• The Vietnam War

Background of the War:• 1800’s-Vietnam is a French

colony• WWII-French Indochina

controlled by Japan• 1945-Ho Chi Minh leads Vietnam

independence movement• 1954-Vietnam split into two

nations: Communist North/Democratic South

• 1955-1975-U.S. involvement in Vietnam War

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSCN4RcfW_I

Both Eisenhower and Kennedy sent support (military and economic aid) to South Vietnam under the policy of containment and belief in the domino theory.

US President 1960-1963US President 1952-1960

Containment

• U.S. foreign policyIntended to stop the Spread of Communism

Domino Theory

If one land or region falls to Communism the surrounding nations will follow in a domino effect.

Vietnam becomes President Johnson’s War

US President 1963-1968

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• Hesitant at first, Johnson changed his

mind on sending U.S. soldiers after North Vietnamese forces attacked U.S. ships in international water

• Congress gave the President authority to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the U.S.”

• Allowed the President complete control over what happened in Vietnam without an official declaration of war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd6zKqGcaOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOEH-xAMHRk

• Vietcong-communist guerrillas in South Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh Trail-supply route for Communist forces to the South

Tet Offensive

• Communist forces surprise attack American bases

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8h4Z091Ik&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8h4Z091Ik&feature=related

• Battles were mostly fought in jungle, tropical conditions

• American soldiers couldn’t trust anybody (South Vietnamese), led to confusion, brutality, and the My Lai Massacre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHk4TGWx0ZM

• Students protested American involvement in the war on college campuses.

Kent State

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywKe8ezL8vI

Hawks vs. Doves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xD8j8ye9k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vUQkLnc4xY

#1 on Billboard Chart in 1966

Written in 1965 but released in 1967"The Ballad" sold 12 million copies, a million in Japan alone and "went into nine versions in Germany," even though it was banned in East Germany where the government labeled the Green Berets "perverts", liking them to the Nazi SS. The first royalty check was for a quarter of a million dollars. That day Sadler, dumped on the living room floor in front of his wife Levona, $50,000 in cash. He had never earned more than $5,000 a year.

"And I'd been wounded anyway. They took a chunk of beef out of my leg. I was on a patrol and stepped on a damn punji stick. Some Viet Cong had spent a few minutes sharpening a piece of bamboo and dumped it in a dung heap and there I was - infected and out of action. Can you imagine $50,000 of trained soldier sent home because of a lousy two-cent bamboo stick and manure? It was a hell of a war."...Barry Sadler (1940-1989)

The song attempts to put blame for the war upon the politicians and leaders of the US military and the industry that makes its money from war, but not upon those who had to fight the war... the soldiers. It expresses the thoughts of a person trapped in the military system and forced to go to war by something called "conscription." Conscription, or the "draft" as it was called, was a system that picked young people and forced them into the military and into the war. The only other choice was jail or an attempt to "dodge the draft" for religious, physical or mental reasons. It was very hard to get out of the draft because so many people were being killed in the war that they would take just about anyone. The song attempts to address the horror of going to war with a dark sarcastic form of humor called "GI humor." GI humor is a way people have of complaining about their situation so it will not get them in trouble and keep them from going insane in an insane environment: war.

The End of the WarPresident Johnson saw his approval ratings drop as a result of the War.

Richard Nixon used the policy of Vietnamization-expand role of South Vietnamese and reduce U.S. forces

• American withdrawal leads to the fall of South Vietnam, April 1975

• Cambodia and Laos also fall to Communistgovernments

Vietnam Civilians try to board a US helicopter at the US embassy in Saigon, 1975.

U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Blue Ridge push a helicopter into the sea off the coast of Vietnam in order to make room for more evacuation flights from Saigon on April 29, 1975.

