decision on the part of the United States government to get involved in. The United States had drafted many young boys into a war in which a lot of people did not support or even know why we were getting involved in, many people fled to neighboring borders or faced the criminal charges that came with dodging the draft because they were so against it. This war has left the United States with lasting impacts and there are many ways that we have changed since including our country as a whole and our veterans themselves. The war has affected our veterans in ways that are unimaginable, the psychological effects that they have endured are tough

The Vietnam war heightened social, political, and economic tensions in America because there wasn’t a clear reason for fighting in it. In World War Two, the reason was clear. A evil dictator was trying to take control over the world, so the solution was to stop him. In Vietnam America tried to stop a political idea from spreading by attacking it. As said in Document E, “It is like sending a lion to half an epidemic of jungle rot”. While in WW2 people were happy to fight and work for their country, with half of the population contributing in some way to the war effort, according to Document F people drafted would purposely fail the tests to get out of fighting. Document B, the song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die”, the singer makes fun of how

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.

Prisoners of War (POWs): In international law, term used to designate incarcerated members of the armed forces of an enemy, or noncombatants who render them direct service and who have been captured during wartime.1

As communism began to spread steadily and gain more and more attention, Americans became immensely concerned in what most saw as a detrimental threat. President Eisenhower only added to the hysteria by outlining the Domino Theory: the theory that a political event, in this case referring to the spread communism, in one country will cause a similar turn of events in neighboring countries, like a falling domino that causes an entire row to fall down. Although the Vietnam War is seen by many as the only option to try to end the spread of communism, the specious outcome of the war was not effective enough to justify the amount of unethical decisions and situations that were allowed to take place. In 1961, under President Kennedy, 100 Special Forces troops were sent to South Vietnam and by 1963, just two years later, U.S military advisors and Special Forces had increased to 21,000 troops. We will soon see that this is just the beginning and in my paper I will outline the full record of events all the way to the end of the war, including the reasons for U.S involvement, unethical decisions that were made, America 's effort to end the war, and the lasting impact the war had on the United States.

The Vietnam War was not only a war abroad but also a war at home since many people within the United States believed that we should not be evolved in this war, especially since it was a civil war in Vietnam. One of the main reasons for the unrest at home was due to the draft of young men who did not want to fight for a war that they did not believe in. Many young men age 18 and over were drafted but some of the young men who could afford a higher education were able to go to college and avoid the draft but once they graduated they would be in danger of being drafted so many of the college students were protesting to end the war that they did not believe in or want to go and fight in. (The Sixties, n.d.) As the war crept along the college students protested more and even burnt their draft cards to show their disapproval of the war. The war at home took a bad turn on May 4, 1970 when a group of college students at Kent State started protesting. The governor ordered 750 members of the National Guard to stop the demonstrators. The National Guard troops ordered the protestors to break up and when some of the protestors refused and started throwing rocks the troops fired into the crowed killing four students and injuring nine other students. (Davidson et al., 2005) According to Wells, (1999), “The

The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in

This paper will be explaining the similarities, and differences, between the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan. There are many topics that bring these two wars together. However, I am only going to be talking about public support, policy objectives, military strategy, weapons, fighting spirit, links to home, and death totals. These topics have a lot of information about them, but there is too much to write about every little detail, so I will cover the broad overview of them. Each paragraph will be about one of the topics. There will also be a discussion about insurgencies and counter insurgency operations. These are two big topics in Vietnam and Afghanistan since almost all of the enemy in both wars were, and are, comprised of insurgents and different types of militia groups.

In the 1950's, the United States had begun to send troops to Vietnam and during the following 25-year period, the ensuing war would create some of the strongest tensions in US history. Almost 3 million US men and women were sent thousands of miles to fight for what was a questionable cause. In total, it is estimated that over 2 million people on both sides were killed.

The Vietnam War was one of the worst wars in the United States history. The reason for the United States involvement was due to the start of communism in North Vietnam. The citizens in South Vietnam feared the control of North Vietnam and were worried that the north would take control of the south. The communist North Vietnam had support from the Soviet Union and China, making the South Vietnamese vulnerable to the north. In their time of struggle the South Vietnamese were able to receive aid from the United States. The North Vietnamese had set up a series of radar stations along bays and islands on the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 1, 1964 the U.S.S. Maddox was posted on a surveillance mission to study the North Vietnamese defenses