Long Term Effects Of The Vietnam War

Josh Freelove
4/13/23
Composition II
Vietnam: The Pointless War During the Vietnam War on average 19 U.S soldiers would die every single day. The Vietnam war lasted from November first, 1955 until April 30, 1975 and to this day Americans are still divided on why this conflict even happened. In the end of the war, South Vietnam fell to communism. The whole reason that America entered the war was to prevent South Vietnam from falling to communism. Some American people feel like this was a pointless war and that it left a big stain on America's history. The war did horrible things to the American economy like driving up inflation and using funds for American programs for the war. Horrible acts were done to the land and agriculture of vietnam

At the time of the war many American citizens opposed the war effort publicly even marching on capitol cities to show the government their opposition. As a result of the war, the American public forever lost their trust of the government and the Vietnamese people and landscape suffered the long term effects of the bombings and Agent Orange. The Vietnam War should not have happened because it caused economic and agricultural struggles, millions of deaths, and horrible long term effects.
First, the Vietnam War hurt both the U.S and Vietnam in agriculture and the economy. The Vietnam War severely damaged the U.S. economy. President Lyndon B. Johnson unleashed a cycle of inflation because he was unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the war. (The Wars Consequences 2021) Money that was supposed to be used in American programs, ended up getting put into war efforts. (The Negative Impact of the Vietnam War on American People. 2023) “During the Vietnam War, the USA spent $828

But also using the strong herbicide of Agent Orange on the rice paddies would take away the enemies resources of food. This mass bombing and dropping of this chemical agent had mass effects on the land and people of Vietnam. Agent Orange caused birth defects in children across the country such as spina bifida, oral clefts, cardiovascular defects, hip dislocations and hypospadias. On top of that, defects in the digestive tract and other neoplasms like neuroblastoma were also higher in Vietnamese children born during or after the war and Vietnam veterans' children. Vietnam also was a major rice exporter before the war. But the widespread destruction of land from bombings and the use of Agent Orange made it so that Vietnam could not even produce enough food for its own population (The Vietnam War. 2023). Although, on the homefront, there were different long term effects from the war. American citizens who once listened to every word the government would tell them, started to majorly distrust the government, lots of this distrust is present today. The war made us cynical and distrustful of our institutions and government. For many Americans, it eroded the notion, once nearly universal, that part of being an American was serving your country. In the article Marlantes says “Before the Vietnam War, most