Although many students were moved by the war, it also caused great changes to politics in the United States. It was an extremely trying time for student during the Vietnam War. Although you were able to avoid the war as a student once you graduated you were at risk for the draft. However, the war escalated and a Selective Service System operated on a lottery system was enacted forcing some students to join the war. These lottery systems lead way to college students using their campuses for large protests to stop the war in fear that if it continued they would be drafted (History and Records, 2009).
Now Iraq war veterans are not being welcomed home like Vietnam veterans but are not appreciated by a good amount of Americans. Instead of being thanked many Americans instantly go into their own political thoughts. Active duty soldiers are being threatened by the cut back of some benefits they deserve as well as no increase in pay. There are many similarities and differences between the treatment of our returning heroes from the past Vietnam War and the current Iraq War. The Vietnam War was also known by a number of different names, such as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict, or the American War.
Most saw nothing for the Republican Party in Baucus’s proposals making them not want to be apart of this. Emanuel began a campaign to convince the president to change his goals. But, Obama made his own decision and wanted a full bill. During these times, there was a lot of protest from the people. After the lose of Grassely, they also lost Edward Moore Kennedy, who actually died.
Cara War is something that you never want to experience, especially the war in Vietnam. Vietnam was an absolute mess because at no point was the United States as a whole on the same page about the war in general. Some believed that it was an important war that we needed to win and others believed that we had absolutely no business in Vietnam. As General Sherman said, “War is Hell,” but most vets would say that Vietnam was far worse than hell. They were placed into a war that from the start was impossible to win due to many circumstances and situations starting with the rules of war.
The Vietnam War Prior to Vietnam, most of the American population set high standards for their Congressmen, universities, and other official institutions. These views began to change in the 1960’s. Two basic viewpoints began to develop during this time. One group felt that even if intentions had been good for getting into the conflict, it was a losing battle that carried too large of burden both socially and economically and the United States needed to get out of Vietnam. The other group felt that we went to Vietnam for a reason and we should not leave until the job was completed.
Many American citizens in 1959 viewed the Vietnam War as a righteous battle against communism, similar to the Iraq War today however now many view this war as a necessary battle against terrorism. Looking at America's overall goal in Vietnam, it is evident that we did not come close to keeping South Vietnam from collapsing, who fell to communist rule in 1975 (Frankum 210). America's involvement in the conflicts of Vietnam and Iraq were so discordant that our government, people, and military were constricted. Yet both wars were fought with the knowledge that America may change the invaded nation, which brings a precarious question; what makes the government believe that they have the right to go into a country and change it to the way they
Many suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and countless other physical ailments that went unnoticed by the general public. Some people might believe that the Vietnam War was wrong in its entirety. As a result, those people might think that the Veterans are getting what they deserve for being over there. They believe that the soldiers deserved to be scorned when they got back, and not treated as heroes. In an article entitled The Vietnam Syndrome, John Kerry stated that, at the time, soldiers did not know the atrocities they committed in Vietnam were war crimes.
This, along with other factors led to the troop’s morale being dangerously low. Another turning point in the war, the Tet offensive, had lowered the troops’ Morales because it had planted the seed to the US public that the US may not be victorious in their quest to end communism but the events in My Lai only worsened the situation. Now the troops were mistrusted by the US public and were starting to doubt if they could win the war themselves. Although the US public mistrusted the army they mistrusted the Government more. Although the My Lai massacre happened in 1968 it was only released to the public more than a
The Vietnam War Heather Cameron Axia College of the University of Phoenix The Vietnam War Every good American, before the war in Vietnam, held their political leaders and Congressmen in high regard. It was during the 1960's that this viewpoint began to change as the American death toll began to rise. One major viewpoint, eerily similar to today, was that though the intentions of entering into the conflict were good, the fact that it seemed to be a losing battle and the costs seemed to be too high; it was time to pull out of Vietnam. The other side of that coin was that there was a purpose for going into Vietnam and we should not leave until the job was done (Schulzinger, 1999). It had not been since the early 1940's that the
The Volunteer Army For One The military draft has always been and forever will be a hard sell to the American people. Namely because they wouldn’t want to fight in a war they could careless about. This attitude shows in our rapidly declining military reserves, when our nation is involved in two major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The voices of the numerous protestors cry out the same three arguments into the media; It’s unfair! It’s against our rights!