Culture of War - Vietnam By, Maddie Mesher

Values/Beliefs:

Richard Nixon dropped many bombs on North Vietnam, but nothing stopped North Vietnam. Nixon decided that bombing did nothing in the war. Nixon was determined to obtain, "peace with honor" which soon lead to the US ending their involvement in the war. However at the beginning of the war the American citizens didn't know that the US had entered the war. After a while the citizens stared to agree with all of the reasons for going to war.

Tactics:

Vietnam's most powerful weapon during this war were their homemade mines. These were very important in the Vietnam tactics because they would place them in the ground of open fields. When the US and South Vietnam troops drove over them they would explode. The American troops had air support, they had little planes that could fly straight up and down, they could also weave in and out of the mountains. These little planes were loaded with machine guns and small bombs. Both sides used machine guns, rifles, and tanks.

Home Front:

North Vietnam was allied with China and North Korea, South Vietnam was allied with the US, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Philippines. During the war North Vietnam and their allies lost around 510,115 people during the war. South Vietnam and their allies lost around 479,670 people. During the war all of the men were fighting in it and all the women were either nurses for the war or they stayed and worked.

Music:

During the Vietnam War Bob Dylan's songs related to the Vietnam War. His most famous song was called Blowin' in the wind. Most of his songs were anti-war and were also used for war propaganda.

Propaganda:

In America during the war propaganda was used a lot. It was used for the citizens to state their opinion in a peaceful way. Some people used propaganda through TV, newspapers, build boards, and posters. Most of these were campaigning against the war, this was the peoples way of telling the president that they didn't want this war. They used Mickey Mouse in a cartoon propaganda, they did this so children would understand the war in a simple way.

Protests:

During the 1960s and 1970s there were many protests because of the war. Most of these protests were in the United States. The protests started in 1945, the American citizens were not happy with the US getting involved in the Vietnam war. On October 21, 1967 one of the largest anti-war protests took place. During this protest 100,000 people gathered around the Lincoln memorial to protest against the war. Around 30,000 people the same day gathered around the pentagon to protest. Protesters were considered "hippies"

Media:

During the war 98% of families had TVs, most people relied on their TV to get the news and updates on the war. Vietnam was the first war to be documented on TV, most people were interested in watching it because they never knew what was going on in the war. Before the TV families would use radios and newspaper to get all of their news.

Economics:

During the war North Vietnam was doing pretty good, they conducted trade with their allies, they got some finical aide but not enough to ruin their economy. However the South relied on foreign aide the most. This didn't help there's or the US's economies. During the war Vietnam lost so many people that their human capital dropped a lot.

Government:

One reason that the US did poorly in the Vietnam War was because not everyone supported the starting of the war. The US government decided to enter the war without any US citizens knowing. Many people at this time said that the government was evil. If the US government told the people that there was a possibility of going to war then there wouldn't have been as many protests.

The Draft:

Because no one was expecting the war, there weren't very many men enlisted for the army. Therefore there was a draft, the draft was created for the Vietnam war. Any man of age 18-25 must register for the draft. If during those years they are drafted they must enlist in the war to fight for their country. However if they were disabled or in school they weren't allowed to be drafted.

Family Roles:

During the war 90% of women were war nurses. Most women were in Vietnam helping the military in any way, they would make food and clothes. The women who weren't in Vietnam were taking over the jobs that the men normally had. Without the women helping in the war so many more people would have died. Women also helped broadcast the war on TV, they were there recording it for others to watch at home.

Re-integration into Society

Many soldiers who came back from the war with PTSD. More Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than had died in it. Around 700,000 people who were drafted didn't get any benefits they were promised. People drafted were supposed to get an education, and medical benefits. Almost 3-quarters of a million people were homeless after the Vietnam war.

Purpose

South Vietnam wanted to stop the spreading of communism, North Vietnam was trying to spread communism. All of South Vietnam's allies, US, South Korea, Australia, and Thailand were all anti-communist. This was similar to the conflict that occurred in Korea during the Korean war. The two different Vietnamese governments were fighting for what they believed was right for the country.

North Vietnam Flag South Vietnam Flag

Race Equality

Vietnam was the first war that African Americans were encouraged to join the war. During the Korean and Civil Wars African Americans and white citizens were separated. The Vietnam war was the first to let the African American bunk with everyone else.

Credits:

Created with images by manhhai - "Vietnam War - 1975 US Force Equipment Material Destroyed - Press Photo"

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