The empire of the United States would never be the same again as the Vietnam war raged within the 60s, ended in the 70s, and cut the rope of trust between American society and government. Like most wars, the US had a strong history to stop communism and promote their capitalisic empire, as stated by Alexis J. during the economic club in detroit. “Why is it (Vietnam) desirable and why is it important? First, it provides a lush climate, fertile soil, rich natural resources, a relatively sparse population in most areas… produces rich exportable surplus such as rice… and many others” However, the war wasn’t unjust because of the atrocities faced between 1950 and 1975 (and so on), but rather the policies that the US government had warped. Because of the actions the US has create, 500,00 soldiers died between 1965 to 1973 and about 3 million Vietnamese in their own country. The war also had the “greatest anti war the nation had ever experienced” (Howard Zinn). The war (compared to others) was an abstract concept as US citizens didn’t know what exactly they were fighting for. The Gulf of Tonkin act, which insisted the president to gain power with military acts, was faked by the CIA members who staged an event where North Vietnamese boats fired at American destroyers. However, by the time the truth came out, the damage was already done and a full scale war started between Vietnam and the US government. To the US citizen, it had a devastating effect as it asked the question; What were we fighting for ? The realistic fiction The Things They Carry w ent deep into the concept of Vietnam and what the psych of the troops fighting during Vietnam. Showing that, despite being human beings, most of the soldiers feel chaotic neutral because of their lack of cause. Almost as machines. Vietnam on the other hand realized what they were fighting for and what the cost were. They fight against the oppressive rain of the French and also against the US who would do the same thing. As stated by the Asian Political Alliance (1971) “For the Vietnamese, the human element...comes first. There is nothing they could do without the people..” What makes this more impactful was during the French attempt to regain Vietnam and the assistance of US, (1950s) there was mass propaganda from America and even development in certain cities as a way to “stop communism” and create acceptance of US embassy: “To secure maximum propaganda advantage, zealous US aid drop pamphlets into villages..(indicating)...that the programs were gifts… contrasting the “real gains” made by “communist empty promises” (America Longest War pg 17) 50 million dollars from the current President Truman were given to Vietnam in its communities, yet the Vietnamese people knew better as stated in the next page. “The Truman Policy brought only limited results”. As time grew on, the French grew tired from war and allowed Independence of Vietnam: “ (by 1952) the French control had been reduce to enclaves around Hanoi, Haiphong…” (America’s Longest War) By 1955, peace treaties were already being made and Vietnam was almost out of problems except one obstacle despite not being needed anymore;
“Firmly committed itself to the fragile government of Ngo Dinh Diem, (America) eased the French out of Vietnam...” The American’s goal wasn’t to aid their ally into taking back their territory nor was it too bring indepence or “protection” from Communism. It was to make Vietnam their own colony despite moral values contradicted otherwise. They had slipped into a territory and pretended that this was all by circumstance, but the Vietnamese knew better. This idea wasn’t better demonstrated than Diem, who even both the French and some Americans knew was a negative choice. “(Diem) looked backwards to an imperial Vietnam that no longer existed” (America Longest War). After the atrocities he did, he was later executed by the people and only US embassy was in Saigon without any French in sight. Vietnam was now only facing a brand new monster. Fast forward ten years later where simply military attacks were done onto Vietnam but didn’t launch a full scale war. So, as history states, the Tonkin resolution was born, which gave the president Johnson in 1965 “all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the United States and to prevent further aggression” (Congress). The Tonkin event (which we remember was faked) turned the president’s polls “from 42 to 72 overnight” (Zinn) and congress was fully betrayed when the event was shown to be false. However, the war didn’t get to its extremes yet since Johnson needed to attack specific targets in North Vietnam. The reason the Johnson didn’t go full war during the time was he needed“temporarily silence his hawish critics inside and outside of the government” ( America’s Longest War) Two effects because of this resolution would happen within US policy. The first being a draft process that was taken advantage from by the government. The Selective Service Act of the 1940 had a policy that “mobilized American-civilian soldiers in the anticipation of the entry into WWII” and during the Korean war deferments were given to college students to finish studying and then join. The problem here is it meant lower income students were meant to fight more within the war rather than college student and at most times lower income didn’t even have a choice. More than 80% of soldiers were lower income and “during 1965, over 200,000 American soldiers were sent to South Vietnam and in 1966, 200,000 more.” (Zinn) This lead