Christine Allen
Writing 2010
9 December 2009
The War at Home
The United States is one of the major super powers of the world. We have the troops and the weapons, but what happened during the Vietnam War? The war started many years before the United States ever got involved. It started with The French who had colonized Vietnam in the 1800’s. In 1954 the Vietnam nation split into two, North and South Vietnam (Rosenberg). North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union and the Communist rule, while the South was backed by the United States, the Democrat party (Rosenberg). The United States wanted to enforce the Truman Doctrine, which states that the United States will support Democracy worldwide and fight against communist rule. The United States entered Vietnam August 2, 1965 (Rosenberg). Now at this time, the United States was already funding the South Vietnamese and sent over military advisers. The war continued and as more and more U.S. troops died, the more and more people at home got upset and started speaking out. They started seeing murder and horrible atrocities towards the Vietnamese people as well. The real fight for America was the war at home. The Vietnamese knew if they were able to hold in long enough they could prevail. The U.S. kept its involvement in the war until January 23, 1973 when the last American troop came home (Rosenberg). The fighting continued in Vietnam until 1975 when Vietnam was reunited under communist rule (Rosenberg). The North Vietnamese held strong and won the war. The war at home was a key reason for the loss of the war. Protests, civil disobediences and open objections to the Vietnam War, split the nation in tow and the Revolution began.
When the U.S. entered the war in 1965, there was an abundance of objections as thousands of troops entered the Vietnam Jungles. There were huge protests on University campuses. One school that really stood out and strongly objected the war was UC Berkeley. The students were part of many sit-ins and other huge protests that consisted of thousands of Berkeley students. As the years went on, the demonstrations grew more and more violent, resulting in hundreds of arrests. But as the years continued, less and less students took part in the demonstrations (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/calhistory/60s.html).
The University of California was not the only school to object to war. Universities all over the country were too, such as universities in Oklahoma. Protests grew dramatically on Oklahoma universities in 1964 when the military had a heavy movement into Vietnam (Miller). The government and FBI during this time radically tried to stop these demonstrations. In 1970 there was a huge increase in war protests in Oklahoma when President Nixon moved troops into Cambodia. Thousands of students protested to boycott classes at the University of Oklahoma. Now Oklahoma was not the only place in the United States to protest strongly against the Vietnam War. California also had strong protests, especially at the University of California Berkley. There was also a strong movement in San Francisco by the hippies. The protests ceased in March of 1973 when the final American troops came home (Miller).
While college students around the country were protesting, there were many other groups of individuals, doing their part, the hippies. Fred Stern writes, “They were symbolized by the flower children.” The hippie movement revolved around the idea of peace. This inspiration of peace greatly came from the use of drugs such as marijuana and LSD. The hippies were commonly thought of as dirty and really poor. They lived in the city of San Francisco, right next to the University of California. Hippies had a wide variety of expressing their views through songs, protests, writings, and many other ways. Stern also says that one of the main events that describes the hippies is Woodstock. Woodstock was a huge music festival that lasted from August 15 to August 18, 1969. It featured many of the big bands from the day such as The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. At the festival over six hundred thousand people attended to express their views on the war, open mindedness, and their creativity. As Fred Stern wrote, “Today the influence of …the Hippies remains an undeniable part of our landscape, affecting our thinking and our creative perception.”
In addition to all the protests by hippies and college students, the troops were another major part in the war at home. When the U.S. troops first invaded, they were very affective. They also did not have a problem fighting in the war, but as the war continued in to the late 60’s the troops became more frustrated and less supportive of what they were doing. The 101st airborne division was very affective.
There are many movies about the Vietnam War, that depicts many different views on the war and show different emotions that the troops felt. Certain movies that come straight to mind about the Vietnam War are Platoon, We Were Soldiers, and even American Gangster. Platoon was a movie based on the later years of the war. The soldiers were depicted as dying all over the place and it really showed the fear and lack of commitment that the military men had. One of the scenes in the movie was based on an extremely important, vulgar part of the Vietnam War. The instance was My Li. At My Li the U.S. troops ransacked a village, brutally murdering many innocent people, while also tortured the people there. This was extremely bad, but one good thing that came of this instance was, a helicopter operator that was flying over the village, landed his chopper, had his machine gunners point their guns at our own troops and said if they continued this brutality they would open fire. His name was Captain Hugh Thompson and his crew was later awarded medals for their bravery to stand up to their own side. This was the major massacre that had leaked out but it was not the only case of these horrifying atrocities. Sir, No Sir over exaggerated the amounts of the instances. I am not saying they did not happen, but they did not happen at the alarming rate the documentary depicted.
Another movie that depicted the terrible things the troops were doing was American Gangster. In this film, it showed the corruption in the military, as they were the ones shipping heroin into America, were Frank Lucas, one of America’s biggest drug dealer, was getting his product.
We Were Soldiers is a completely different movie, which portrays the war a completely different way. There is a good reason for this too. At this time, it was very early in the war. The battle that took place was not fought in villages or in the heavily covered jungles that were later fought in. This battle was very important to both sides, because the North Vietnamese and the United States were testing each other out, seeing how to fight one another (Gallows). At the battle the U.S. whipped out an entire battalion of North Vietnamese (Gallows). After this catastrophic loss for the Vietnamese they new they could not stand a chance fighting a war toe to toe with the United States, and receded to fighting in the jungles (Gallows).
As the war moved on, more and more troops were dying, not knowing why. They had lost all motivation, partially due to drug usage at the time. Another huge factor was the South Vietnamese were doing nothing. The troops did not see why they had to fight while the South did not help at all. This was extremely frustrating and one main reason for the their loss of motivation.
