Vietnam War
By: Tyler Schanz
History
The Vietnam war began in 1954 though conflicts for the Vietnamese went back to mid-1940's. The conflict pitted the north Vietnamese (communist) vs. the south Vietnamese (non-communist). Soon both sides' allies joined in the fight bringing in the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Then the devastating ground war began with the use of guerrilla tactics and chemical weapons. Then ended after the U.S. pulled out and the communists took over Saigon.
The Supporters
Though the Vietnam war wasn't supported by everybody, still some did support it and think it was the right thing to do. To the supporters it's looked at as a war on communism and that winning would save democracy. More have supported the domino theory, that if one country becomes communist the surrounding countries would follow. They believe that if we let communism spread to Vietnam that it will spread past that and even maybe to America.
The Majority
The majority of Americans didn't support the war believing it to be a pointless slaughter of people and soldiers. That we have lost too many lives already and to continue would kill countless more people for this belief of stopping communism. Most of the casualties of this war were innocent civilians that tried to live peacefully and stay out of the war. Yet many were killed trying to flee or communicate, then explaining that they looked as if they were reaching for a gun or bomb.
Biases
There were many media biases through the articles and reports. Most of them use source control by finding people that either support or disagree with the war depending on the agenda of the newspaper. They even send reporters there to get pictures that convey emotions that fit with their stance on the war. One such case is the picture of many caskets with a title saying Bring Our Troops Home. Also one with a picture of the communist flag and something about the spread of communism.
Archetypal criticism
Archetypal can be applied to the war, that communism is the bad guy trying to take over the world and democracy is the hero relentlessly trying to stop the bad guy. This criticism would mostly be along the war supporter's side as it explains why we are there fighting in the first place. That if we don't stop communism where it's at that it will spread from country to country until it reaches America.
Cultural criticism
Cultural criticism can be applied through that communism is extremely different from our culture. That since communism gives unlimited power to the government, Americans are not used to that and then need to fight back. This is to ensure that our culture lives on and is protected so that change doesn't happen so rapidly. People also don't like communism due to the power given to the government so that the people can be free to do as they choose just as they have for generations before.