09-17-2018, 12:08 AM
THE VIETNAM WAR WAS KNOWN AS THE SECOND INDOCHINA WAR; AND IN VIETNAM AS THE RESISTANCE WAR AGAINST AMERICA;WAS A CONFLI THAT OCCURRED IN VIETNAM; LAOS AND CAMBODIA FROM 01 NOVEMBER 1955TO THE FALLEN OF SAIGON ON 30 APRIL 1975,IT WAS THE SECOND OF THE INDOCHINA WARS AND WAS OFFICIAL FOUGHT BETWEEN NORTH VIETNAM AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH VIETNAM
THE NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY WAS SUPPORTED BY THE SOVIET UNION,CHINA AND OTHER COMMUNIST ALLIES, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE WAS SUPPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRALIA, THAILAND AND OTHER ANTI-COMMUNIST ALLIES, THE WAR WAS CONSIDERED A COLD WAR-ERAPROXY WAR BY SOME US PERSPECTIVES,THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS BELIEVED THAT THE WAR WAS UNJUSTIFIED, THE WAR WOULD LAST ROUGHLY 19YEARS AND WOULD ALSO FORM THE LAOTIAN CIVIL WAR AS THE CAMBODIA CIVIL WAR,WHICH ALSO SAW ALL THREE COUNTRIES BECAME COMMUNIST STATES IN 1975.
MANY IN THE PEACE MOVEMENT WITHIN THE US WERE STUDENTS,MOTHERS,ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT HIPPIES, OPPOSITION GREW WITH PARTICIPATION BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS, WOMEN'S LIBERATION AND CHICANO MOVEMENTS ALSO SECTORS OF ORGANIZED LABOR, ADDITIONAL INVOLVEMENT CAME FROM MANY OTHER GROUPS, INCLUDED EDUCATORS, CLERGY, ACADEMICS,JOURNALISTS, LAWYERS, PHYSICIANS SUCH AS (BENJAMIN SPOCK), AND MILITARY VERTERANS,THEIR ACTIONS CONSISTED MAINLY OF PEACEFUL, NONVIOLENT EVENTS,FEW EVENTS WERE DELIBERATELY PROVOCATIVE AND VIOLENT, IN SOME CASES POLICES USED VIOLENT TACTICS AGAINST PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS.
EARLY 1967,ACCORDING TO GALLUP POOLLS,AN INCREASED MAJORITY OF AMERICANS CONSIDERED USA MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM TO BE A MISTAKE,ECHOED DECADES LATER BY THE HEAD OF AMERICAN WAR PLANNING,FORMER USA SECRETARY OF DEFENSE(ROBERT MC NAMARA), VIETNAM PROTESTERS IN WICHITA, KANSAS, 1967,THE DRAFT,A SYSTEM OF CONSCRIPTION THAT MAINLY DREW FROM MINORITIES AND LOWER ALSO THE MIDDLE CLASS WHITES, DROVE MUCH OF THE PROTEST IN THE YEAR 1965.
CONSCIOUS OBJECTORS, PLAYED AN ACTIVE ROLE DESPITE THEIR SMALL NUMBERS,THE PREVAILED SENTIMENT THAT THE DRAFT WAS UNFAIRLY ADMINISTERED,INFLAMED BLUE-COLLAR AMERICAN,SPECIALLY AFRICAN-AMERICANS,OPPOSITION TO THE MILITARY DRAFT ITSELF,THIS OPPOSITION TO THE WAR AROSE DURING A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED STUDENT ACTIVISM,WHICH FOLLOWED THE FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,THE MILITARY DRAFT MOBILIZED THE BABY BOOMERS.
BABY BOOMERS WERE MOST AT RISK BUT IT GREW TO INCLUDE A VARIED CROSS-SECTION OF AMERICANS, THE GREW OPPOSITION TO THE VIETNAM WAR WAS PARTLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE GREATER ACCESS TO UNCENSORED INFORMATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE TELEVISION COVERAGE ON THE GROUND IN VIETNAM,BEYOND OPPOSITION TO THE DRAFT ,ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS ALSO MADE MORAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST USA INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM,THAT MORAL IMPERATIVE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE WAR WAS SPECIALLY POPULAR AMONG AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS, WHO WERE MORE LIKELY THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO ACCUSE THE UNITED STATES.
