Vietnam War
To many, the Vietnam War symbolizes
controversy, myth and question in America.
There are many events that
made Americans wonder what reasons we had for putting
our troops and families
in Vietnam. Up till that point, many other Americans had
never questioned the
acts of the American government and armed forces. Issues
dealt with in the
Vietnam War showed great impact on the American people,
particularly the
students. American involvement started off very low key. Two
marine
battalions landed in Da Nang on March 8, 1965 (Doyle, Lipsman). They were
not
fighting a war yet, though a war was going on in the very country that
they
were in. Their job was to merely protect an air field in Da Nang, not
look for
trouble or initiate any kind of war tactics. But soon, holding off
the enemy was
not so easy for the American soldiers, and more troops were
sent in. This
continued on, and when May rolled around there were 46,000
American Troops in
Vietnam (Doyle, Lipsman). It was at this time when
American troops were then
given the "permit to use more active defense," and
soon after, the
number soared to 82,000 American troops in Vietnam (Doyle,
Lipsman). From there,
the American defense quickly turned into an offense,
and transportation flights
turned in to rescue missions. This was about the
time that Americans at home
began to become worried that the war in Vietnam
was getting out of hand. Small
protests broke out amongst college students
across America, but these began to
become very serious. On April 17, 1965 The
Students for a Democratic Society
organized a national protest on the steps
of the capitol in Washington D.C.
(Doyle, Lipsman). Television coverage
enraged people by misleading facts and
disturbing war images of troops
killing women and children. Frustration in
America grew and riots and
protests got out of hand as no questions seemed to be
answered. Students
protested and gathered, building rage against the war
spurring events like
the Kent State Massacre. The Kent State Massacre is named
after a calm
protest uprooted when guards killed and wounded students by opening
fire on a
mass of students as they gathered on the Kent State campus
(Encarta).
Events such as the Kent State Massacre enraged Americans more
than ever causing
violent riots and outbreaks. Meanwhile, America's position
in Vietnam worsened.
More and more were sent, and more and more troops
were killed. America's great
offense was tattering down and guerrilla warfare
on unfamiliar terrain hampered
soldier performance. The war then quickly
switched over and put more weight on
air attacks and bomb raids. Helicopters
became America's best friend as they
were a brand new invention that had not
previously seen much use. The helicopter
made landing and exiting in rough
terrain easier than any other method seen
before by the United States
military. Other weaponry made its debut in the
Vietnam War. Spurred from
the second world war, where tanks were introduced, the
anti-tank missile
launcher was a key weapon for all countries to develop. The
Vietnam War
was the first war that the anti-tank missile launcher was
effectively used.
Standard guns also were changing; they become lighter in
weight, more
accurate, and able to function better with less maintenance and
malfunction.
All of these new, and newly perfected, weapons made the Vietnam War
an
unfamiliar territory for everybody as the death toll soared through the
roof.
More troops were sent, more black troops. Racism raced through the
veins of many
white Americans at this time, and blacks still felt
discriminated against by the
government and the people of America. All of
this as more black troops were
being put on the battle front to fight. Black
gangs erupted and dodged the
draft, became violent, and held to one another
very closely. This was the first
sign of gangs in America, as we see gangs
today. Many black Americans did not
understand why they were being force to
fight and die for a country that hated
them. They felt as if they were being
sent in place of whites, but in fact only
12.5% of all troops in Vietnam
were black, and it was merle stretched facts and
media influence that caused
the black eruptions in America (Westmoreland, VHFCN).
As America boiled,
the "photographers war" continued in Vietnam
(Cohen). The Vietnam War has
been said on countless occasions to be the most
photographed war in history.
The reason for this is the development and
improvement of the camera. The
camera had become small enough and agile enough
to be carried almost
anywhere. Also, with the fire burning in America, the media
was raping the
troops of their dignity as the photographers followed them
everywhere.
Disturbing pictures were sent back to the press and media in America
for
public coverage, giving the public its first ever visual images of
war.
Unable to handle these shocking of images of troops killing
ruthlessly, America
continued to rage. The war rolled on through 1972 and
Americans wondered if it
would ever end. An end was soon to come, as peace
talks began, on January 23,
1973 president Nixon announced the end of
U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam
(Cohen). America took a deep breath
and let down it's arms, but the tension was
still there along with the
grieving loss of young men. The Vietnam War was very
confusing, especially as
it was going on. The American public did not have
answers, and were
frustrated with the constant loss of family and friends.
"No event in
American history is more misunderstood that the Vietnam War.
It was
misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many
people
been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of
their
misunderstanding been so tragic. (Nixon, VHFCN)" This quote by
president
Nixon may be one of the most well said statements about the
Vietnam War that I
have ever heard. The war was so chaotic that there was no
time to give any
answers, or find any answers; this gave the media a big
loophole to deceive the
public. Only now can we look back at the facts and
correct them as we teach what
is right and give back the pride that we have
taken from these veterans. The
most logical way that I can possibly confront
the "facts" of the
Vietnam War is to do just that. I am going to end this
report with some facts to
help fix what might be misinterpreted or confusing
about the Vietnam War.
Because I believe that there are men and women,
dead and alive who deserve the
gratitude of the American public to atleast
know the truth. I will do this by
addressing what could be defined as myth,
confusion, misreporting, and
misinterpreting, and show you the statistics
that will prove these embarrassing
thought wrong, and give the veterans the
hero image that they deserve. Myth:
American soldiers were addicted to
drugs, and feel guilty for their actions and
role in the Vietnam War by using
cruel and inhumane acts. This is not true, 91%
of all living Vietnam veterans
say that they are proud that they served their
country, 74% would serve again
knowing that there would be the same outcome, and
97% of them were
discharged under honorable conditions (Westmoreland, VHFCN).
False:
Vietnam Veterans resemble the homeless population in American and are
more
likely to be in prison. This is an incorrect statement, in fact,
Vietnam
veterans are less likely to be jailed and only .5% of them have been
jailed for
crimes. 85% of Vietnam veterans have made a successful transition
to ordinary
life (Westmoreland, VHFCN). The myth of all American troop is
also incorrect.
two-thirds of all men who served in the Vietnam War were
volunteers; that's just
the opposite as W.W.II where two-thirds of the men
who served were drafted
(Westmoreland, VHFCN). "Approximately seventy percent
of those killed in
Vietnam were volunteers (McCaffrey, VHFCN)." Another
myth is that the
suicide rate of Vietnam Veterans is higher than non Vietnam
veterans, but in
fact it is not as bad as the media portrays it to be. There
have been reports of
50,000 to 100,000 suicides among Vietnam Vets, when
9,000 is a more accurate
number (Houk, VHFCN). The number 100,000 is absurd.
Black Americans were not a
target of the American government to be used in
place of white troops. In fact,
of 541,000 men and women who served in
Vietnam, 86% were Caucasians, 12.5% were
black, and 1.2% were of other races
(Westmoreland, VHFCN). These may only be a
few small facts that are a grain
of sand when you look at the whole war. But
these issues are those that were
the heart of the fire in American youth when
the war was in action. These
were the issues and answers that may have prevented
things such as the Kent
State Massacre. To all of the Vietnam Veterans, the
country that they
supported, their families and friends; to those who died in or
after service,
to those who are still alive and carry the memories of war with
them every
day, a memorial for them has been created. Its groundbreaking
ceremony was
held on March 26, 1982. The memorial has 57,929 names inscribed in
it of
those men and women who never came home from Vietnam (Ashabranner). A
diamond
after a name means that he/she was accounted for at the end of the war,
a
cross after a name means that he/she still is not accounted for. Also,
the
right is reserved to put a circle around the cross of any person who
becomes
accountable for, but a circle has yet to be put on the wall. The
groundbreaking
ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. The memorial has 57,929
names inscribed in
it
Bibliography
Ashabranner, Brent. Always
to Remember. New York: G.P Putnam's Sons, 1989.
Cohen, Steven. Anthology
and guide to a television history. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, inc., 1983
Doyle, Edward, and Samual Lipsman. America Takes Over-The
Vietnam
Experience. Boston, MA: Boston Publishing Company, 1982.
Microsoft
Encarta Complete Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia. Computer
software.
Microsoft, 1995. CD-ROM. Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew
Network. www.vhfcn.org.
2000. Westmoreland, General William C. Address.
Third Annual Reunion of the
Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.
Washington D.C., 5 July 1986. McCaffrey,
Lieutenant General Barry R.
Address. Memorial Day. Washington D.C. May 1993.
Houk, Dr. Address.
Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Unites
States Senate
one hundredth Congress second session. 14 July 1988.