Vietnam War
By: Carli Hines P6
Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
The Vietnam War was a battle between the countries ruled by communism and the countries ruled by democracy. South Vietnam was backed by the democratic countries while North Vietnam was supported by the communist countries. The democratic countries include the US, South Korea, Australia, and Taiwan. The communist countries include China, the Soviet Union, and North Korea. The Vietnam war began on September 26, 1959 when the first battle between North and South Vietnam occurred. The US officially entered the war when the Gulf of Tonkin incident happened on August 5, 1964. The main goal of the US was to prevent North Vietnam from Taking over South Vietnam and the democracy. President Eisenhower was so fearful of the "domino effect" (which meant that if one country went communist so will everyone else) that he sent troops to aid South Vietnam. Many of these troops were eighteen year old boys that drafted into the army and were given very little training which is why the Vietnam War started to become controversial. Not only were the soldiers fighting a war overseas, they were fighting a war at home as well.
Perspective #1 "Baby Killers"
The US American troops were baby killers. Raiding homes of innocent family and killing them and their children. Because of this perspective created by the media, Americans were against the war and the troops. When the troops finally came home they were spat on and viewed as villains rather than heroes.
Perspective #2 "The Draft"
The draft was unfair against the families of America. The rich families were able to get their sons out of going to the war and the poorer families were often forced by the richer families to send their sons instead. If eighteen year-old boys are old enough to fight then they are old enough to vote. The draft made many American so upset the they began faking illnesses such as tuberculosis in order to escape it.
Media Bias Explained
The American soldiers were fighting against the Viet Cong who used guerrilla warfare and underground tunnels to fight back. This was a problem because the American soldiers couldn't tell the difference between the civilians and the enemy which forced them to kill many people that were innocent. The media portrayed the US Soldiers as "baby killers" because they would raid homes and kill people in the homes including the children. Often time the enemy would use children against the US by having them carry bombs in egg baskets, or strapping a bomb to the child's chest and having them walk to the American soldiers. The people back home didn't realize that the children were also our enemy and threatening our safety, all the media showed them was US soldiers killing babies. This sparked a lot of controversy in the US and fanned the flame of the war demonstrators and hippies cause against the war.
Because of the protesting against the war, America began to have a deficit of soldiers in Vietnam. This led to the draft which made Americans even more mad. The media portrayed the draft as unfair because richer families were paying the poorer families to send their sons instead, but the media made it look like the draft was sending all the poor people instead of the rich people. The media showed how others were getting out of the draft so that others could try to escape it as well. This wasn't fair to anyone that wasn't able to get out of the draft prior to these techniques and it also was t fair to America who was in desperate need of troops in the fight against communism.
Criticism #1- Historical
The Vietnam War was unlike any other war in the sense that the amount of opposition towards the war was outrageously high compared to any other war we've had. Could this happen again? Absolutely. There are many people against war and all for peace in the world. However, I don't think it would ever get out of hand as much as it did during the Vietnam War. There were people that were against the war in Iraq, but not nearly as many as there were against Vietnam.
Criticism #2- Marxist
Marxist criticism is seen in the Vietnam War in that, as mentioned earlier, the rich kids were able to escape the draft much easier than the poor kids. This gave the rich kids a greater chance at becoming something in life by staying home and being educated while the poor kids sacrificed their lives fighting the rich mans war. This shows how having money and power in society can get you many more things than just material items. Sometimes being poor can cost you your life, and sometimes being rich can save your life.
Link to newspaper article
Remembering The Vietnam War - "Imagine" by John Lennon