Wilfred Burchett's Involvement In The Vietnam War

This was exemplified in Menzies speech on the declaration of war when he stated, “…. Great Britain has declared war on her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war…There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stands the people of the entire British world.” (Mason 2014, pg.163) This explains that wherever Britain was, Australia would be by their side showing their mateship between the two countries. When Menzies states ‘There can be no doubt’, it portrayed a strong message to all Australian soldiers meaning that no matter what happened they were committed to their ‘Mother Country’. Additionally, Australia was very close to Britain, explaining that we fought together and protected one another until the very end. This was depicted in a primary source image of a kangaroo, representing Australia, and a vicious dog, representing Britain, taking down a soldier together. (Refer to Appendix 1) By showing Australia and Britain as a team, it shows how the war made them a team and the strength between them if they worked together. In the image, the kangaroo wears a cowboy hat, stating their national identity as a relaxed country lifestyle whereas, the vicious dog wears a steal war helmet stating its seriousness and confidence at war. (Japan & Australia in World War 2, N.D) Thus, the strong alliance with Britain undeniably resulted Australia to enter the

The fear of communism eventually overtaking Australia was initially the main reason for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Sir Robert Menzies was elected Prime Minister of Australia in 1949 and maintained leadership for sixteen years. Menzies wanted to achieve a better lifestyle for all Australians and was bitterly opposed to communism. (In comments mr Leechman asked for examples and to work on the paragraph)

Australia’s response to the threat of communism after WW2 was extraordinary. Australia and its politicians immediately recognised what could happen of a result of the domino theory. With the Soviet Union influencing so many countries and causing China, Vietnam, and North Korea to turn Communist it was only matter of time until it reached Australia, and all in all this was when Australia took action.

There were many protest groups throughout Australia protesting about different issues in the Vietnam War, but mostly about conscripting young man over the age of 20 to serve 2 full years in military service, this was the first time Australia conscripted men to overseas. If men that had been conscripted had refused to go to war they would have to serve two years jail

He feels Yanagi’s pain through the connection but he does not draw attention to it. To be in the heat of a powerplay game such as the one boiling over in Konoha right now is a moment of extreme delicacy and ruthlessness; attachments are withheld, persons numbed down. The rampant mentality is this: eliminate those who are likely to get in one’s way, even if they are friends, or valuable allies. Nobody who lived through the Warring States Era would be unfamiliar with this tenet: do what must be done. And if Tobirama was forced to choose among the Yamanaka twins, he would keep Yanagi alive, simply because she is now the more valuable of the two, even though Yanagi herself and most definitely, not Osamu, would admit it. For to dabble in politics is to know who has value, worth and utility, and who do not.

Australia had quite a large involvement in the Vietnam War and it is still considered an important part of our history, as it is the longest Australia has been involved in any war. We were involved in the war from 1962 to 1972 and roughly 60000 Australian men and women served there. Our initial involvement was with military advisors to support the South Vietnamese army and then that escalated to sending fighting troops, as it was more difficult for the South Vietnamese army to defeat the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army on their own. Our decision to commit troops to the battle was based on the fear of communism; North Korea’s invasion of South Korea was considered a communist danger to democracy. A few of the other main reasons for our presence in the conflict include; to support the United States presence in the region, the belief in the ‘domino theory’ and because of our presence in the ANZUS and SEATO treaties.

The Vietnam War impacted America in a great way. It has changed how we look at war in general. America had many reasons to be involved in the Vietnam War. The War also had a major impact on society during this time. The majority of America was against war. Foreign policy has changed from the effects of the Vietnam War. The United States is more careful on when they choose to go to war.

In the twentieth century after World War 2 the world was threatened by the takeover of communist that had begun to consume the globe. The Australian government identified that the fear ideology communism will take over the country if no actions were taken to stand against and stop it. The Australian government provided support and participated in several military conflicts during the Cold War to reduce the threat of communist around the world. However, the longest of Australia’s military engagement was the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was mainly centred on its fear of the ‘Domino Theory’, and its relations with the U.S through the Foreign policy which involved the ‘Forward Defence’ policy. The

As the United States became more involved in the Vietnam War, the American society became fired up, not supporting the war, and questioned the United States foreign plan. The American people spread their messages in many ways from protest songs to protests. Protest songs were used as propaganda to send negative messages about the US and the war. One of the iconic protests songs at the time came out in 1965 by Country Joe and the Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die” (Doc B). This song gave off the message to America that there are other things then just enlisting in the war and that there is a lot of money to be made in America, while still being supportive, like helping supply the Army with the equipment needed to fight (Doc B). This 1965

The Vietnam War lasted longer, bloodier, and more hostile than any U.S. President or American citizen imagined. Lyndon Johnson faced many other enemies during the war such as the duration, the immense number of deaths, and for the first time in most American’s history, failure. Through deep evaluation of Lyndon B. Johnson’s foreign policies as President during the Vietnam war, failure was a recurring outcome, as he faced military and political difficulties over having complete authority over political decisions made leading to the misuse of his respective power, receiving split support through torn Americans at home, and his accord to deport so many troops into combat in Vietnam.

During the time the United States was in a war, the American public was sharply divided creating another war among its people. The war had transformed America to a different place with its defeat. It had far-reaching consequences and impact on most aspects of American life from the economy, culture to domestic politics and foreign policy. The Vietnam war created a time of uncertainty because so many had lost their trust in the government. With the end of the Vietnam war, the United States left with a humiliating defeat and shockingly high casualties.

At the outbreak of war the Australians were signing up by the hundreds to serve ‘the mother country’ without conscription, but soon they began to realize that war wasn’t some romanticised adventure and the number of troops signing up began to slow down because they were learning more about war so they weren’t so keen to sign up anymore because of that the number of troops for the wars was so little that by 1916 they had a shortage of men. The Labour Party Prime Minister William (Billy) Hughes decided to have a referendum for the idea of conscription even though his party was opposed to it. Conscription had a big effect on Australia and it caused the nation to be divided over the issue because some people believed that the young men of Australia

As mentioned earlier Australia was highly influenced by America and their steps in fighting against communism. Australia took note of their propaganda campaigns and how this tool swayed the American public into fearing the Soviets to the point of making sure their surroundings neighbours weren’t communist. One Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Sun advocated the importance of voting Menzies in for the 1951 election as “the need to root the cancer of communism out of national life and to protect Australia through military preparations (Lowe,

During the Vietnam conflict, many American Soldiers wrote letters home telling the families and friends about their feelings and experiences pertaining to their current situation. Under the sub-heading “Why We Fight” what I found most interesting was Marine 2nd Lieutenant Marion Lee Kemper’s letter. Within his letter he states, “Our claim to legality is that we were invited here by the South Vietnam government…” The reason why I find this interesting is because while reading this passage I gained the impression that he felt the reason why we where was less than honorable. However, after reading the rest of the letter, this individual felt as though he had to fight against communism in Vietnam so he would have to fight against it in America.

The Vietnam War started on November 1, 1955. 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era. Those that went into the war zone suffered, not only from wounds but also from a variety of jungle diseases and malnutrition. One of the few sources of clean water came from water purification tanks at Vietnamese refugee camps.Preventive medicine teams worked to control rodent and insect infestations, spray for malarial mosquitoes, and purify unclean water.