to a major disinterest within the war more and more both through lower and higher class. “College education, 27 percent suggested withdraw from Vietnam; of people with grade school education, 41 percent were for immediate withdrawal” (University of Michigan) This was also true for the American public in general. “In August of 1965, 61 percent of the population thought of the American involvement wasn’t wrong. By May 1971, it was exactly reversed; 61 percent thought the involvement was wrong.” (Zinn) This was extremely ironic for Johnson who originally was the peace candidate as 300,000 men annually would go to Vietnam. “ (America) give the people on the periphery of Asian communism in time...eventually to live in peace and stability with their powerful neighbors” (America’s Longest War). It now turned to Johnson to “dismissed out of hand any thought of American Withdrawal from Vietnam..”( America’s Longest War)
“The more unpopular the Saigon regime became, the more dependent it was on the on the United States. The more dependent it was on the United States, the more unpopular it became.” (Revolution and Evolution) Both the American and Vietnamese people wanted the war to end and American society did its part by heavily protest into the 70s. Nixon, now the new president of the US, tried sending soldiers in Cambodia and almost unleashing a brand new war onto the mix. Nixon succeeded at some level, but congress denied it as “Congress passed a resolution declaring American troops should not be sent to Cambodia with its (Congress) approval, ” (Zinn). Despite Nixon’s original promise to not be affected by protest, the anger of Cambodia swirled within American citizens and Nixon create a “plan” to get America out of the war. “Vietnamization” was the solution in which “The United States withdrew its forces, continuing to give aid to the Saigon government” had been developed as Nixon's and US government’s final plan, as well as large amounts of bombings, but that didn’t even work. “North Vietnamese launched attacks in early 1975 against major cities in South Vietnam...American Embassy fled along with the Vietnamese who feared communism rule and the long war of Vietnam was over. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city and both parts of Vietnam were unified as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” (Zinn) Vietnam was, by far, the most unjust war that had ignored the protest of Americans, had severely wounded the nation of Vietnam, and create a conflict that was meant to end the second the Vietnamese gained their independence. Yet the US attacked Vietnam even when France had given up and showed the worst of what America had to offer. Yet, the Americas still lost with all their might because it was agreed even by the majority that Vietnam had suffered enough. So, American government now had to face the consequences as the rope of trust between citizen and government was broken permanently till the end of the nation. “The Americans fight a mechanical war but the Vietnamese fight a people’s war. For the Vietnamese the human element always comes first. There is nothing they can do without the people. The people are their support and the people are their warriors and the people are their political belief.” (Asian Political Alliance)
The War in Vietnam, originally, was never supposed to include the US, but “free world” had enter between an Independence War from the French and want to take colonize Vietnam. In post WWII, the Russians and US had separate their alliance to defeat Nazi Germany from the evil the germans produced. However, the peace didn’t last long and a series of conflicts lead to Communism flooding over Asia and capitalism remaining in tact or Western Europe. Hence forth, the Cold War began. Meanwhile, a young man named Ho Chi Minh, son of a farmer was returning to Vietnam after a life finding journey. He had been traveling since the end of WWI and saw the capitalist states (Europe) fighting against resources and trying to assert dominance. He worked within the French Communist party and returned Vietnam, free his fellow comrades from the hard foot of the French. Since France was still recovering from Nazi Germany, the Vietnamese gained an advantage and only had a moment of peace with full independence for only a few weeks. During this time, the US was fighting within the Korean War (also known as the “Forgotten War”) that failed to keep the bounds of North Korea from communism. After a few weeks in Freedom, the French was US aid tried to take Vietnam back politicly. France failed but the US still kept with policy making, adding a figure known as Ngo Dinh Diem into the mix. Setting up base in the Sagaion, the Pentagon Papers put simply as “ South Vietnam was essentially the creation of the US.” This then lead to a series of events that brought the Nation Liberation Front (North Vietnam) , Johnson’s Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and in 1965 the US fighting with all its might and lost despite better technology and military in 1975.
Herring C George, “America’s Longest War: United States and Vietnam”, University of Kentucky, America in Crisis, 1979 Zinn Howard “A People’s History of the United States” , HarperCollins Publishers: Modern Classics, 2005 James and Grace Lee Boggs “Revolution and Evolution in the 20th Century”, First Modern Reader, 1975, Brown O. and others “The Military Draft During the Vietnam War”, Michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu, Resistance and Evolution, Web, 2019