Category: Vietnam War

Pre-Vietnam war time in the United States has already showed signs that some people were in major opposition judging the actions of the government. The time of the war confirmed that many Americans were against it and this could be evident from the great number of protests that took place. Some people were willing to go great distances in the movement against violent action.

Overall, usually strong American social unity was divided into two, those who supported the war and those who were against, but with the passage of time and acquisition of true understanding, the number of supporters drastically decreased.

During the 1960s and more particularly during the Vietnam War, United States has experienced a social movement that was a large scale separation between those who thought that military action against Vietnam was justified and those who made strong points that America had no place in Vietnam.

In the year 1965, more than half of American citizens believed that United States must take active part in the Vietnam Conflict. These Americans supported their government and this was enough for the authorities to rely on. But it is very concerning that the other half either were against or had no opinion.

Next year the number of supporters started to decline steadily but this was not enough and not a reason for the American troops to get withdrawn from Vietnam. A closer look at peoples reasoning in the opposition to the war shows a differentiation between classes within society, occupations and age groups. Those who were in support were mostly younger population. One of the possible explanations is that younger people are not as rational as the older population and do not have as much life experience.

But, at the same time, there was a very significant amount of younger population that was against the war. One of the reasons is the opposition to the drafting process. Even in the state of peace there are many people who oppose war and any violent conflict, even if there are good reasons for it. For example, pacifists believe that humanity, civilized people, should never resort to violence when resolving a conflict.

Many of the younger population were pacifists, as they were opposed to any violence. Those who did not want to get drafted realized that they would face harsh conditions and very possibly death. In comparison to those who supported the war, it is clear that the obvious majority were those who did not get drafted or were volunteers to participate in the military violent action. This created a great separation within the society in the younger population (Gilbert 23).

One of the strong points that came out of the drafting process was the separation between classes. It was those in the lower and middle socio economic class that would get drafted, with anyone in the higher class having a greater ability to avoid any unwanted participation in the matter. The fact that people started to take part in demonstrations and openly protest any drafting and involvement of the United States in the war, created even more attention towards the Vietnam Conflict.

People started to question the reasons and their views began to change. As they found out more of the details, the opposition grew and by April of 1968, the amount of supporters of the war was 40 per cent. In October of 1969, only 32 per cent of American citizens supported the war (Robbins 28).

The steady decline shows that people became educated about the reasons and the toll that was taking away lives of both Untied States soldiers and Vietnamese fighters for freedom, as well as a great number of civilians. Students were another great part of the protest to the Vietnam War. Very many colleges and universities, as well as teachers and professors, took part in active demonstrations, demanding the American government to withdraw the troops.

The gradual separation between the citizens and the American government began to emerge. People started finding out that justifications were false and fabricated. The explanation that the communist Vietnam would spread its influence around, causing other countries to join with the communists was exaggerated.

These fears came mostly from example of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism there (Hall 118). American citizens started to protest and the government did notice. Even those who were supportive of the war, started to change their views, as is evident from the polls that were taken. People started to realize that the war was causing more casualties and that Americans had no place in Vietnam. It was the conflict that Vietnamese people had to resolve for themselves, in the building of a better and more liberal future.

The older population was also being drafted but their opposing views were mostly due to humanity and understanding that an armed conflict, so far away from home and in another country with traditions and ways of life so different, would not end in success. Another great contributor to how the war was perceived and viewed by many Americans was the media.

An increase in the development of technology, more particularly television and videotaping, has played a key role in the transference of information. The events that took place so far away, were not really understood and felt by many people but televised coverage brought the war to peoples homes. The casualties, horror of aimless bombing and lack of reasoning were viewed by many and so, the outrage increased drastically (Hallin 110).

The graphic nature and content of the televised footage was experienced by many people and they were able to realize what their government and soldiers were doing to a culture that has been fighting for its own freedom. Then, the news emerged that the borders with other countries, who were not participating in the conflict, were also affected. The bombing of close-by sites and villages was pointless and illegal but nonetheless, happened.

The proof of this lies in many letters and reports of people from the villages in the region (Robbins 17). People have started to realize how far the actions of Americans and United States government have gone and that this needs to be stopped. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke very precisely of the war and the views that people had about it:

If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony&The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to life of her people (Landmark Speeches on the Vietnam War 105).

These words very truly state what United States has accomplished and how people felt about the Vietnam War. The atmosphere within the American society became extremely heated and it was clear that some changes will have to be made. At the time, the president of the United States was Lyndon Johnson and he was an avid supporter of the war, starting such a movement of the American citizens against the government.

The book Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists, demonstrates peoples outrage by the following: His popularity was at an all-time low; he could not appear publicly without a demonstration against him and the war. The chant LBJ, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today? was heard in demonstrations throughout the country (Robbins 19).

It is clearly evident that people started to get outraged by the United States involvement in the war and wanted it to stop. In the end, this has had a significant effect on the withdrawal of troops. The proof of this is that Lyndon Johnson declared that he is not going to run for presidency and people gave their votes to Richard Nixon who promised to remove the troops from Vietnam.

The movement against Vietnam War was so great and historically significant that it lead to womens rights movement and an increase in the demand for their acknowledgement of equality and freedoms. Even though they have been fighting for their own rights and freedoms throughout decades, their movement was very significant and primary, at that time. There were numerous committees that were formed, one of which was Women Strike for Peace.

Their slogans were in support of men who were against the war (Hall 43). Numerous groups of students, educators, racial minorities and classes have been forming committees and this has become a clear representation of the way people viewed the war. United States have become divided; one side was the minority that has kept their uneducated and blind hopes in the outcome of the war and the need for military presence and action.

It is as if the only reason they were supporting violence was the momentum they have gained in the beginning years of the war. The other side, the majority, has now understood that a great mistake was made and that it was very much an echo of the brutality and horrors that the world has already experienced during the two World Wars.

It would seem that people would try to never repeat such dehumanizing and pointless acts but examples of the breakage of the promise continue to the day. The anti-war movement has finally dominated the minds and hearts of Americans and Richard Nixon supported the nation and citizens. His policy, called Vietnamization was the beginning of an end for the US involvement in Vietnam (Wyatt 197).

The anti-war movement that Americans have demonstrated in relation to the Vietnam War illustrates an optimistic hope that it is people, their majority that believes in peace and goodness. Even though there are wars and armed conflicts, people will always voice their opinions against it, while governments, sometimes, follow a wrong path.

Works Cited

Gilbert, Marc. The Vietnam War on Campus: other voices, more distant drums. Westport, United States: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Print.

Hall, Di Mitchell. The Vietnam War: Second Edition. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education, 2007. Print.

Hallin, Daniel. The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam. Los Angeles, United States: University of California Press, 1989. Print

Landmark Speeches on the Vietnam War. Texas, United States: Texas A&M University Press, 2010. Print.

Robbins, Mary. Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists. Maryland, United States: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.

Wyatt, Clarence. Paper Soldiers: The American Press and the Vietnam War. Chicago, Untied States: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Print.