A North Vietnamese tank rolls through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, marking the fall of South Vietnam to Communist forces on April 30, 1975. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, and the country was unified under Communist rule-msnbc.com

United States deeply affected after the War…

• 58,000 American lives lost

• 300,000 wounded• $150 billion spent• Bitter legacy that can

still be felt today

Media Influence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv11KilBpHQ

NBC also acquired film footage of the incident, thanks to the South Vietnamese journalist with Adams, Vo Suu, a cameraman for NBC correspondent Howard Tuckner. The color footage of the execution filmed by Vo Suu was shown to a stunned America already shocked by images of a supposed “defeated” on the offensive during the Tet attack. After the picture and footage flashed across the world there were cries for Loan to be charged with War Crimes for his summary execution of Lem. Loan's execution would have violated the Geneva Conventions for captured soldiers or Prisoners of War (POWs) if Lem had been wearing a military uniform. Since Lem was caught wearing civilian clothes, plaid shirt and black shorts, Loan was only restricted by the laws of the South Vietnamese government, which allowed the use of such harsh measures.

–famouspictures.org

Passers-by stop to watch as flames envelope a young Buddhist monk, Saigon, October 5th, 1963.

The man sits impassively in the central market square, he has set himself on fire performing a ritual suicide in protest against governmental anti-Buddhist policies. Crowds gathered to protest in Hue after the South Vietnamese government prohibited Buddhists from carrying flags on Buddha's birthday. Government troops opened fire to disperse the dissidents, killing nine people, Diems government blamed the incident on the Vietcong and never admitted responsibility. The Buddhist leadership quickly organized demonstrations that eventually led to seven monks burning themselves to death.

-vietnampix.com

The Things They Carried…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP4GaprkAJg

They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches, and dog tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LURP-Rations, and C-Rations stuffed in socks. They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets, and steel pots.

They carried the M-16 assault rifle. They carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-79 grenade launcher, M-14s, CAR 15s, Stoners, Swedish Ks, 66 mm Laws, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence. They carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives, and machetes.

Some carried napalm, CBUs, and large bombs; some risked their lives to rescue others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive.

They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworm, and leeches. They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones-real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that love: “Don’t mean nothin!”

They carried memoriesFor the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times

when panic set in, and people squealed-or wanted to, but couldn’t; when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said “Dear God” and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their parents, hoping not to die.

They carried the tradition of the United State Military, and memories and images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror, longing, and their reputations. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear: the embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it. They carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die at any moment. They carried the weight of the world.

They carried each other.-Dr Barry R. Culhane (adapted from Tim O’Brien’s, Vietnam Veteran, The Things They Carried, 1990.)

THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

Remembrance

Fortunate Son-Creedence Clearwater RevivalSome folks are born made to wave the flag, Ooo, they’re red, white and blue. And when the band plays hail to the chief, Ooo, they point the cannon at you, y’all!

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, Son. It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one. No.

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand, Lord, don’t they help themselves, y’all! But when the taxman comes to the door, Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son. No, no. It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one. No.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes, Ooo, they send you down to war, y’all. And when you ask them, how much should we give? Ooo, they only answer more! More! More! Y’all.

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, Son. It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one.

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one. No, no, no. It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son. No, no, no.

Born in the USA-Bruce Springsteen

Born down in a dead man's townThe first kick I took was when I hit the groundYou end up like a dog that's been beat too much'Til you spend half your life just covering up[chorus:]Born in the U.S.A.Born in the U.S.A.Born in the U.S.A.Born in the U.S.A.

I got in a little hometown jamAnd so they put a rifle in my handsSent me off to a foreign landTo go and kill the yellow man[chorus]Come back home to the refineryHiring man says "Son if it was up to me"I go down to see the V.A. manHe said "Son don't you understand"[chorus]I had a buddy at Khe SahnFighting off the Viet CongThey're still there, he's all goneHe had a women he loved in SaigonI got a picture of her in his arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiaryOut by the gas fires of the refineryTen years burning down the roadNowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go

I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.Born in the U.S.A.I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.Born in the U.S.A.

Resources…

• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36859810/ns/news-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/

• http://www.vietnamwar.net/

• http://www.vietnampix.com/index.html

• http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm