Values and Beliefs

The values and beliefs for the us during the Vietnam war changed because people were mad about the U.S. fighting a war that we were not a part of. People started to not follow the government and they started protesting for the war to end and for rights for African Americans

Tactics

During all the wars before this, warfare was organized somewhat and was fought in fields and deserts. This war was different because it was fought in the jungle. This started “guerilla warfare”. The native people who were used to the jungle started to use sneak attacks and booby traps. This threw the U.S. off because we had not trained to fight like this.

Home front

Back at home things were changing and the government was losing control. The antiwar movement started and millions of people started to protest. Their plan was to get Americans out of Vietnam because they believed that we shouldn't be there.

Music

During this time people's creativity went up in their music. In the 1960's most of the new music was about the Vietnam war.

Propaganda

During this time America put out propaganda in effort to stop communism from spreading around the world. They said that if south Vietnam fell then communism would spread which would hopefully make the American people support the cause.

Protest

At this time in U.S. history people were outraged at the military for going somewhere we didn't belong. They believed that soldiers were dying for no true cause. People were also protesting African American rights. The African Americans were sent to the front line to fight where people would die the most.

Media

The war impacted the media in a positive way. In the 1950’s 9% of American homes had a TV. Then due to the war being broadcasted on the TV in 1964 93% of American families had a TV. Now more people were listening to what the media had to say.

Economy

The economy was affected in a large way during the Vietnam war. Factories that made consumer goods were now being forced to make weapons and other things needed for the war for the military. This caused inflation because everything was more expensive because it was more expensive to make.

Government/Foreign Policy

After this war America dropped the draft system. To replace this system they made the military something that you can volunteer for. This impacted the president because the congress decided to stop giving the president so much power.

Draft

When you are 18 years old you are required by law to sign up for the draft. This meant that kids our age new that as soon as they were out of high school they were going straight to the military. This system angered people because the did not get a choice to fight or not to fight for someone else's belief.

Family Roles

During the war women gained new responsibilities. Now that all the men were gone someone would need to provide for the family and more women would be needed for jobs that originally were only done by men.

Reintegration into society

After the war many soldiers found it difficult to go back to having a normal life. A lot of them saw some things in the war that gave them PTSD. This made it hard for them to get jobs and live with their families because they were so mentally unstable.

Purpose

The purpose of this war was to prevent the spread of communism. This was what the government told everyone and people did not support that as a good enough reason for soldiers to die.

Race Equality

During the war African Americans were supposed to be “free” but they still found themselves dealing with segregation, even in the military. African American troops were all put together and sent to the front line to fight. This was not fair because this was the most dangerous place to be in the war.