The involvement of U.S. combat troops in the Vietnam War led to historic incidences in the U.S. related to protest protocols. There were obviously some U.S. citizens who supported war and, on the other hand, there were some U.S. civilians who were against the war. Among the protesters of the war were college/university students. The student protests were so passionate that they eventually turned into riots that halted operations in most cities of the United States.

Efforts by guardsmen to counteract the riots led to the deaths of a number of students and protesters, and they also left a score of casualties. This had many effects on the socio-political structure of the United States with the masses losing their trust in their leaders and new anti-riot protocols being adopted (Roberts, 2005, p. 1). This paper explores the connection between the Vietnam War and student unrest and also looks into the socio-political changes that the two caused in the United States.

By the end of the 1960s decade, American colleges and universities had become increasingly tumultuous as more American troops were killed in Vietnam. The United States government had sent troops to Vietnam at the middle of the decade to help South Vietnam in their War. South Vietnam was fighting with North Vietnam which was governed by communists.

As the decade ended, more than 38000 Americans had lost their lives in the Vietnam War. This made the war increasingly unpopular among American citizens with college students being the most vocal against the Vietnam War (Ryan, 2008, p. 1).

The reason why students were actively involved in Vietnam War protests is because the government was forcing students to go to war after completion of their college education. Male students were expected to register for military service after attaining age eighteen.

They would then wait for two years after which the probability of being drafted for the war was very high. This is because American casualties in the war were many and replacement soldiers were required (Roberts, 2005, p. 1). Young men, therefore, hid themselves in colleges and were not thrilled by the approach of their graduation dates.

The students had to find a way out. Some of them went to hide in Canada while others opted for protests aimed at making the congress end the requirement of the students to go to Vietnam after graduation. This was the main connection between the Vietnam War and Protests by students. The most remembered of the student protests against Vietnam War was the protest by Kent University students.

It all started with the announcement by President Nixon on the 30^th day of April that the United States had decided to attack Cambodia. This led to the burning down of an army training centre in the Kent State. Several stores in town were also broken into. Loaded with M-1 rifles the guards went out searching the protesters and determine to utilise the combination of their arms with tear gas. Students then called for a rally during midday to continue their protests.

This led to a teargas-versus-stones battle between the guard officers and the students. The officers were overpowered by the students and they took refuge in a nearby hill where they opened fire killing four and injuring nine. This led to a week-long protest of students all over the U.S. who were angered by the Kent state shootings, the Vietnam War and several other grievances for specific universities (Roberts, 2005, p. 2).

An example of such protests were held by the by the University of Washington during the national strikes that took an approximate one week as a reaction to the Kent University shootings and a culmination of the student unrest over the involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam war and also the sending of students to Vietnam to die in the war after the completion of their studies.

The students from the University of Washington also had their institutional needs that they wanted the government to address during the week-long protests. They particularly wanted the government to give them their status as opponents of the war in Southeast Asia. These protests had a significant change on the social and political structure of the United States government.

As mentioned earlier, the Vietnam War and the resultant student protests had a lot of socio-political effects in United States. The financial repercussions brought about by the war weighed the United States government down to the extent that President Johnson had to increase taxes to finance the additional troops that were required with increased frequency. Social programs suffered greatly as their budgetary allocations were decreased substantially to finance the war.

Prior to the Vietnam War, the American public had confidence in their leaders (Ryan, 2008, p. 2). With the involvement of the American government in the war, the public was not able to figure out why a military intervention was necessary in Vietnam. This made the public lose their trust and confidence in their leaders and thus they stopped supporting those in government. The war also impacted the polls. Most American civilians held the idea that their government ought to stop exercising control over the rest of the world.

There was therefore a change in the preference of political candidates. The masses supported politicians who promised to help in ending the war. Republicans secured more political seats in the elections that followed with their counterparts, the democrats losing most of their political seats (Bexte, 2002, p. 1). The most significant impact of the involvement of university students in war protests was an overnight change in the way protests and riots were treated in the United States.

The famous picture of a fourteen-year-old female student crying over the killing of her fellow student in the Kent state riot scene remains indelibly imprinted in the minds of the Americans who saw it at the time. Whenever protests are counteracted by the police violently in the United States, the memory of the Kent state riot and the subsequent killing of four students occupy the minds of Americans (Ryan, 2008, p. 1). It can be argued that the Vietnam War student riots revolutionized protests in the United States.

The involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam War can be viewed to have been, arguably, a good thing. The forcing of young men to be involved in the war was, indubitably a bad thing but it gave the Unites States government and the world a very important lesson: that no government can force its young citizens to go to war and escape protests.

The financial crisis and political shift that followed the war was also a lesson. It is no doubt that the United States government remembers the Vietnam War and makes several considerations based on the Vietnam War before being involved in any war. It is no doubt that if the aforementioned draft was re-introduced, the government will face a lot of protests whose effects could even be worse than the Vietnam-War student riots.

Reference List

Bexte, M. (2002). The Vietnam War protests. Web.

Roberts, K. (2005). 1970 tragedy at Kent State: with the Vietnam War escalating, Ohio National Guard Troops fired at a crowd of student protesters, killing four of them. Web.

Ryan. J. (2008). Student unrest and the Vietnam War. Web.

Introduction

Americas political agenda in Vietnam is not as clear as it should be. Existing literature purports that, part of Americas agenda in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism and in other literature excerpts, it is reported that, America was persuading North Vietnam to stop supporting the war in South Vietnam (Xomba, 2009, p. 1).

Nonetheless, it is important to note that, North Vietnam was largely a communist state and South Vietnam was a capitalistic-friendly state. The war was therefore waged along this line, with partners grouping together along the same socio-political line.

Regardless of the social grouping, the Vietnam War was many things to many people because it was seen to expose the divide existing between Americas civil leadership and its military wing.

Comprehensively, the Vietnam War led to widespread casualties for Vietnamese and American soldiers because it continued for a long time (between 1957 and 1975). Though the war was initially meant to fight communism and its antecedents, it ended with severe casualties and mistrust of the American government (to its people and the international community).

In addition, the American government suffered heavy financial losses of up to 140 billion dollars to finance the war alone (Xomba, 2009, p. 1). Most importantly, America failed to advance its agenda in the Asian nation.

It is also a matter of no controversy that the Vietnam War was a unique American war as noted by Drew (1986) who explains that, It illustrated the difficulty in prosecuting a conventional war against an unconventional enemy and in waging a limited war against an enemy waging an essentially unlimited war (p. 1).

North Vietnam perceived the Vietnam War as another form of colonial imperialism which was first advanced by France, US and now South Vietnam. In other words, North Vietnam perceived the South as another colonial puppet, but America perceived the war as part of North Vietnams strategy to take over the South (Xomba, 2009, p. 1).

Most of Americas objectives were not achieved after the war ended in 1973 but both divides (North and South Vietnam) were unified in 1973 (Drew, 1986).

With a keen emphasis on strategy and retrospect, this study establishes that America failed to advance its political agenda in Vietnam because of its failure to understand the nature of its enemy, its poor justification for engaging in the war, its political interference with the Vietnamese government, and the deep-seated contempt Americans had, about the war and its consequent impact on the morale of its soldiers.

