The United States was unjustified in its involvement in the Vietnam War because, in my opinion, the U.S had little justification to sacrifice thousands of innocent youths for political ideals. It was the longest and most unpopular war in which the United States fought. Many Americans on the home front protested their government’s involvement in the war. Many young Americans felt that there was no reason to fight for a cause they did not believe in, especially in such a strange foreign country. The civil rights movement also strongly influenced many of the war protests. This was because such a large percentage of minority soldiers sent over to fight were being unfairly treated. The African American soldiers were being ordered to the frontlines more often than white soldiers were. Another vigorously protested topics of the Vietnam War was Conscription. Most of two million soldiers who fought in the war were chosen through the Selective Service program. The draft policy has been an imprint of America the Civil War. This policy has been used in every major United States war since. Young adult males were required to register for the draft when they turned eighteen years old. A lottery system decided who would be called to combat. If selected for the draft, the draftee had to serve 24 months of active duty. During the Vietnam War, the hostility Americans felt towards the draft erupted and caused major protests across the nation. They are where many ways people protested the draft. Some eligible draft members avoided the draft by leaving the country for Canada, Sweden, and a number of other countries. Other men protested by publicly burning their draft cards. Lyndon B. Johnson won the presidential election on November 1, 1964. Despite the tension between the “Doves” and the “Hawks”, president Lyndon B. Johnson stood by his policy of slow escalation. As he began his term in office in 1965, he was confident that his programs to better the nation would be established despite that “nagging little war in Vietnam”# as News Week reported it. Protests have long been a way for people to display their difference in opinion and gain support. One of the many protests against the war that had a powerful effect on public opini... ... middle of paper ... ...been involved in because it was against an unknown enemy in an unknown territory. The consequences of the war far exceed the benefits. The citizens during that period of time would definitely agree. The war caused a severe decrease in the countries moral. Many people no longer trusted the government and grew extremely skeptical of its actions. The recession soon after the war did not help in boosting the spirit of the country. The Vietnam war also exposed many of the United States‘ weaknesses. It showed that our government had planned poorly. It also showed that it was possible to resist the United States as a mass. There is a major difference between one disagreeing voice and a vast number of them. In the end the United States had devastating losses socially and economically. Protests and politics will always go hand in hand when the “sheep” disagree with the “herder“. Bibliography: - Nhu Tang, Truong. 1985. A Vietcong Memoir. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers - Dougan C. & Lipsman S. 1984 The Vietnam Experience: A Nation Divided. Boston: Boston Publishing - McDougal Littell. 2003 World History. United States of America - http://www.pbs.org/
The Vietnam War was one of many. One reason some people argue the US should have been in the Vietnam War is because of the belief the US was trying to help establish a democracy there. The Vietnam war helping America win the cold war was another reason people believe the US was justified in the Vietnam war. Others believe that the US should not have been there because they were supporting a corrupt government, another reason is that American warfare was excessive and abusively killed many innocent civilians and ruined the land. While it appeared that the US was trying to spread democracy and win the cold war, but in truth, the US was supporting a mini Hitler, and our strategy had little chance of
American citizens during the Vietnam War generally equally disapproved and approved of it; many protesting their dissent, and going out of their way to obtain deferments in order to avoid conscription, while many others voiced pro-war statements (Angrist 584-95). Deferments were a way to postpone your chance of conscription, which is being drafted into the military (Angrist 584-95). Although some were indeed anti-war, there was a rather equal or larger amount who voiced supportive opinions for the war, but as the war proceeded this changed (Gettleman). Such diversified opinions were the direct cause for the continuation of the war (Tomes). Peaceful protesters and radicals came into the spotlight as the war progressed, as more and more people voiced disapproving and anti-war statements towards the war (DeBenedetti 321-86).
