The affect that the Vietnam War had on American soldiers was astounding. The Vietnam War affected ninety percent of the American troops so much so that they started to turn on each other. The fragging started as a result of increased drug and alcohol use. The word “fragging” means to kill or maim the upper leadership. These increased
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns in the Vietnam War launched by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam People’s Army which killed over five thousand American soldiers. How did the Tet Offensive influence American politics, society, and the overall development of the war in Vietnam? This question plagues many historians, politicians, soldiers, and veterans. The Tet Offensive influenced American politics by forcing politicians to take a stand one way or another on the viewpoint of the war, influencing American society by causing people to see the reality of war itself, and influencing the overall development of the war by showing that the enemy was not, in fact, about to collapse in defeat as the government had told the public for years.
1. What problems did the United States face in the Vietnam War? As the United States struggled against communism in Vietnam, it would face many problems. In the late 1950’s President Eisenhower and later President Kennedy sent military supplies and advisers to South Vietnam. Despite the American aid the Vietcong grew stronger with support from North Vietnam.
One major advantage that the VietCong had was they were fighting in their home jungle which allowed them to do many types of standoff attacks. “A standoff attack was generally a means of exerting military pressure on a target that the VC/NVA couldn't hope to defeat” This military pressure was exerted through indirect fire; these harassments allowed for the VietCong to kill an allied soldier or civilian every 25 rounds fired and usually escape unharmed. One of the major disadvantages that the United states faced in the war effort was the political disaster that ensued during the war. On January 30 1968 the VietCong launched a massive military offensive called the Tet offensive. For months prior to the offencive the VietCong had been conducting a series of smaller attacks.
When the long lasted Vietnam war ended in April of 1975, more than five thousands of Americans had been killed. Years after, American still suffered from far-reaching post-war consequences. The Vietnam War has affected the U.S. economically, socially, and politically. First, the war decreased the U.S. economy.
The big failure America in the Vietnam War is the shameful history of tragic scene for arrogant American, whose pain is still difficult to ease. The crucial event also had a profound impact on today 's international situation. It is believed that the failure included political, economic, military and cultural background and other aspects, which are that common. When it comes to the controversial subject, I hope to put forward some fresh views from where I stand. 1.
It is quite difficult to compare two wars that happened 180 years apart from each other, the Vietnam war 1955 to 1975, and the American Revolutionary war 1775 to 1783. Yes, both wars are all that different from each other, in fact I would say that they were the two least similar wars in American history. These wars are very similar because they both used guerilla warfare, a form of irregular warfare that uses tactics such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, and mobility to fight a larger less mobile military force. However a major difference in the wars was that the Revolutionary war was fought to gain independence, while the Vietnam war was fought to maintain independence. Another difference is that the U.S. were ‘Victors’ in the Revolutionary war, and were not so in the Vietnam war.
The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.
The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975.The nation as a whole began to uproar over the war and the major consequences of the war. There were many reasons why so many Americans were against the war. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam (Wikipedia). Not to mention, many young people protested because they were the ones being drafted while others were against the war because the anti-war movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and
Throughout the decade of the 1960’s the well-known photographer Richard Avedon produced some of his most famous works. Richard Avedon was born May 12, 1923, in a middle class family. He was the son of a retail business man which led to him living a pretty lenient childhood. Avedon, uses his photography of the civil rights movement, Vietnam war and the counterculture of the time period to show the dramatic changes of society during the 1960’s.
In 1968 Viet Cong began to become desperate, and as a result, they carried out the Tet offensive, a mission during the Vietnamese holiday of Tet. Viet Cong forces attacked 5 major southern cities and many military locations. (Spector) This war only seems to get worse, months following the Tet offensive U.S. casualties reached a record high, and the inhumanity didn’t stop either. March 16, 1968, a military squad goes to the town of My Lai, it was a search and destroy mission, and upon failing the squad ruthlessly gunned down unarmed
The Tet Offensive was a huge loss for North Vietnam but was a huge gain for the anti-war movement and is seen as a turning point in the anti-war movement. . As journalists managed to capture the battle scenes the U.S began to look like villains attacking their “victims” the North. Soon other footage and media coverage appeared with photographs like the “Napalm Girl” and footage of the My Lai Massacre, which made the Americans, look terrible. As more coverage came in, it became harder for the American population to support the war and soon enough it was indeed the
The Vietnam War was a harsh time in history that impacted the United States greatly with many negative effects on the economy, society, and political aspects of the country. During the time of the early 60s, the United States pushed to get involved in the Vietnam war and the main goal was to prevent communism from spreading any further in surrounding Asian countries. Over the course of the war and the time the U.S. spent in Vietnam, conflict began to arise for the country and the trust people had in their own country. Problems during the war made a deep impact on the country and left great effects that still exist to this day. The economy, society, and politics were all altered due to the war in both negative and positive ways.
The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The “Domino Theory” was a direct cause of the war. The war resulted in much death; innocent civilians and young Americans were killed. The Vietnam war also resulted in rioting, distrust for the United States government, and the loss of many lives. 58,000 Americans were killed and 300,000 were wounded.
The Vietnam War is the most controversial war in the history of the United States. There are very few events in the history of our country that compare to the views and passion behind the American people during the war. The war was exploited both people who felt strongly against the war as well as those who were pro war. The war touched every single person in this country, regardless of where someone came from they had an opinion about the Vietnam War. With all these feelings lead to many movies and T.V. shows being produced reflecting the directors views.