These reasons are further complemented by the tribulations American soldiers suffered in Vietnam.

Domino Theory

The Domino theory was introduced by the then American President, Dwight D. Eisenhower as an excuse to invade Vietnam. This strategy (as was later evidenced) was fear-driven by the fact that, after the French exited South Vietnam, the country would fall into communism and comprehensively, the entire Southeast Asia would follow the same precedent (Xomba, 2009).

Obviously, this theory was entirely wrong. Eisenhower also believed that if Southeast Asia was entirely under communism, the sociopolitical trend would soon spread into America, and this would eventually cause social instability in the Western world.

To America, communism was wrong and it acted like a deceptive tool used by its protagonists to make people believe the world would be a better place if it is adopted. Communism was also perceived as a domino whereby, if one country fell into it, it would spread like a crawling snake into other nations and eventually become uncontrollable.

Due to this reason, the American government managed to convince its people that, the Vietnam War was waged along the lines of protecting the interests of Americans from the deceptive and devastating effects of communism. This argument failed to sustain in the long run.

The failure of the domino theory was the first base of Americas failure in Vietnam because it was based on assumptions and not facts. In fact, the theory failed to stand true in some Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia where it was feared that communism would also spread (Drew, 1986).

Moreover, the theory was wrong because there was no such concept as global communism because most wars, thought to be for communism, were majorly fought along nationalistic lines and not on communism lines. For example, the exit of the French out of Vietnam was not because of the spread of communism but rather, the spread of nationalism in Vietnam (Xomba, 2009).

Moreover, there was an apparent rift between some communist states like Vietnam and Cambodia, and Russia and China. This showed that communism was no unifying factor for nations but rather a social element which had no significant effect on the manner countries related. Instead, territorial issues and nationalistic concerns were of more importance to states as opposed to communism.

In real sense, America was hiding under the pretext of the domino theory, oblivious to the real causes of a civil disobedience in Vietnam (of successive governments it continually supported).

This fact means that, there was a growing discontent among Vietnams (of American-backed governments) because of the widespread corruption they perpetrated and the continuous human right abuses that prevailed (Xomba, 2009, p. 3).

Considering the Domino theory was wrong, the real reason why America invaded Vietnam could therefore not be substantiated. This was the first reason why Americas political agenda could not be achieved in Vietnam.

Government Interference

The US had consistently interfered in the politics of Vietnam by pinpointing rulers for the Asian state. This was largely seen as an interference of the democratic rights of Vietnam and an upheaval of Americas agenda and interests at the expense of Vietnams (Xomba, 2009, p. 4).

However, the biggest mistake that the American government made was to appoint Ngo Dinh as the president of South Vietnam because he already had a poor track record of social justice (in terms of religious justice).

This was evidenced because he was known to persecute Buddhists, while South Vietnam was largely a Buddhist state. Consequently, there was a growing contempt of the government because the population felt alienated from it.

As was expected, Dinh never did any justice to the population of South Vietnam because he took a self-righteous strategy, based on catholic principles and eventually did more harm than good (in terms of social justice to the South Vietnam population).

For instance, he destroyed the graves of ancestral Buddhist leaders and generally stood as a hurdle in exercising the democratic rights of the people of South Vietnam (Xomba, 2009).

These actions completely led to a growth of mistrust among the people of South Vietnam towards the South Vietnam government, but more importantly, it led to the growth of mistrust between the people of South Vietnam and the American government.

The people of South Vietnam therefore started having reservations over the true intention of Americas governmental interference with South Vietnam. At that point, America was seen to be a selfish nation.

American Unpopularity

The increased unpopularity of America in Vietnam led to the development of a liberalization movement which brought together nationalists and communists to fight the Americans. Xomba (2009) acknowledges that The Vietnamese were fighting for liberation against the Saigon regime and the scepter of colonialism that the United States itself was representing (p. 6).

In retaliation, The US government started a series of bombings in Vietnam which consequently led to widespread human devastation which consequently alienated the international community. The heavy human toll also led to a growing contempt from Americans on the actions of its government (Drew, 1986, p. 6). The growing contempt of the American population further motivated the Vietnamese soldiers to fight harder.

Nonetheless, what the American government failed to acknowledge was the fact that, it continued to kill innocent Vietnamese civilians through military means while the war could not be won through military means in the first place (but rather, through political means).

Also, instead of acknowledging this fact, the American government remained defiant and proud of its involvement in Vietnam. This further led to a massive loss of human lives.

Experts note that, the American government was oblivious of the deep-seated issues among the people of Vietnam because it remained defiant and fearful of the fact that other communist states would see its failure in Vietnam as a win for communism (Drew, 1986, p. 7).

Moreover, the American government failed to acknowledge the resilience of its enemy, in the sense that, its enemies could not be distracted, coerced or deterred.

This misunderstanding came from the fact that, America failed to understand that Vietnam had its own unique culture and it could not win the war through its conventional military means. This fact led many observers to the conclusion that, the Vietnam War was already lost, way before the war started, because America invaded the country for reasons which were not justifiable in the first place.

Unfamiliarity with Vietnam

US troops operating in Vietnam experience combat challenges because they were not familiar with Vietnam terrain. Most American soldiers were on the contrary used to fighting in open terrain such as Europe (Xomba, 2009, p. 9). This means that, the enemies were advantaged geographically because of their familiarity with the Vietnamese terrain.

This fact can be evidenced from the observation that, local military groups launched ambush attacks on US soldiers and later retreated into hideouts which were difficult to unearth. Moreover, it was reported that, local combat groups used unfamiliar terrain, bordering Russia and China to get ammunition and food supplies from sympathetic countries (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

This further strengthened their military muscle. Moreover, their military base was unfamiliar to the American soldiers and such was the case evidenced with the Cu Chi military base in Vietnam which spread through a vast 200 miles and equipped with underground escape channels used by the local military groups (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

Furthermore, it was difficult for American troops to distinguish Vietnamese enemies from civilians, or understand their character in the first place. This is the reason assumed to have led to the extensive civilian casualties registered after the war (Drew, 1986).

It is even affirmed that, it was difficult for the civilians to distinguish the combat men from the civilian population, the same way it was difficult to distinguish friends from foes (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

Low Morale

Another reason that made Americans lose the Vietnam War was the low morale and support, given to the war back at home. The poor morale evidenced from home was also reflected in the battlefield because several American casualties were being registered and the war was not justifiable in the first place.

Moreover, it was claimed that several young American soldiers suffered immense casualties in a war they were forced to fight (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

The media especially played a huge role towards the growing contempt Americans had because images of casualties and widespread destruction and devastation were beamed throughout America, thereby prompting the American population to withdraw their support of the war because they perceived the war as unnecessary and not worth fighting for in the first place.

The American government consequently suffered a battered image in the eyes of its public, thereby increasing concerns on the reasons the government was fighting the war in the first place (because it was supposed to represent the interests of the American population).