It is quite important to note that there was a time where the majority of Americans did not see involvement in Vietnam as a mistake. According to a Gallup poll conducted in August of 1965, 24% of Americans believed it was wrong to have US combatants in Vietnam. These numbers steadily rose throughout the years. It was not until August 1968 did a majority of Americans, approximately 53%, feel we made a poor decision. What caused this discontent with our involvement? Overall, the American public was seeing many young men die for a cause that they could not articulate. The futility of these losses was frustrating. There were other specific events that added to hatred of the War in
Engaging in the war in Vietnam brought a whole different set of "American Views" to the topic of war. This time the country did not support the war like we've seen in the past. Mostly by young people, the war effort was criticized and Americans staged massive protests. The Vietnam War's controversy spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself.
The Vietnam War was an event that occurred between 1974 and 1975. The United States became involved in the Vietnam War because they wanted to help their ally, then South Vietnam, to help them prevent North Vietnam, which was Communist, take over. However, it was a loss for the United States, and North Vietnam took over South Vietnam to make it a Communist nation. Many citizens did not support the Vietnam War. Haug remembers that people were very negative when it came to discussing the Vietnam War. Several reasons that citizens were not in support of it is due to the fact that the United States should not have spent the money on the war, since the Korean War led up to it, and one other reason is
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.
The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam. Sadly, this is not what happened. The Viet Cong (VC) had far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.
For many years, draft evasion has played a large part in the outcome of wars in the United States. Draft evasion, more commonly referred to as draft dodging, is the intentional decision to not comply with orders from one’s government regarding military conscription, or the enlistment for state service. During the Vietnam War, the draft was very popular as there was a shortage of volunteer military personnel to fight the war that lasted nearly two decades. As a result of this, many young men were forced into military service by the American government. At first, many complied with orders to partake in the war, however, over time many became resistant. The United States’ mandate for conscription during the Vietnam War led
Foster, Gaines(1990, January). Coming to terms with defeat: Post-Vietnam America and the post-Civil WarSouth. Virginia Quarterly Review. Vol.66, pp 17.
“Going through high school I remember talking with my friends about the Vietnam War. I had the friends who were gung-ho for the war, and I had friends who, like myself, felt the Vietnam War was unnecessary and not worth fighting for. I remember back in 1967 hearing about the protestors at the Lincoln memorial. Over 100 thousand protestors were there, and I remember thinking how great it was that so many people had the courage to march up to leaders in D.C. and voice their frustration. Then there was my father who said how all those protestors were un-American. I guess I could not blame him, he fought in World War II and served his country with honor, taking great pride in that. To me though, war is not always the answer. That’s where the difference was between people at the time, you either were fully supportive of American involvement in Vietnam, or you were opposed to it, I do not remember much in between. As for me, I could not support the Vietnam War” (Lalonde). The protests of the Vietnam War were opportunities for disgruntled Americans against the war to make their voices known, speak out against the injustice of the draft, while also helping to contribute to the end of the war and being a beneficial spark to an end of the draft.
The Vietnam conflict has been known for being the most unpopular war in the history of the United States. The war of 1812, the Mexican war and the Korean conflict of the early 1950's were also opposed by large groups of the American people, but none of them generated the emotional anxiety and utter hatred that spawned Vietnam. The Vietnam war caused people to ask the question of sending our young people to die in places where they were particular wanted and for people who did not seem especial grateful.
...Robert S with Brian VanDeMark. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. Vintage Books Edition published by Vintage Books, New York, 1996. Original hardcover edition published by Times Books, New York, 1995.
What Is protest? For decade, people have used the 2nd amendment to express their opinions on a variety of issues. During the Vietnam War, people protested their views on the war, whether they liked that the U.S. was interfering in Vietnam, or whether it was a mistake sending troops to there, and in modern times, people protest for issues such as the March For Our Lives movement, which started after a school shooting in South Florida in early 2018. People participate in different forms of protest so they can express their views in a peaceful and logical way, so they can prove or support a point, to reform a bill or law, to connect with other people, to protect their ideas, and to end prejudice.
The draft took more and more people in as the years went on, and in1968 it peaked to over 500,000 soldiers involved in Vietnam. The government was so desperate for troops that even men with poor eyesight fought, and no education was needed. The people began to strike out and a revolution took place to restore peace to the nation. Some key ways to get the movement attention included student activism and anti-war messages present in songs and literature.