Vietnam War Effect

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.

The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States

Anais Moss The Vietnam War was a very devastating war. There were many negative aspects that came along with this tragedy. Figuring out whether or not your against or for the war. The war on vietnam started in 1954 and ended 1975.For the United States of America the Vietnam War lasted for 11years. The United States originally got involved to help stop the spread of communism. Can you believe it saw two presidential terms? During this war the Civil Rights Movement was going on full force. African Americans were volunteering to go fight for a country that wasn’t even willing to give them basic rights. Such as getting de-segregation abolished, non- discrimination, and the right vote. Despite how America felt they were still willing to risk their lives. There were many aspects that came along with this war. A lot of people supported the war out of ignorance. They didn’t know the full intentions and actions that were taking place. Violence was a major downside to the war, many lives were lost during this period. With the Guerilla Warfare tactics that were taking place--the dropping of Napalm on the Vietnamese civilians was devastating because this toxic chemical was being dropped regardless of if there were men, women, children or enemy soldiers being involved. The use of unrestricted force and violence, gave Lyndon B. Johnson authority to do as he pleased when passing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The amount of American Soldiers lost to this war is an unimaginable number. Young

It wasn’t until fifteen years of innocent bloodshed and expensive failed military operations that the US decided to pull out of the Vietnam War. For the US military 58,236 soldiers were KIA, 153, 452 wounded, 1,711 MIA. Vietnam casualties exceeded 3,000,000. The war also cost the US about a total of 133 billion dollars. Some say we succeeded in stopping the spread of communism and that the war was necessary to accomplish it. At first I too believed we did the right thing, but now after seeing the cost and how we

The Cold War era proxy war known as the Vietnam War wrecked global havoc during 1955-1975. Although the destruction on the ground occurred in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the bloodshed of the war was just one part of a much larger worldwide communism versus capitalism battle headed by the United States and the Soviet Union. For the U.S., diplomatic and military policies had never before been so tightly intertwined with domestic policies. The war in Vietnam had such an impact on the home front in America that the term, “The Vietnam Syndrome” is still repeated to this day. The war, which is sometimes seen as a part of the larger anti-communist policy of ‘containment’, is largely to blame for the near destruction of three presidencies, as well as causing numerous political and social divides, a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy, and a credibility gap that caused distrust between government and the people. The focus on the war meant that many domestic issues such as the civil rights movement, the war on poverty, and Johnson’s ideology of the ‘Great Society’, were neglected by the government and therefore limited in their progress. The overall domestic impact of the war in Vietnam was largely negative and extremely divisive.

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.

The Vietnam War had an influence on veterans in more than one way, including massive loss of lives and increased violence. American veterans bore physical and emotional injuries that they have carried for the rest of their lives, and many remained loyal and proud of their services to the United States of America. American soldiers in Vietnam served in individual capacities, leading to difficulties in adjustments back at home and others becoming drug addicts. Their addiction to drugs was supported by the challenges brought about by transitioning to a peaceful existence, drugs available in America and the lack of federal programs that could assist the veterans in coping with life at home after war.

The Vietnam War had been last for about twenty years. Sadly, the American soldiers did not defeat the communists. The U.S. troops had suffered in terrible conditions in Vietnam, such as swaps, jungles, and humid weathers. There were more than 58,000 Americans soldiers had been killed in the war. The USAF claimed that the United States spent mostly 100 billion on this war for the military aids. Therefore, the economy of the United States decreased. Majority of the veterans came back to the America didn’t get respect from the citizens because they were “anti-war”. The sacrifice of the soldiers was not important in those citizens’ minds.

Finally, another reason could have been to distract Americans from all the troubles and the wars going on. When Apollo 11 landed in 1969 the vast majority of Americans forgot about the Vietnam War and watched in wonder as their country proved its place as the world superpower. Ironically, manned landings suddenly seemed to end about the same time that the United States ended its involvement in the war. In fact, the ending of the war was not "sudden", and was in no way related to the end of US involvement in Vietnam. The war was one of several federal budget items with which NASA had to compete; NASA's budget peaked in 1966, and fell by 42.3% by 1972. (Dunbar) This was the reason the final flights were cut, along with plans for even more ambitious

Originally, the topic I have chosen was about the social effects of the Vietnam War and how the veterans were treated when they returned. However, I was able to narrow it down to a protest that took place at Kent State University and the treatments given to veterans who suffer from diseases due to war. The Kent State University protest was a violent one that took place on May 4th,1970. These students were clearly anti-war, and this was shown by their disagreement with the military draft, the power the military held, and the denial of many basic civil rights (Kohn). National guards started getting involved when the protests began disrupting the rest of the town and nearby neighbors. Tear gas was fired into the crowd of students, following with

The war between the 1962-1975 which in the history of this time is known as the Vietnam War. This war was a war in which many troops were left with no choice but to attend this war. Left with no choice but to fight in the Vietnam War which left them traumatised affecting everything in which could have been.

The Vietnam War was the second-longest battle in American history, and it was the only war the U.S. has ever lost. America has suffered some harsh consequences, and the war left a significant impact on most aspects of American life. This included the economy, politics, and foreign policy, and even though the war ended a while ago, the U.S still suffers from some conditions of the war. The Vietnam War is known as the “War That Killed Trust” because it made citizens of the U.S. cynical and distrustful of our government. To begin with, a majority of the citizens of America did not want to get involved in the war. One of the main reasons why the war led to American mistrust in the government is because the U.S. paid a high political cost. The

Vietnam was originally a French colony located in Indochina. After the end of the First Indochina War when the French were defeated by the Vietnamese in 1954, the French persisted to obtain their freedom. They sought to obtain it by signing the Geneva Peace Accords, granting freedom to most of the colonies but left Vietnam divided at the seventeenth parallel into two different states. The northern portion was controlled by the Vietnamese, while the south was controlled by France, later on by the United States. The Viet Minh, governed by Ho Chi Minh, however were determined to rule over all the territory surrounding its borders so elections were scheduled hopefully to reunite the country under a strict Communist government. The Communists had a good probability of winning the elections due to their superiority in organizations, but the United States did as much as possible to keep Communism out of the South and other regions prone to falling into it. As the new Superpowers emerged after the end of World War II, the challenge of maintaining authority over targeted territory remained, but it was completely challenged by getting involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, being one of the longest wars recorded in American History, was also marked as the first War that made the United States fail with their plans of eradicating Communism to secure land that could be run by an independent government. Additionally, this war was broadcast on television, which allowed people to

In the context of the Cold War, the issues in Vietnam became a hot topic in Asia for US, British and French foreign policy. The 1954 crisis saw the fall of French Indochina as a result of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu after the US-led attempt to protect the deteriorating French position had failed. France, a colonial power in Vietnam had struggled to remain authoritative in a country fighting for their independence after Ho Chi Minh’s Declaration of Independence following the August Revolution in 1945. We can use political cartoons and images to decipher the differing interpretations of what historians and commentators thought of the time, to understand the cause and effect of the 1954 crisis, involving the uncertainty of the Geneva settlement.

In 1954, Northern and Southern Vietnam entered a war that led to the death of nearly 3 million people including civilians, Vietnamese troops, and ally soldiers. Though the number of lives lost during the war is atrocious, so are some of the other lasting effects of the “poor man’s fight”. Throughout this essay, I will explain my opinion regarding what I believe were the costs and the benefits of U.S interaction in the war in Vietnam.