On the contrary, the morale of the Vietnamese soldiers was increasingly high because it had the backing of the local population who perceived Americas involvement In Vietnam as imperialistic and motivated by selfish interests (Xomba, 2009, p. 14). Vietnamese soldiers therefore believed they were fighting for the right cause.

The odds were therefore against the American government because its soldier failed to understand the war in the first place. In other words, the reasons why America engaged in the war was ambiguous. In addition to the low morale US soldiers suffered, many felt distressed and fearful of the reasons why their government was fighting the war (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

Moreover, there were allegations that the US government recruited many young soldiers who never had a strong family footing back at home and therefore had very little to fall back on when they returned home (Xomba, 2009, p. 14).

Conclusion

Americas failure to advance its political agenda in Vietnam was caused by several reasons. However, the biggest reason advocated in this study is Americas failure to exhibit goodwill to both its citizens and the Vietnamese population. Factoring in all the reasons advocated in this study, we see that America was fighting a war it had already lost in the first place.

This sentiment can be evidenced from the fact that, there was a growing sense of discontent of the war within the American population and the Vietnamese citizens.

The contempt of the Americans of the war can be attributed to the failure of the US to justify its involvement in Vietnam, while the contempt exhibited by the Vietnamese population can be attributed to the dishonesty of Americans in interfering with the politics of Vietnam.

These reasons alienated the American government from its citizens and consequently its soldiers. Moreover, the discontent was further exacerbated by poor strategies in engaging the enemy.

More importantly, the arrogance exhibited by the American government, compounded by the failure of the American government to acknowledge the differences in culture between America and Vietnam contributed to the failure of America in Vietnam. The failure of America to win the Vietnam War can therefore be attributed to poor strategies and a lack of home and local support.

References

Drew, D. (1986). Rolling Thunder 1965: Anatomy of a Failure. Web.

Xomba. (2009). How the US Failed in the Vietnam War. Web.

Introduction and Historical Background

The history of the origin of the Vietnamese people can be traced back to some more than 2000 years ago; however, it was not until 1858 when France whilst looking for new trade routes to China, discovered Indochina. Due to its strategic position France envied making it her own colony and within no time the country was made a French colony.

Vietnam became one of the most valued colonies for France in the early 20th century. As expected, the Vietnamese were not comfortable with this due to the harsh treatment they faced in the hands of French colonialists and thus it was within a short period of time that resistance movements rose.

The resistance against the French rule in the Vietnam brought about the rise of Viet Minh who during the 2nd world war gained a lot of military and political support from allies who supported his campaign in removing the Japanese and the French outside Vietnam.

While the Japanese relinquished their control over Vietnam, the French were not ready and after Minh declared the countrys independence in 1945, war began between the French and the Vietnamese. The first Vietnam War called the Indochina war lasted for a period of 8 years and ended in 1954 following the French defeat and the resulting signing of the Geneva Peace Accords (Brigham 2).

The Geneva Peace Accords was not a permanent solution as all it did was to recommend for the temporary dividing of the country (i.e. South Vietnam and North Vietnam) and then elections were to be held two years later, which would unify the country. Soon after the elections, Diem was elected the president.

However, from his entry into power as the president he faced oppositions from all walks of life from the various religious sects, the military, and the crime gangs. To him that was not a major concern and with time he became isolated from his subjects and relied upon his family for advice and as a result a new revolutionary movement came up in 1960 i.e. The National Liberation Front.

There were presidential elections that were held in 1955, which were marred with irregularities and in the year that followed, with the support of the US government, Diem as the president refused to hold elections as contained in the Geneva Peace Accords. Despite the United States of America efforts to support Diem, discontentment was growing within Vietnam and everybody even the US administration saw the impending disaster and in order to achieve its objectives the overthrowing of Diem government was inevitable (Brigham 6).

The US government promised that it could neither take part in the coup nor could it oppose any efforts by the people of Vietnam to overthrow the government. The overthrowing of the government by the military was successful but in contrast to the expectations of many, the military who overthrew the government became more incompetent than Diem had been thus trouble continued to roam in the country.

How the Vietnam War Began

The North Vietnamese attacked an American vessel in 1960 and in retaliation the Unites States of America president by the name of Johnson convinced the US congress to pass what came to be known as the gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the US to attack by bombings the North Vietnamese and the members of Viet Cong whose popularity had been rising in the South (Galloway 168).

Then in 1965, the US was at war with Vietnam, which was characterized by bombings. As days went by and the war persisted, the US president tried to initiate peace talks by promising economic aid to both countries and although this almost succeeded, the Americans continued to increase the soldiers in the country so as to contain the war (Efstathiou 1).

In 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong forces attacked all the major cities of South Vietnam and even the US embassy followed where the war could not stop but in the year 1973 the Paris Peace Agreement was signed and the American agreed to withdraw their army from the country as well as return of prisoners of war (Arduengo 17).

Many South Vietnamese were not happy with this as they claimed that the United States of America had abandoned them in their hour of need. The Vietnam War was the longest and the most unpopular that American is yet to participate in with nearly 60, 000 soldiers dead and hundreds of their remains not returned to the United States for burial. For most of the surviving war veterans the wounds of Vietnam will never heal No one wants ever to see America so divided again (Greenwood 10).

Vietnam Women Soldiers and How Their Lives Changed After the War

Men are known to be most involved in war and their achievements are well made known to everybody but rarely do we recognize and appreciate the efforts of women who get involved in war. The reason to their little recognition is mostly due to the fact that many people, women included, assume that the role they played in war was just helping and did not have any effect on ending or winning the war. The Vietnamese war was not any special and the role women played in this war is not very much appreciated. Existing figures shows that

Between 1962 and 1973, according to Department of Defense statistics, approximately 7,500 women served on active military duty in Vietnam. The Veterans Administration puts the numbers even higher, at around 11,000. Independent surveys estimate that the number of women, both civilian and non-civilian, working in Vietnam during the war is between 33,000 and 55,000 (Carlson 1).

Despite the high figures as claimed by the different parties, the fact remain that although most of these women might have enjoyed their careers as soldiers fighting for the rights of their respective countries, once they came back from the war, they were not treated as their male counterparts were.

Despite their heroic acts during the war their role was seen like that of help mates sometimes being exposed to wanting situations and did not receive medical attention like their male counterparts. Most of the women who took part in the Vietnamese war were nurses who had been recruited and trained on how to use guns in the short run if the situation forced so. They were seen as assets since they could use their nursing skills in the battle fields if the soldiers got hurt.

Like many male soldiers, women grew more disillusioned as the war continued though many had come to this war in the effort of fighting communism and for own patriotism. The war was more than that; the war to them seemed insane and to contain the bad war memories from recurring, many of the women soldiers who served as nurses resulted in taking drugs, became heavy smokers, and alcoholics. Some of them even began having romantic experiences with fellow male soldiers in order to fight the stress during the war period.

Most of the times, the relationships were abruptly broken as men whom they had been dating could be brought to hospitals as causalities (Cook 629). It is as a result of this that most of the Vietnam War veterans have been suffering from a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These are stress reactions that people develop due to bad occasions they witnessed and these conditions sometimes get worse with time. Evidence shows that About 30% of the men and women who served in Vietnam experience PTSD.