THE CIVILIAN DEATHS, WERE DOWNPLAYED OR OMITTED ENTIRELY BY THE WESTERN MEDIA,BECAME A SUBJECT OF PROTEST WHEN PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE(NGUYEN NGOC LOAN) SHOOTS AN ALLEGED TERRORIST IN HANDCUFFS DURING THE TET OFFENSIVE ALSO PROVOKED PUBLIC OUTCRY INTERVENTION IN VIETNAM WHICH HAD BEEN ARGUED AS ACCEPTABLE BECAUSE OF THE DOMINO THEORY AND THE THREAT OF COMMUNISM WAS NOT LEGALLY JUSTIFIABLE.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS OF EARLIER DECADES LIKE (W.E.B. DU BOIS) WERE OFTEN ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND ANTI-CAPITALIST,PAUL ROBERTSON WEIGHED IN ON THE VIETNAMESE STRUGGLE IN 1954,CALLED (HO CHI MINH)"THE MODERN DAY"(TOURSAINT L'OVERTURE),LEADED HIS PEOPLE TO FREEDOM ,THIS FIGURES WERE DRIVEN FROM PUBLIC LIFE BY (MC CARTHYISM,HOWEVER,AND BLACK LEADERS WERE MORE CAUTIOUS ABOUT CRITICISING USA FOREIGN POLICY AS THE 1960s BEGAN BY THE MIDDLE OF DECADES,(MALCOM X AND ROBERT PARRIS MOSES),SPOKE OUT,MUHAMMAD ALI RISKED HIS CAREER IN PRISON IN 1966,SOON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR,CORETTA SCOTT KING AND JAMES BEVEL BECAME PROMINENT OPPONENTS OF THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
THE UNITED STATES HAD BEEN UNSUCCESFUL IN THEIR MISSION OF SAVING SOUTH VIETNAM FROM FALLING PREY TO THE COMMUNISTS,ON APRIL AND MAY 1971,THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE,CHAIRED BY SENATOR ( J.WILLIAMS FULBRIGHT), HELD A SERIES OFF 22 HEARINGS,ON APRIL 22-1971,FUTURE SENATOR AND FROM 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (JOHN KERRY) BECAME THE FIRST VIETNAM VETERAN PRESIDENT.
THE NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY WAS SUPPORTED BY THE SOVIET UNION,CHINA AND OTHER COMMUNIST ALLIES, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE WAS SUPPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRALIA, THAILAND AND OTHER ANTI-COMMUNIST ALLIES, THE WAR WAS CONSIDERED A COLD WAR-ERAPROXY WAR BY SOME US PERSPECTIVES,THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS BELIEVED THAT THE WAR WAS UNJUSTIFIED, THE WAR WOULD LAST ROUGHLY 19YEARS AND WOULD ALSO FORM THE LAOTIAN CIVIL WAR AS THE CAMBODIA CIVIL WAR,WHICH ALSO SAW ALL THREE COUNTRIES BECAME COMMUNIST STATES IN 1975.
MANY IN THE PEACE MOVEMENT WITHIN THE US WERE STUDENTS,MOTHERS,ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT HIPPIES, OPPOSITION GREW WITH PARTICIPATION BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS, WOMEN'S LIBERATION AND CHICANO MOVEMENTS ALSO SECTORS OF ORGANIZED LABOR, ADDITIONAL INVOLVEMENT CAME FROM MANY OTHER GROUPS, INCLUDED EDUCATORS, CLERGY, ACADEMICS,JOURNALISTS, LAWYERS, PHYSICIANS SUCH AS (BENJAMIN SPOCK), AND MILITARY VERTERANS,THEIR ACTIONS CONSISTED MAINLY OF PEACEFUL, NONVIOLENT EVENTS,FEW EVENTS WERE DELIBERATELY PROVOCATIVE AND VIOLENT, IN SOME CASES POLICES USED VIOLENT TACTICS AGAINST PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS.