Many troops had now refused to fight and were going to jail for it. Keith Mather was one of those individuals. He and a group of soldiers chained themselves up to ministers in a church. It took the United States government three days to finally figure out how to deal with this problem. They refused their orders and decided to not go to Vietnam. They spent a few years in prison for their actions. This action was called The Nine For Peace (Sir, No Sir). Another alternative to getting drafted or opposing their orders, was Canada. Some Americans left the United States in fear of the draft or just because they wanted to avoid going to Vietnam. These people were known as conscientious objectors. Now as people refused to go and people left to Canada, there was still a considerable amount of people who wanted to go to Vietnam, thinking it was their duty to their country. A lot of the people that did this were military students from West Point who wanted combat experience so they could get higher in the rankings for their military careers.
The war continued and more and more G.I.’s were opposing their duties. Some came back from Vietnam and would tell the new recruits what was happening. The main place for these casual meetings was in coffee houses, were soldiers and antiwar members were free to gather and express their opinions and enjoy each other’s company. These coffee houses did not support the use of drugs and forbid them in the shops. Another thing that arouse from these coffee houses were underground newspapers that would spread propaganda against the war (Sir, No Sir).
Towards the end of the war, troops openly refused to fight in battle and would not leave on their patrols. One way they made their points clear, were the fraggings. This was where troops would attack their officers with fragmentation grenades. The troops would throw these grenades into the tents of the officers at night while they were sleeping.
There were many different anti-war parties that would spread propaganda through meetings, interviews, the newspapers and coffee houses. One of the major antiwar groups was FTA, which stands for Fuck The Army. This had a very derogatory meaning and showed the complete lack of support for a military that protects a great country. This slogan was derived from the army’s own slogan, Fun Travel and Adventure. This was the G.I. movements strongest group, which obtained many supporters outside the army, such as Jane Fonda (Sir, No Sir).
Jane Fonda is one of the most controversial and disliked people that were talked about at the time and still to this day. She was an upcoming actress who stepped out and voiced her opinion, at first. She was a strong supporter of FTA, who traveled across the U.S. and spoke out against the army. Fonda and her part of FTA would change the words from Fuck the Army to Free the Army, but truly meant F the Army (Sir, No Sir). Later as she became more and more radical she embarked on a trip to North Vietnam. This is where she became hated and despised by many. She went over there to visit the American POW’s and saw how they were treated. She gave a radio broadcast expressing that the North Vietnamese were treating them humanly and were not torturing them or anything of that nature, but as the troops were let go they revealed how they were really treated and the horrors and degradation they had to endure while being a POW in the hands of the Vietnamese. Outraged Jane call them all, “hypocrites and liars.” At this time period certain individuals thought that Fonda was committing treason, yet the government did not pursue her. Years had passed and she was trying to rebuild her image by rededicating herself to acting and finally in the year 1988 she publically apologized for what she had said by saying she was “thoughtless and careless” (Emery).
Although the country was filled with the antiwar movement, there were those who still supported the war. One large group that supported the Vietnam War, besides the government, was the NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The head of the NAACP, Roy Wilkins, was a strong supporter of President Johnson. Glen Inghram wrote about Wilkins support by saying, “Wilkins also believed that the increasing role of young African-American males in Vietnam would further legitimize their overall stature within American society, a view also held by prominent leaders including Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.” The NAACP was not the only ones to support the war. Others include Bob Hope, a comedian who was sent to Vietnam to entertain the troops. Others supporters were those of the older generations.
Besides the support little support in the United States, Australia also was a supporter of the South Vietnamese, sending around two hundred thousand troops and thirty military advisers to the country. They were to serve alongside the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade. Australia stayed in the war just as long as the United States did, withdrawing most of the troops in 1973 (http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.asp).
Never has this country been more unsupportive for a war. Troops were demoralized, both by what they were doing themselves and how they were treated at home. The anti-war movement for the Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on the military. Protests were rampant throughout the country, from colleges to the hippies, spreading to the U.S. veterans themselves and anti-war groups such as FTA, and supporters like Jane Fonda, started a revolution that will never be forgotten. Vietnam will never be forgotten and the war at home has left a lasting impression that should never be repeated.
Works Cited
Australian War Memorial - Vietnam War 1962–75." Australian War Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.
Emery, David. "Jane Fonda in Vietnam." 3rd Marines,3rd Marines in Vietnam, USMC Vietnam Veterans, Vietnam Vets,USMC Award Certificates,Replacement award certificates. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2009.
Galloway, Joseph L., and Harold G. Moore. We were Soldiers Once...And Young: Ia Drang--The Battle That Changed The War In Vietnam. 1 ed. New York: Random House, 1992. Print.
Inghram, Glen. "NAACP SUPPORT OF THE VIETNAM WAR: 1963-1969." Western Journal of Black Studies 2006 30.1 (2006): 54-61. Military & Government Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2009.
"Days of Cal | Berkeley in the 60s." Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE. University of California, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2009.
Miller, John W.. "VIETNAM WAR PROTESTS." Oklahoma State University - Stillwater - Home. Oklahoma Historical Society, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2009.
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Vietnam War - A History of the Vietnam War." 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.
Stern, Fred. "Bookmarkable URL intermediate page." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
American Gangster (Two-Disc Collector's Edition). Dir. Harris Savides. Perf. Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Universal Studios, 2007. DVD.
Platoon (Special Edition). Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Keith David Forest Whitaker Francesco Quinn Kevin Dillon John C. McGinley. Mgm (Video &Amp; Dvd), 1986. DVD.
Sir! No Sir! - The Suppressed Story of the GI Movement to End the War in Vietnam. Dir. David Zeiger. Perf. Louis Font, Hal Muskat, Susan Schnall. Docurama, 2005. DVD.
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition). Dir. Randall Wallace. Perf. Mel Gibson. Paramount, 2002. DVD.
