Compare And Contrast The American Soldiers And Their Relationship With Society After Vietnam 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.

This logic led many to flee to Canada or simply resist the draft. Protesters felt that the United States should not be involved in another nation’s civil war especially a war that uses tactics such as saturation bombing, the killing of civilians, and the use of toxic chemicals. David Harris, a draft resister, wrote, “The war was an extraordinarily obvious violation of everything that I had been led to expect from the country I was a part of….when my generation’s war showed up it turned to out to be a propping up of petty dictators so they could keep a good portion of their population in servitude” (Handout page 9). Mass protests occurred all around America. The New York Times wrote about just one protest that had occurred, “A vast throng of Americans, predominantly youthful and constituting the largest mass march in the nation’s capital, demonstrated peaceably in the heart of the city today, demanding a rapid withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam….There were a number of arrests and minor injuries, mostly the result of tear gas” (Handout page 10). These protesters understood what the war was really doing to America and how immoral our actions truly were, but many others were in support of the war, thus causing a division in the United States.

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

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 started on November 1, 1955, and ended on April 30,1975. When the North Vietnamese Army(Vietcong) took Saigon, South Vietnam's capital, killing thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese soldiers in the process, the war came to disastrous conclusion. The war was sought out to be a victory, however, falling short with internal problems. The war was very unpopular and caused many disruptions with drafting, costing the United States billions of dollars and generating hate towards the veterans who served. Draft Evasion is an intentional decision not to comply with military action, regardless of the position they’re called for, and was one of many reasons for the deprivation of the war. Refusing to submit to the draft was considered

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

Young men were drafted into war; however, people were able to dodge the draft through various circumstances, conscientious objectors, most prominent being that they were part of a peace church, the government also allowed for those in college to stay and continue their education. This meant that a disproportionate amount of soldiers fighting in the war came from working class families, and so a rift was created between working class and college educated, who predominantly opposed the war. Throughout the 60s anti-war protests broke out, and people would burn their draft cards in the street. That angered those who felt that the action was un-American, and directly combated the struggle of the military personnel across the seas. Nixon, after having won the election in 1968 actively opposed the anti war movement, he even linked dissent with treason, and refused to pull troops from Vietnam. Despite the outcry of voices demanding an end to the war, Nixon and his vice president Agnew sided with the “silent majority” putting those who opposed in a minority, so that when the war continued it appeared as if it were all part of the democratic

Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.

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.

Many Americans believed that the war ravaged country of Vietnam, had to be resurrected from grave. Beginning in 1964 and growing in later years, anti-war protests began forming. Outrage from civilians erupted when President Johnson issued the draft, as he felt the Americans needed to take a more aggressive action against North Vietnam. Young men refused to join the fight and protests emitted from college campuses and major cities such as Washington D.C. and New York. ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.texasgateway.org) and ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://avuth15.wix.com/thecoldwar are both primary sources illustrating anti-war protests, showing the outrage that America had towards the war. By 1968, the whole country had felt the war's impact. When the war finally ceased and the troops returned home, the protests, the actions by the government and the war itself, had taken a toll on the country. America's opinions were sharply turned against the war. The veterans who fought bravely in the war, returned to a nation that was bitter towards anything related to the war. Today, a Vietnam War memorial has been erected in Washington, to honor those who sacrificed their life for their country. As shown in ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.english.illinois.edu), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built to honor the U.S defence members who died in service in South-East Asia. As a result, the social

The anti-war protests of the 1960s was a response of resentment by minorities and young educated college students against the nation’s desire to participate in war against Communism in Vietnam and conduct a military draft. The protests, originally began with peaceful public demonstrations by activists, who were nonviolent; however, the peaceful demonstrators were frequently attacked and victimized by the police and other citizens, who did not share their same opinion. Throughout the peaceful protests the activists suffered many beatings in the hands of the police and as a result, many of the activists claimed the right of self-defense and turned to taking offensive actions against their oppressors including the police and other citizens. Later, the scene of violence and mayhem quickly shifted to college campuses, to which college students began protesting the draft (Gurr, 1989, pp. 183-185). At the time the average age of an American soldier serving in Vietnam was 19 and students quickly rebelled after realizing that young Americans were legally old enough to be drafted to fight and die, but were not yet legally allowed to vote or drink alcohol (UShistory, nd.).

In 1967, 64 percent of all eligible African-Americans were drafted versus only 31 percent of eligible whites (Black 2009). This fact testifies to only a small portion of why nearly all African-Americans found themselves protesting against the Vietnam War. The lack of civil rights in the U.S deterred many blacks from supporting Vietnam, a conflict aimed at liberating the rights of another people. African Americans were frustrated with a country who fought for other citizens and saw no purpose in fighting for a peoples’ freedom but their own. Although African-Americans were specifically discriminated against both in Vietnam and America, they were not alone in their anti-war position. The majority of the American public opposed the Vietnam War. As the war dragged on, people found no reason to fight in Vietnam and believed that the United States should prioritize their own citizens first. Many public figures, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Muhammad Ali, held similar claims. Their opinions aligned with the public’s concern and suggested that the U.S withdraw troops and focus resources on the civil rights issues at home. These public figures fought for a specific minority, but, in light of the entire American population, the majority of people opposed the war.

American Public Opinion of the Vietnam War At the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, in 1965, the American Public favored the idea of war because they feared the threat of communism. Polls conducted in 1965, showed 80 percent of the population agreed with President Johnson and were for the war (Rousseau 11). The U.S. got involved with the war to stop communism from spreading throughout South Asia. Americans were afraid if one country on South Asia turned to communism, it would extend to other countries, which is known as the "Domino Theory".

I have always been interested in the Vietnam War and the results of “the longest war in America.” Therefore, I have decided to examine the social attitudes toward Vietnam veterans. Since I feel so passionately about the way that Vietnam veterans are viewed, the purpose of my paper is to inform others about the way that the veterans have been criticized and misrepresented. Personally, I hope to gain a further understanding of the attitudes and views towards Vietnam veterans, especially since my father is a veteran. After reading my paper, I hope that my audience will walk away with more respect and reverence for those that fought in the Vietnam War and gave their lives for their country. My

The 1960s were a time of revolutionary ideas and new modes of expression. These new ways of thinking and speaking opened the door to major reforms of American society and culture. People were now standing up for what they believed in, for example, protesting against the mistreatment of African-Americans and refusing to follow the Military Selective Service Act, a law which forced men between the ages 18-26 to fight in the controversial Vietnam War (Youth Movement). Not everyone embraced this new attitude that contained a challenge to existing governmental authority. As an expert on the draft, Phillip MacFarlane wrote, “ Some critics decry the loss of the citizen-soldier as a threat to democracy”(MacFarlane). One prominent anti-war figure