An additional 20% to 25% have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. More than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans have experienced clinically serious stress reaction symptoms (VA National Center for PTSD 3). In addition when these veteran soldiers suffer from PTSD, a number may turn into suicide as Unconfirmed reports that 50,000 or more Vietnam veterans have committed suicide (Pollock, Rhodes, Boyle, Decoufle, & McGee 1).

These suicide reports have been reported by Wilson (5) over the years more Vietnam veterans have died from suicide since returning from the war than the 58,000-plus who died in the war. This is an alarming rate and the suicides are mainly related to the experiences they had in Vietnam.

These effects of war have been a hindrance to many toward their leading of normal life as most of these veteran soldiers become traumatic with time. Due to the hardship of readjusting to the civil life they were used to before entering into war, most women soldiers have been using drugs or alcohol to nub their feelings and to repress their nightmares and flashbacks of how life was in Vietnam.

The fact that most of the American citizens did not support the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War meant that once the soldiers were back in their country, they were always faced with challenges in confronting indifference in families and the society as a whole. For example, a case is given of a woman soldier whose army clothes were torn and burnt after the war by her husband in order to forget the war memories.

Another effect of the war to the women soldiers was that about a quarter of women soldiers in the Vietnam War were affected by war related disabilities and this has led to them leading a more hard life than they used before the war. The feeling that women were not real soldiers brought about the belief that they were not true war veterans, little attention was given to them and with time most of them began leading solitary lives away from their families and friends (Cook 629).

Though many of the stories we hear about the Vietnamese women soldiers are disheartening it is worthy to note that some of the war veterans after going to their countries got married, found jobs, and adapted well to the American life as they had before they joined the war.

Another impact has been that most women soldiers got exposed to Agent Orange which was an herbicide used to kill the thick vegetation where the guerillas were hiding for easier maneuver of American soldiers. The effects of exposure to the toxic liquid have been chronic illnesses including forms of skin cancer and blood cancer (Abrama 1 &5).

For example, the case of Lesli Moore who had just gone to Vietnam to cheer up the young soldiers yet the effects of the chemical had been diagnosed on her (Abramb 20 & 21). Among the women soldiers who were exposed to Agent Orange, there have been reports of defective births among both the male and female soldiers. Though conflicting evidence exist about the relationship between the exposure to Agent Orange and defective births, most of the veteran soldiers believe it could have a relationship.

In a different perspective there were those women who were women soldiers not from America but from Vietnam itself in their efforts to restore peace in the country they loved and claimed theirs, a number of women took active role in the movement with the promise of ending conflicts in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese women were highly successful as guerilla soldiers against the US soldiers but after the war their contributions were not recognized as most of the government posts were given to men who had served in the military (Ray, Balasingamchow & Stewart 55).

Conclusion

Any war results in loss of life, loss of property, and loss of families. It is thus an important factor to note that upholding of peace and finding amicable ways of solving conflicts is the only way we can avoid losses that come along when any country is involved in war with another.

From the study we can conclude that women soldiers as well as men soldiers play a critical role in ending of a battle and though most of the times men get recognized for their heroic acts, women are rarely appreciated. Its time women began feeling their role appreciated since they face the same risks as their male counterparts.

Among the effects women soldiers have gone through include stress disorders which are brought by the war memories. Some other women soldiers also left the war camps while injured and thus they have never been able to lead normal lives among other impacts. The study also concludes that as a result of exposure of soldiers, female soldiers included. Most have been had birth problems with some of them giving birth to defective babies while others experienced miscarriages.

Works Cited

Abrama, Susan. Agent Orange A Toxic Killer. Daily News Los Angeles, 2010. Web.

Arduengo, E. Sebastian. Hail Mary: The Effect of the 1972 Linebacker Bombings on the Paris Peace Accords. University of North Texas, 2007. Web.

Brigham, Robert. Battle field Vietnam: A brief History. Vassar College, not Dated. Web.

Carlson, M. Women, the Unknown Soldiers: THE Vietnam Conflict. An academic information portal for education and research, not Dated. Web.

Cook, Bernard. Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print.

Efstathiou, Richard. Operation Rolling Thunder: The United States Unfulfilled Strategy to Win the Vietnam War. Suite 101, 1968. Web.

Galloway, John. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970. Print.

Greenwood, Lee. Proud to be an American. The soldier, not Dated. Web.

Pollock Daniel; Rhodes, Paul; Boyle C.A; Decoufle Phillipe., & McGee Daniel. Estimating the Number of Suicides among Vietnam Veterans. Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:772-776.

Ray, Nick, Balasingamchow, Yu-Mei., & Stewart, Ian. VIETNAM. New York: Lonely Planet. 2009. Print.

VA National Center for PTSD. What is PTSD? National Center PTSD, 2010. Web.

Wilson, Brian. Memorandum: Accelerated Mortality Rates of Vietnam Veterans. Word press, 1999. Web.

Introduction

Women participated in various capacities in the Vietnam War but medical positions took up the largest percentage. Some of them served in hospitals; others were in medical evacuation flights, the Navy through ships and even makeshift medical units. Female military personnel played a large role in saving the lives of many soldiers.

These women were just as exposed to the dangers of the war as those who actually got into combat. Special emphasis will be given to nurses because without their contribution, so many soldiers would have lost their lives or suffered from deteriorating conditions in the War

How nurses contributed to the war

Some of the nurses in the Vietnam War started serving in the war by coincidence. A case in point was the Army Nurse Corps which had sent a group of three American Nurses to train nurses in Vietnam. However, they soon became overburdened with the situation prevalent in Vietnam and had to respond accordingly by caring for members of the American Navy.

Eventually, medical units were set up and began expanding in order to incorporate those many injuries that kept increasing as the war got more intense. The Army had set up a number of hospitals and convalescent centers that would provide medical services to people in combat (Purcell, 24).

It should be noted that the women who served in the War as nurses gained titles as a result of their work, some of them were called Colonel and others were Brigadier. Colonels were regarded as the chief of the nursing group while Brigadier Generals were given this rank as general officers when they had served for long as chiefs within their positions.

Chief Nurses also played the role of nurse consultants especially in the surgeon rankings. Usually, these nurse leaders would carry out a number of activities that included assigning all incoming nurses and giving them positions in the respective medical units. They would coordinate nursing duties in theaters. This was an important component of their work because most military officers urgently needed operational intervention.

However, work could not be done haphazardly; standard procedures needed to be established so that the patient care would not be compromised. These chiefs would also ensure that all the concerned nurses provided quality services to the patients under the care. All hospitals had chief nurses who were the representations of the chief nurse in these units. They had ward masters who also assisted in achievement of these objectives.

Not all nurses were female; a small proportion of nurses in the Vietnam War were male as well. Statistics indicate that about 21% were male while the rest were female. These women had their own family obligations since a large number of them were married.

The US Army was considerate enough in such circumstances because it would try as much as possible to assign members of the same family in areas that were in close proximity to one another. However, when a nurse became pregnant when serving in Vietnam, she would be returned back to the US. When nurses arrived in Vietnam, they would spend about twelve months in the war as that was the standard allocation time for them.