EARLY 1967,ACCORDING TO GALLUP POOLLS,AN INCREASED MAJORITY OF AMERICANS CONSIDERED USA MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM TO BE A MISTAKE,ECHOED DECADES LATER BY THE HEAD OF AMERICAN WAR PLANNING,FORMER USA SECRETARY OF DEFENSE(ROBERT MC NAMARA), VIETNAM PROTESTERS IN WICHITA, KANSAS, 1967,THE DRAFT,A SYSTEM OF CONSCRIPTION THAT MAINLY DREW FROM MINORITIES AND LOWER ALSO THE MIDDLE CLASS WHITES, DROVE MUCH OF THE PROTEST IN THE YEAR 1965.
CONSCIOUS OBJECTORS, PLAYED AN ACTIVE ROLE DESPITE THEIR SMALL NUMBERS,THE PREVAILED SENTIMENT THAT THE DRAFT WAS UNFAIRLY ADMINISTERED,INFLAMED BLUE-COLLAR AMERICAN,SPECIALLY AFRICAN-AMERICANS,OPPOSITION TO THE MILITARY DRAFT ITSELF,THIS OPPOSITION TO THE WAR AROSE DURING A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED STUDENT ACTIVISM,WHICH FOLLOWED THE FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,THE MILITARY DRAFT MOBILIZED THE BABY BOOMERS.
BABY BOOMERS WERE MOST AT RISK BUT IT GREW TO INCLUDE A VARIED CROSS-SECTION OF AMERICANS, THE GREW OPPOSITION TO THE VIETNAM WAR WAS PARTLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE GREATER ACCESS TO UNCENSORED INFORMATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE TELEVISION COVERAGE ON THE GROUND IN VIETNAM,BEYOND OPPOSITION TO THE DRAFT ,ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS ALSO MADE MORAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST USA INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM,THAT MORAL IMPERATIVE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE WAR WAS SPECIALLY POPULAR AMONG AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS, WHO WERE MORE LIKELY THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO ACCUSE THE UNITED STATES.
THE CIVILIAN DEATHS, WERE DOWNPLAYED OR OMITTED ENTIRELY BY THE WESTERN MEDIA,BECAME A SUBJECT OF PROTEST WHEN PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE(NGUYEN NGOC LOAN) SHOOTS AN ALLEGED TERRORIST IN HANDCUFFS DURING THE TET OFFENSIVE ALSO PROVOKED PUBLIC OUTCRY INTERVENTION IN VIETNAM WHICH HAD BEEN ARGUED AS ACCEPTABLE BECAUSE OF THE DOMINO THEORY AND THE THREAT OF COMMUNISM WAS NOT LEGALLY JUSTIFIABLE.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS OF EARLIER DECADES LIKE (W.E.B. DU BOIS) WERE OFTEN ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND ANTI-CAPITALIST,PAUL ROBERTSON WEIGHED IN ON THE VIETNAMESE STRUGGLE IN 1954,CALLED (HO CHI MINH)"THE MODERN DAY"(TOURSAINT L'OVERTURE),LEADED HIS PEOPLE TO FREEDOM ,THIS FIGURES WERE DRIVEN FROM PUBLIC LIFE BY (MC CARTHYISM,HOWEVER,AND BLACK LEADERS WERE MORE CAUTIOUS ABOUT CRITICISING USA FOREIGN POLICY AS THE 1960s BEGAN BY THE MIDDLE OF DECADES,(MALCOM X AND ROBERT PARRIS MOSES),SPOKE OUT,MUHAMMAD ALI RISKED HIS CAREER IN PRISON IN 1966,SOON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR,CORETTA SCOTT KING AND JAMES BEVEL BECAME PROMINENT OPPONENTS OF THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
THE UNITED STATES HAD BEEN UNSUCCESFUL IN THEIR MISSION OF SAVING SOUTH VIETNAM FROM FALLING PREY TO THE COMMUNISTS,ON APRIL AND MAY 1971,THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE,CHAIRED BY SENATOR ( J.WILLIAMS FULBRIGHT), HELD A SERIES OFF 22 HEARINGS,ON APRIL 22-1971,FUTURE SENATOR AND FROM 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (JOHN KERRY) BECAME THE FIRST VIETNAM VETERAN PRESIDENT.