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The Vietnam War - United States Home Front





Background Information on The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was fought between the Northern and Southern parts of Vietnam, split by the 38th parallel. The northern half of Vietnam was known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, otherwise known as the DRV, along with the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, also known as the Viet-Cong. Their goal was to unite Vietnam as one and put in to place a system of communism throughout the whole country. The southern part of Vietnam was known as the Republic of Vietnam, with major support from the United States. Their mission was to stop the northern part of Vietnam from taking over all of Vietnam and also to prevent communistic spread in Vietnam and the rest of the world. The communist government in the north was ruled by Ho Chi Minh while the democratic government in the south was under Ngo Dinh Diem. In August 1964, a US warship was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following this attack, Congress passed the Southeast Asia Resolution which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to conduct military operations in the region without a declaration of war. The United States was now a part of the Vietnam War just as much as anyone else was. On March 2, 1965, US aircraft began bombing targets in Vietnam and the first troops arrived. The conflict was between 1959-1975. This period began with North Vietnam's first guerilla attacks against the South and ends with the fall of Saigon. American ground forces were directly involved in the war between 1965 and 1973.

Their War vs. Their Fathers War
During World War II young men, black and white, were eager to join the war effort against the evil Japanese Empire and Hitler’s gruesome Nazi soldiers. They were jamming recruiting offices all over the country, putting lines out the door. Men and even women were proud to enlist themselves in the war effort and it was something that they wanted to do out of choice. America at home was full throttle in supporting and helping their troops. Kids rationed metals, food, and anything else that was helpful for the war effort. People at home were proud of the young men and women who were overseas and wanted to do anything that they could do to help support them. All of America was fully committed to joining the war effort, unlike the case during the Vietnam War. Everyone during World War II knew about the war and was doing something to help, everyone made a contribution. Everyone also was aware of the Vietnam War at the time it took place, but not everyone had a positive impact on what was happening overseas. Even if a citizen wasn’t all for WWII, they still helped out and even if they didn’t they never spoke badly about the war or were against it publicly. During the Vietnam War some people did nothing to help and even marched, rioted, and protested against the war. Teenagers and young men’s fathers told stories about storming the beaches of Normandy and talked about the sorrow of Pearl harbor, and the new age of young men looked up to them and wanted to stand up to their own legacy. Just as people realized how miserable and downright awful war is after and towards the end of WWII, the Vietnam War has this same affect, but people catch on a bit quicker. Young men and women now weren’t as afraid to speak out against the war as they were no longer thought to be spies but just dirty hippies.



Protest and Opposition

The Vietnam War, as the story goes for most wars, was taking longer than expected. As the war dragged on citizen support was declining. The nation’s economy was suffering from the costs of the war and the number of soldiers away from home. Inflation had tripled from 2% in the early 1960’s to 5.5 by 1969. There was a raise in taxes and a 6 billion dollar funding reduction from the Great Society Programs, Johnson’s programs that had planned to start domestic reform. People at home through television and movies were watching what was going on in Vietnam. Combat footage and young men in body bags seemed to contradict what the U.S. government was saying was an optimistic war scenario. Americans at home were beginning to not trust what they were hearing from the government but instead trusting the images of brutal war. At this point, in 1967, our nation was pretty much split down the middle, half opposing the war, the other half for the war. Soon the nation’s youth, who had already started protesting the war, would capture the attention of every American and change their outlook on the war.

Young Americans still went off proudly to war like their fathers had before them but others decided to avoid the draft and not go. The protest movement divided the country in two distinct sides of supporters and opponents for America’s policies on the Vietnam War. As the war continued to grow and increase so did its opposition, further dividing the country. College kids around the country were not for the Vietnam War and they wanted to change people’s minds about what was really going on. In April 1965, 20,000 protestors marched on Washington, D.C. What were the reasons these kids were against the war anyways you may ask? The major belief was that the Vietnam War was a civil war and that America had nothing to do with it and should have no involvement what so ever. Others thought that the southern Vietnamese were no better than the northerners they were fighting anyways. Also people said that America has no place in controlling the entire world and that it was draining American strength. The bottom line was still that protestors saw war as an unmoral thing to do or participate in. The anti war movement also spread to returning Vietnam veterans and into music like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.



Protest Turns Ugly

In 1967 anti war movements were fully rolling. In the spring half a million protesters  gathered in Central Park to really show that they were a force to reckon with. Hundreds tossed their draft cards into fires; some even did jail time to avoid fighting in the war. 4,000 men were imprisoned for avoiding the draft while 10,000 fled the country to avoid it altogether. The war divided the nation at home in two distinct sides. The Doves were people opposing the war while the hawks were people for the war. Americans still remained committed to the war even though all of the protesting going on and thought it was dumb for citizens of a country to subject like this against their own nation.

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Significant and Impact

The significant of the protesting towards the Vietnam war is that it major defined and molded the war as a whole. It is something always remembered in the talk of the Vietnam War. People will never forget what others did to express themselves against what they believed it. It still impacts us today as in to remind us to stick up for what we think is right and not become oppressed by government propaganda and lies.

Work Cited

Barringer, Mark. "modern american Poetry." // The Anti-War Movement in the United States //. N.p., 1999. Web. 1 May 2012.

Caputo, Phillip. // 10,000 Days of Thunder //. New York: Atheneum Books, 2005.

McMillan, Peter. "Spartacus Educational." // Vietnam Protest Movement //. N.p., 2007. Web. 1 May 2012. .

Miller, John. "Oklahoma History and Culture." // VIETNAM WAR PROTESTS //. Oklahoma Historical Society, n.d. Web. 1 May 2012.

Young, Marilyn. // Vietnam Wars //. New York: First Harper Perrenial, 1991.