The Army had instated replacement centers that would countercheck a nurses expected duties and hence direct them to their respective locations (Norman, 15). An immense level of flexibility was needed in order to do anything in the hospitals, evacuation units or medical units set up. Resources were inadequate and in poor conditions, casualties were many and in dire conditions.

Staff members were not adequate enough to meet the needs of all the patients and what was worse was that their lives were still in danger. These women needed to sacrifice a lot in order to get things done. They needed to be fast on their feet and needed to think very quickly as well, they also had to be willing to take on various positions even when these were not conventional nursing duties.

For instance, most medical units lacked cleaners, well instituted sewer and disposal systems. The serving nurses needed to mop, clean and perform many sanitary duties just so that the hospitals or units could have some semblance of cleanliness around them (Gurney, 1).

Many nurses would have had an opportunity to work in any other part of the world but they chose to go to one of the most troubled countries of the world i.e. Vietnam. Many of them were inspired to do this for a number of reasons. Some of them wanted to serve their country by playing a part in this crucial war and nursing was their only gateway to do so.

In other words, a sense of patriotism was one of the driving forces behind these womens participation in the war. Others were simply moved by the conditions in the war. They had read and heard about the suffering and pain undergone by the war participants and they felt like they could help. These individuals felt that it was part of their calling to help people who were most in need of it.

On the other hand, other nurses had less sentimental reasons. Some were looking for a sense of adventure and felt that Vietnam would give them an opportunity to challenge and push themselves. Some wanted to be as close to combat as possible so they felt that this would be a great opportunity for them.

Nurses had various experiences in those various locations because these largely depended on the kind of living conditions that they found in their course of duty. For instance, some nurses lived in tents and had to battle with the elements as night. It was especially difficult for them when it rained. In fact, some locations were so dire that all the dressings, bandages and other medical waste would float around in pools that formed after it rained.

It was a horrific scene that required immense self control and stoicism. However, other nurses had it easier; they lived in makeshift huts and at least these were better than the tents. Others were even luckier and had separate rooms but these were often in the hospitals. Others also lived inside trailers and the latter had the advantage of better ventilation since they were air conditioned.

The worst conditions often occurred when hospitals were moved to new combat operations because no living quarters existed there and nurses needed to find shelter in those tents. In fact, most accommodation was hot and humid; nurses had to live in open bays. Since patients were coming in and out, then there was plenty of noise and their beddings were bug infested (Baker, 628).

In order to respond to the frequent relocations, the US Army created Medical Unit Self Contained Transportable Hospitals (MUST). As the name suggests, these hospitals contained a series of basic amenities that included hot and cold water, waste disposal, electrical power, air conditioning and internal heating. They were made of rubber and could thus be inflated or deflated as the need arose.

They were mostly transported through aircrafts such as helicopters and on land, they were transported through tracks. However, the MUSTs were not without challenges. The nurses had to contend with all the discomfort that came from moving in rough terrain. Vietnam was not especially keen on building roads especially in areas that were characterized by combat operations.

What was even worse was that electricity could fluctuate from time to time thus rendering most of the systems inefficient. It was also common to find enemies targeting these units because of the inflatable nature of the hospitals. There was poor drainage in those units and most amenities needed to be maintained. Nurses therefore had a very hard time giving service in these units.

Emergencies were common so nurses could not take any time off at such times. However, when things were not so bad, then they were expected to work twelve hours a day, on all days of the week except one. Many nurses were sleep deprived and this was actually considered a privilege in most times. They were not expected to segregate because a patient was a patient to them.

Some of the servicemen such as aircraft operators, switchboard coordinators and others formed part of this mix of patients that were served. Nonetheless, American troops were the largest proportion that came for emergency services, surgical care or intensive care. Troops from Allied armies were also served by these nurses as well. They also treated children, men and women from Vietnam as they were all victims of the war.

The latter category would normally receive emergency care in those US Army units when the need arose. On other hand, locals could not access these medical facilities. Consequently, some American nurses would volunteer to conduct sick calls in villages. These activities would occur during their off days when they had left their respective areas of work.

They would also give basic services like immunization to those who needed them in childrens orphanages. Consequently, these nurses did not just restrict themselves to the stated missions enlisted in their medical units. Their voluntary work clearly illustrated how most of them pushed beyond their call of duty (Gurney & Piemonte, 32).

It should be noted that American officers were especially vulnerable to tropical diseases and these accounted for a larger portion of the cases that were handled by nurses. In fact, battle field injuries were responsible for 31% of the cases while 69% were due to various diseases that these officers acquired or got during the war.

Some of them included fever, malaria, diarrheal illnesses, venereal diseases, skin complications, hepatitis and so many other tropical diseases. Most of the nurses came in from the US when they were unfamiliar with these diseases but had to learn very quickly because those represented the largest proportion of those who came in. However, 60% of all cases needed to be admitted into hospital as they could not be discharged in their states.

This percentage was dramatically minimized in order to increase the level of flexibility that the hospital units could have when new admissions occurred. Despite this greater proportion of tropical diseases, one must not forget the fact that the Vietnam War also had a very large number of direct war assault injuries. For instance, the war had booby traps and grenades and many individuals would be hurt by these devices.

Weapons that could emanate rapid fire led to development of numerous wounds amongst soldiers. Normally, those very soldiers would be wounded near water ways that had certain human excreta. Wounds became more complex and nurses in this war therefore had to deal with more complex cases than usual (Spurgeon, 61).

Conclusion

There is no doubt that women played a crucial role in the Vietnam War given the dire conditions that they worked in and the stress ridden, resource poor and fast paced environment that was prevalent in those hospitals. Their role was crucial in preservation or improvement of quality of life in this war.

Works Cited

Baker, Eleanear. Caregivers as casualties. Western Journal of Nursing research, 11.5(1989), 628-631

Gurney, Cindy & Piemonte, Robert. Highlights in the history of the Army Nurse Corps. Washington DC, US Military History Army Centre, 1987, 32

Gurney Cindy. An overview of nursing in Vietnam. US center of military history, Washington DC, 1990, 1

Norman, Elizabeth. Women at war: story of fifty military nurses who served in Vietnam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania press, 1990

Purcell, Shirley. Oral history in ANC historical files. US Army center of Military History, Washington DC, 1987, 24

Spurgeon, Neel. Medial support of the US Army in Vietnam. Washington DC, Department of the Army, 1973, 61

Introduction

Women participated in various capacities in the Vietnam War but medical positions took up the largest percentage. Some of them served in hospitals; others were in medical evacuation flights, the Navy through ships and even makeshift medical units. Female military personnel played a large role in saving the lives of many soldiers.

These women were just as exposed to the dangers of the war as those who actually got into combat. Special emphasis will be given to nurses because without their contribution, so many soldiers would have lost their lives or suffered from deteriorating conditions in the War

How nurses contributed to the war

Some of the nurses in the Vietnam War started serving in the war by coincidence. A case in point was the Army Nurse Corps which had sent a group of three American Nurses to train nurses in Vietnam. However, they soon became overburdened with the situation prevalent in Vietnam and had to respond accordingly by caring for members of the American Navy.

