Assignment: The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

HIS 135 July 10, 2011

The Vietnam War

Assignment: The Vietnam War

A good quantity of the unrest came from the connection of the war and students together. Most, if not all, of the Vietnamese students did not support the war and became very angry at the government and military for involving them in the draft. It became stressful for students when they started to worry about their grades putting them in jeopardy to be drafted. If their grades were below the very high standard of the military they were automatically drafted and were most likely killed in the war. The draft upset a lot of the students because they did not support the war, and had to fight in it, which cost them their lives most of the time. The students were also angry at the fact that the U.S invaded and caused detrimental tragedy via the Vietnamese government. They were in support of the civil rights action to allow women to have more, or equal the amount of rights as men; however, they did not appreciate the fact that Vietnam just allowed the war. This, also, led them to resent the government as well due to the fact that there was no effort made to stop the war and the violence that ensued. The students were tormented as they were not allowed to marry, have jobs, or have kids, etc, due to the fact that the country was focusing on nothing but the war. They had to wait around to see if they were going to be drafted and when it was going to happen. Also, the media of that time period played a role in the unrest as they made the Vietnamese veterans look like the villains of the war upon their return. There were a lot of killings of children and women during the actual battle because they were trained just like the soldiers to kill and injure foreign enemies. In retrospect, they were battling enemies that had potential to harm them or even kill them as well. But, the media made the Vietnamese soldiers appear as though they were killing children and women for the fun of it, and were horrible men for doing so. Obviously, this did not sit well with the more the students witnessing the

Assignment: The Vietnam War

destruction of the war as well. The unrest of the students, also, affected the war in smaller ways. The students protested against the war and started boycotts against anything that was involved with it including markets, businesses, etc. they knew that they were exempt from being drafted if they enrolled in college, but were still eligible for it when they graduated. They used this to their advantage and protested the war tried to try and end it to keep from being drafted. They used this to, also, say that the war was immoral and injustice towards the Vietnamese. The unrest was a vicious cycle as the government ordered the murder of some of the protesters on some college campuses, and thus created even more distrust and anger within the country. Socially, the war affected the soldiers in negative ways, more so than positive. The returning soldiers were emotionally and physically altered in ways that changed them horribly. Most of them lost limbs, were poisoned, or turned to alcohol and drugs to suppress the images of the war. This, in turn, was menacing to society as the individuals that were not on drugs and were mentally sane were the most uncomfortable. The other citizens were also affected socially as they were thrown into poverty from the cost of the war. Politically, there was an enormous cost from the war. There were over two billion men serving in the war, and over 58,000 were killed. This number is quite large in comparison to other wars and the starting number of men drafted. Also, the political cost was great as the war created more tensions between North Vietnam and South Vietnam which ended in a battle between the two. North Vietnam conquered the south and added to itself, becoming one united Vietnam. The Republic of South Vietnam, also disappeared which left Vietnam to become a communist country. Also, the country had to rebuild itself after being depleted from the war. This costs time money, which the Vietnamese only had one of those options. They had no food,

Assignment: The Vietnam War

water, or outside help due to the battle fought that was not supported by other countries. The country was basically cut off after their communist victory.

http://www.vietamericanvets.com/Page-Diaspora-BestOutcomeofVNWar.htm References
Davidson, J. (Ed.). (2006). Nation of nations: A concise narrative of the American republic (4th ed., Vol. 2). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ryan, J.S. (2008). Student Unrest and the Vietnam War. Associated Content. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1195187/student_unrest_and_the_vietnam_war_.ht ml The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Copyright 1999 by Oxford UP