Vietnam War:What was it like?

How did the American people respond?

Weapons and Warfare• Guerrilla Warfare

– Nontraditional warfare in which combatants hide in the wilderness or in villages– They attack when the enemy appears and then blend back in– Psychologically challenging on a new level

• Who is the enemy?• Where is the enemy?

• Agent Orange– Herbicide and defoliant (plant-killer) used in Vietnam to get rid of guerrilla hiding

places– Also killed crops, forcing peasants to move to US-controlled, which eliminated the

guerrilla base of support and supply of food– Serious side effects

• Caused cancer and birth defects (like the wrong number of body parts)• Majorly disrupted the plant-life and entered the food chain in Vietnam

• Napalm– Basically, gel mixed with fuel and put into a bomb…fire that sticks to you– Most feared weapon of the war– Used in flamethrowers for more accuracy or dropped from planes on whole

villages/areas of a forest

Weapons and Warfare, cont.• My Lai Massacre: March 16, 1968

– After entering village, they killed 300 unarmed civilians– American troops had been through rough conditions, especially in the

days leading up to this– “Just following orders” or did they break under pressure?– Actions were investigated and revealed to the public in 1969;

Commanding Officer (Calley) sent to prison (and let out on appeal a few years later)

• Tet Offensive: January 31, 1968– Turning point in the Vietnam War; Communist forces captured many cities

in a surprise attack– Even though the US regained the captured cities, people in the US realized

• We weren’t winning and this would continue if we wanted to win• It would take more troops to win

The War at Home• Draft

– The draft was reinstated from 1969-1972 for men starting at age 18– There was a lottery and if they drew your number, you were in line to go– When it was your turn, you had to start training and then head

overseas…unless…You were in college, the ministry , or you had a legitimate mental or physical condition

– It was illegal to burn your draft card or not register for the draft• Hawks and Doves

– Hawks: Those in favor of US involvement in the war/wanted to increase it– Doves: Those opposed to involvement/wanted to end it

• The Role of Media– More pictures and video were seen by the American public of this war

than ever before– Many Americans felt more personally and emotionally involved in the

war zone and focused more on that than spending energy on a “home front” effort

Re-Humanizing the Enemy

The War at Home, cont.• Tinker v. Des Moines (incident: 1965…case: 1969)

– Students wanted to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam war; were suspended for doing so

– Supreme Court said they still had freedom of speech as long as they weren’t disrupting class…still used as a major example-setting case (precedent) for students’ rights

• Kent State: May 4, 1970– Some students were protesting increasing US involvement in the Vietnam War at

Kent State, a university in Ohio– In the days leading up to the protests, an army building was burned, there was

other vandalism and looting, and anger grew– There was an organized protest on May 4, which the National Guard tried to break

up. Of the 2,000 protestors, about 500 students remained– 29 of the 77 Guardsmen fired on the protesting students , hitting both protestors

and others walking by– 4 Students were killed. They were all 19 or 20 years old– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjYdoJ93b7k

The End of the War• 1969: President Nixon expanded the war into Cambodia (the Communist Vietnam

forces have bases there…fear of Communism spreading)• The war was losing popularity with many people in America

– It had gone on for a long time; many had died and many more would have to be sent– Some were looking for a solution other than war to the Cold War issues

• 1973: Communist (North) Vietnamese forces were getting weaker– The US combat soldiers officially withdrew from Vietnam– South Vietnamese forces were now in charge of winning their war

• 1974: Communist (North) Vietnamese forces started to defeat the South• 1975: As the defeat of the South drew near, the US rescued its people (1,000) and

7,000 S. Vietnamese refugees from Saigon• North Vietnam defeated South Vietnam and united the country under a Communist

regime• Numbers:

– 3.4 million served somewhere in Southeast Asia– 1-1.6 million were in the combat zone or exposed to combat conditions– About 58,000 deaths (for America) total

• Those who returned faced a harsh re-entry into life; Post-traumatic stress still wasn’t entirely understood and many in America did not respect these veterans because they no longer respected this war