Eventually, medical units were set up and began expanding in order to incorporate those many injuries that kept increasing as the war got more intense. The Army had set up a number of hospitals and convalescent centers that would provide medical services to people in combat (Purcell, 24).

It should be noted that the women who served in the War as nurses gained titles as a result of their work, some of them were called Colonel and others were Brigadier. Colonels were regarded as the chief of the nursing group while Brigadier Generals were given this rank as general officers when they had served for long as chiefs within their positions.

Chief Nurses also played the role of nurse consultants especially in the surgeon rankings. Usually, these nurse leaders would carry out a number of activities that included assigning all incoming nurses and giving them positions in the respective medical units. They would coordinate nursing duties in theaters. This was an important component of their work because most military officers urgently needed operational intervention.

However, work could not be done haphazardly; standard procedures needed to be established so that the patient care would not be compromised. These chiefs would also ensure that all the concerned nurses provided quality services to the patients under the care. All hospitals had chief nurses who were the representations of the chief nurse in these units. They had ward masters who also assisted in achievement of these objectives.

Not all nurses were female; a small proportion of nurses in the Vietnam War were male as well. Statistics indicate that about 21% were male while the rest were female. These women had their own family obligations since a large number of them were married.

The US Army was considerate enough in such circumstances because it would try as much as possible to assign members of the same family in areas that were in close proximity to one another. However, when a nurse became pregnant when serving in Vietnam, she would be returned back to the US. When nurses arrived in Vietnam, they would spend about twelve months in the war as that was the standard allocation time for them.

The Army had instated replacement centers that would countercheck a nurses expected duties and hence direct them to their respective locations (Norman, 15). An immense level of flexibility was needed in order to do anything in the hospitals, evacuation units or medical units set up. Resources were inadequate and in poor conditions, casualties were many and in dire conditions.

Staff members were not adequate enough to meet the needs of all the patients and what was worse was that their lives were still in danger. These women needed to sacrifice a lot in order to get things done. They needed to be fast on their feet and needed to think very quickly as well, they also had to be willing to take on various positions even when these were not conventional nursing duties.

For instance, most medical units lacked cleaners, well instituted sewer and disposal systems. The serving nurses needed to mop, clean and perform many sanitary duties just so that the hospitals or units could have some semblance of cleanliness around them (Gurney, 1).

Many nurses would have had an opportunity to work in any other part of the world but they chose to go to one of the most troubled countries of the world i.e. Vietnam. Many of them were inspired to do this for a number of reasons. Some of them wanted to serve their country by playing a part in this crucial war and nursing was their only gateway to do so.

In other words, a sense of patriotism was one of the driving forces behind these womens participation in the war. Others were simply moved by the conditions in the war. They had read and heard about the suffering and pain undergone by the war participants and they felt like they could help. These individuals felt that it was part of their calling to help people who were most in need of it.

On the other hand, other nurses had less sentimental reasons. Some were looking for a sense of adventure and felt that Vietnam would give them an opportunity to challenge and push themselves. Some wanted to be as close to combat as possible so they felt that this would be a great opportunity for them.

Nurses had various experiences in those various locations because these largely depended on the kind of living conditions that they found in their course of duty. For instance, some nurses lived in tents and had to battle with the elements as night. It was especially difficult for them when it rained. In fact, some locations were so dire that all the dressings, bandages and other medical waste would float around in pools that formed after it rained.

It was a horrific scene that required immense self control and stoicism. However, other nurses had it easier; they lived in makeshift huts and at least these were better than the tents. Others were even luckier and had separate rooms but these were often in the hospitals. Others also lived inside trailers and the latter had the advantage of better ventilation since they were air conditioned.

The worst conditions often occurred when hospitals were moved to new combat operations because no living quarters existed there and nurses needed to find shelter in those tents. In fact, most accommodation was hot and humid; nurses had to live in open bays. Since patients were coming in and out, then there was plenty of noise and their beddings were bug infested (Baker, 628).

In order to respond to the frequent relocations, the US Army created Medical Unit Self Contained Transportable Hospitals (MUST). As the name suggests, these hospitals contained a series of basic amenities that included hot and cold water, waste disposal, electrical power, air conditioning and internal heating. They were made of rubber and could thus be inflated or deflated as the need arose.

They were mostly transported through aircrafts such as helicopters and on land, they were transported through tracks. However, the MUSTs were not without challenges. The nurses had to contend with all the discomfort that came from moving in rough terrain. Vietnam was not especially keen on building roads especially in areas that were characterized by combat operations.

What was even worse was that electricity could fluctuate from time to time thus rendering most of the systems inefficient. It was also common to find enemies targeting these units because of the inflatable nature of the hospitals. There was poor drainage in those units and most amenities needed to be maintained. Nurses therefore had a very hard time giving service in these units.

Emergencies were common so nurses could not take any time off at such times. However, when things were not so bad, then they were expected to work twelve hours a day, on all days of the week except one. Many nurses were sleep deprived and this was actually considered a privilege in most times. They were not expected to segregate because a patient was a patient to them.

Some of the servicemen such as aircraft operators, switchboard coordinators and others formed part of this mix of patients that were served. Nonetheless, American troops were the largest proportion that came for emergency services, surgical care or intensive care. Troops from Allied armies were also served by these nurses as well. They also treated children, men and women from Vietnam as they were all victims of the war.

The latter category would normally receive emergency care in those US Army units when the need arose. On other hand, locals could not access these medical facilities. Consequently, some American nurses would volunteer to conduct sick calls in villages. These activities would occur during their off days when they had left their respective areas of work.

They would also give basic services like immunization to those who needed them in childrens orphanages. Consequently, these nurses did not just restrict themselves to the stated missions enlisted in their medical units. Their voluntary work clearly illustrated how most of them pushed beyond their call of duty (Gurney & Piemonte, 32).

It should be noted that American officers were especially vulnerable to tropical diseases and these accounted for a larger portion of the cases that were handled by nurses. In fact, battle field injuries were responsible for 31% of the cases while 69% were due to various diseases that these officers acquired or got during the war.

Some of them included fever, malaria, diarrheal illnesses, venereal diseases, skin complications, hepatitis and so many other tropical diseases. Most of the nurses came in from the US when they were unfamiliar with these diseases but had to learn very quickly because those represented the largest proportion of those who came in. However, 60% of all cases needed to be admitted into hospital as they could not be discharged in their states.

This percentage was dramatically minimized in order to increase the level of flexibility that the hospital units could have when new admissions occurred. Despite this greater proportion of tropical diseases, one must not forget the fact that the Vietnam War also had a very large number of direct war assault injuries. For instance, the war had booby traps and grenades and many individuals would be hurt by these devices.

Weapons that could emanate rapid fire led to development of numerous wounds amongst soldiers. Normally, those very soldiers would be wounded near water ways that had certain human excreta. Wounds became more complex and nurses in this war therefore had to deal with more complex cases than usual (Spurgeon, 61).

