The Vietnam War and American Society 1960-1975
During
the commencement of the Cold War, the Vietnam War has been one of the most
tragic events. United States Presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon spent
tremendous amount of money on such war, also sending half a million soldiers to
Vietnam. Over the course of that war, several Americans question if that war
was correct to be fought, in comparison to WWII. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
determined to defeat Ho Chi Minh’s communist forces supported dictatorships of Ngo Dinh Diem who had great support
from the United States, and also the USA sent thousands of American soldiers to
fight and die in Vietnam. Such war was incredibly importance, since it was the
first to be televised, therefore people knew of the brutality of what was going
on. Also, this was a time when the hippie’s
movements of men and women who
self-consciously rejected conventional norms, and student movements were occurring,
but the Vietnam War took the great part of the public’s attention. The 60’s
decade also had a cultural and ideology revolution that gave liberty to the
baby boomer, but it filled others with fear and disgust. The antiwar movement
finally convinced politicians in Washington that it was time to pull out of
Vietnam, yet it happened slowly and the war was far from over.
By the mid-twentieth century,
Vietnam had a history of nationalism that extended back nearly 2,000 years.
After WWII Ho Chi Minh continued the nationalist movement in his country, but
the US saw him as a communist. Yet the war intensified during the Johnson years
with the Viet Cong, a guerrilla in
South Vietnam supported by the Northern Vietnamese and Ho Chi Minh. The war
became more intense during the LBJ campaign; he cleverly secured congressional authorization
for deepening American involvement in Vietnam. The Congress then passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in which the
President had nearly complete control over what the US did in Vietnam, without having
Congress ever officially declaring war. After LBJ’s reelection there was an escalation in the militia going to the
Vietnam War. During January the 30th of 1968, the Tet Offensive occurred in which the
Viet Cog attack numerous cities, including Saigon,
the South Vietnamese capital.
Viet Cong
The Vietnam War was a long, brutal
struggle. American soldiers were fighting a guerrilla war against a hidden
enemy, therefore friendly fire occurred often. Yet one of the things that shock
the most the American public was the My
Lai Massacre. In March 1968 the US soldiers were sent to the My Lai village
South Vietnam, supposedly hosting 250 members of the Vietcong. But the village
was filled with only women, children and old people. The soldiers went crazy
and ended up murdering innocent people. The American public now had had enough.
In June 1971, the New York Times published
secret documents from the pentagon in which LBJ had lied to Congress. This left
the American public in shock. Civil right movements started occurring, so the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
in 1960 developed. At the beginning it did not have much power, but at the end
it created great impact in politics, forming what was known as the New Left. Members of the New Left
believed that radical changes were the only way to solve problems such as
poverty and racism in the US. Several students found it outrageous to go to war
with Vietnam, so they started the teach-in.
The first one was in the University of Michigan in March 1965. Faculty members
protested against the war, the university threatened to fire them. So 50-60
professors decided to teach about a special night session in which issues
concerning the war could be aired. Such meeting had massive success all over
the country as it spread. Another movement was the conscientious objectors in which people who did not support the war
and the military service opposed fighting in the war on moral grounds.
Woodstock
In the 1960’s several Americans
began to look for alternatives to traditional patterns of living. The young
were some of the most involved; this was known as the counterculture. They experimented with the way they dressed, sexual
relationships, and also drug usage, several members of this time period were
involved in politics, most weren’t. Another great part of the 60’s
counterculture were psychedelic drugs, which are drugs that cause the brain to
behave abnormally (yet not addictive as Narcotics), such drugs were Marijuana,
LDS, Magic Mushrooms, Hashish, Speed (various amphetamines), and others. This
was a time also of a musical revolution, groups such as The Beatles, The Doors,
Strawberry Alarm Clock, and others formed during this time. A great musical
event that occurred during this time was Woodstock,
known for its motto of “3 days of Music
and peace”.
Hippie's
The antiwar movements created
serious opposition to American involvement in Vietnam. One of the great stars
of this time of the Vietnam War was President Nixon, who said he had a secret
plan to end the war. This was known latter as the Vietnamization, which involved removing American forces and
replacing them with South Vietnamese soldiers. Yet peace was not easy to
balance since President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia in 1970 reignited the
protest movement on college campuses in the US. At Kent State University, students reacted angrily to the President’s
actions. It was hard for the US government to maintain peace and balance with
its citizens.
In conclusion, the 1960-1975 were
years which marked deeply the modern American society. From the Vietnam War
after effects due to its negative impact, and biological weapons usage. Also
its cultural revolution by the young in the struggle to change what had already
been established by previous generations. The war in Vietnam was one of America’s
greatest mistakes due to the social impact it had on its society and the
protest that happened at home due to the rejection the American public. Such rejection
formed the counterculture and gave birth to the Hippie’s which spread a new
culture of liberty and freely sexual relationships with great usage of drugs amongst
the young people. Nevertheless it was something that had to happen to form the
modern American society know to everyone nowadays.
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