Conclusion

There is no doubt that women played a crucial role in the Vietnam War given the dire conditions that they worked in and the stress ridden, resource poor and fast paced environment that was prevalent in those hospitals. Their role was crucial in preservation or improvement of quality of life in this war.

Works Cited

Baker, Eleanear. Caregivers as casualties. Western Journal of Nursing research, 11.5(1989), 628-631

Gurney, Cindy & Piemonte, Robert. Highlights in the history of the Army Nurse Corps. Washington DC, US Military History Army Centre, 1987, 32

Gurney Cindy. An overview of nursing in Vietnam. US center of military history, Washington DC, 1990, 1

Norman, Elizabeth. Women at war: story of fifty military nurses who served in Vietnam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania press, 1990

Purcell, Shirley. Oral history in ANC historical files. US Army center of Military History, Washington DC, 1987, 24

Spurgeon, Neel. Medial support of the US Army in Vietnam. Washington DC, Department of the Army, 1973, 61

The Vietnam War occurred in 1955 in the regions of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The war brought around rival countries that supported different ideologies. This is to mean that there was involvement of Soviet Union and the United States with all propagating the spread of their ideologies. This paper hence tries to illuminate the issues surrounding the war with the cause being its agenda.

The aftermath of the Second World War had the South Vietnam controlled by the French and the North Vietnam controlled by Viet Minh. Viet Minh was considered an ally of the communist and received backing from communist China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. The French intending to reclaim the North in 1946 endorsed Bao Dai as ruler to the dislike of Russia and China who recognized Viet Minh.

This led to the bombardment of Haiphong in 1946 that killed 6,000 people. They however did not win their endeavour. In 1953 the French still tried to overturn Viet Minh to no success leading to their withdrawal from Vietnam. This background plays a critical role in the understanding of the involvement of various countries.

The Geneva accord stands out as one that epitomized the interest played by various countries. According to Brigham (1), it divided Vietnam into half and the participants of the conference were the United States, France, and people republic of China. The Non-communist according to (Simon 1) in the likes of the United States and its allies such as France were against division of Vietnam into half as this would make it fall into the hands of the communist.

The alliance that was formed by the U.S and its allies was then meant to resist the spread of communism. The U.S on this front was adopting the policy of containment which meant to contain the communist in their existing boundaries; this marking the U.S involvement in the Vietnam War (Simon 1). The elections of 1956 were not to take place leading to division between the south and the North.

The North led by Viet Minh intended to spread its communist ideology to the south that was led by Ngo Dinh Drem. The U.S felt the need to intervene and as early as 1950 had military advisors sent to the then French Indochina. The North who viewed the war as against the colonial masters and later a U.S puppet state used guerrilla tactics that was to be referred as the Viet Cong.

The involvement of the United States was even intensified by arrival of more troops in the 1960 to 1962. This was to escalate to even international borders and led to bombing of Cambodia and Laos. The United States hence used its resources in trying to stop the spread of the communism to the South leading to the death of thousands of people. The fall of Saigon in 1973 saw the end of Vietnam War and the defeat of the United States to its endeavour and the victory of the communist in the region.

It is outright that the U.S and the Soviet Union were using smaller countries to propagate their ideologies with the escalation of a war in the Vietnam being an example. To this end, Vietnam was a victim of the cold war as the immense support received from both the United States and the soviets were all mitigated to spread their ideologies. This then lays blame of the Vietnam War entirely to the cold war.

Brigham, Robert. The Vietnam War: An Overview. Overview  Vassar College. 2011. Web.

Simon, Dennis. The War in Vietnam, 1954-1964. Dsimon, 2008. Web.

Introduction

Since early fifties the government of the United States began to pay special attention to Vietnam and political situation in this country, because, it was one of the most important regions in the Southeast Asia. In fact, American forces became involved in this war in 1950 when they assisted French troops in fighting against Vietnamese National Army. The main objective of the then administration was to prevent the spread of the Soviet Union influence.

However, more active measures were taken only in the sixties. These events should be discussed within the context of the Cold War, and at that moment the relations between the two superpowers were rather tense.

During his presidency John Kennedy tried to resolve this conflict and pacify the opposing sides. This policy might have produced results yet after Kennedy assassination, his successor Lyndon Johnson gave preference to the use of military force. In turn, Vietnamese National army received support from the USSR. Many politicians argue that its major goal was to bring democracy and freedom to Vietnamese people and liberate them from the yoke of the Communist Party. Nevertheless, it seems that the major or strategic objective was to win the palm of supremacy in this region.

Historians give various explanations concerning the defeat of the US forces. In part, it can be ascribed to the lack of experience. First, many battles were held in jungles and American officers and soldiers were not accustomed to such conditions. The major problem was that face-to-face battle virtually deprived our soldiers of the superiority in number and technology. Moreover, there are some scholars who maintain that the underlying cause of failure was the lack of motivation. In other words, many people did not see the point of fighting in Vietnam. In this regard, it should be mentioned the US allies such the Great Britain and Canada were reluctant to send their troops to this country, and to some extent this contributed to the defeat.

There is a widely held opinion among some military officers that this war could have been won if command had continued strategic bombing. According to them, such method would have compelled their rival to yield. Naturally, such argument has some rationale, but such bombings would have caused death to thousands of civilian people. The government abandoned such strategy, because it could tarnish the international reputation of the United States.

It is rather difficult to say whether the United States could win this war or not. In theory, the victory was achievable, but it would have taken immense sacrifices, military and civilian. Additionally, this victory would have turned the United States into some kind of an international bully, or even an Evil Empire, seeking to dominate other states.

To conclude, the War in Vietnam eloquently demonstrates that military force should only be a last resort. On the whole, this conflict was the failure of both American and Soviet diplomacy. Perhaps, Lyndon Johnson administration should have taken Kennedys approach, aimed at peace negotiations. This might have saved lives of many innocent people.

American Moves to the Right

The period from 1969 to 1989 is often characterized by the phrase America moved to the right. These words can be interpreted from various standpoints: first they may imply the strengthening of conservative views in American society and subsequent intensification of civil rights movements, which cried against right-winged policies. Secondly, these words may also denote the enmity between the US and the USSR. In this case, the word right is a political standpoint which stresses the importance of tradition, conservatism in religion, culture, racial questions and so forth. However, this gave rise to strong opposition. The right-winged ideology always opposes to everything new or untypical but it immediately faces challenges.

In order to elaborate this argument we should refer to several landmark events in the history of our country, for instance, Nixons advent to power and the policy of his cabinet. In this respect, we need to throw light on such key event as Watergate and its further implications. Overall, Richard Nixons presidency has often been defined as the rise of conservatism. This mostly manifested in the governments interference into the spheres of finance and economy.

Secondly, during his election campaign, he appealed mostly to socially conservative layers of society and he mostly condemned anti-war demonstrators, by saying that they were playing into the hands of the Soviet Union, but this only increased anti-war sentiments among American people. It can be observed that that political conservatism had just the opposite effect.

His presidency was marked by rapid growth of civil rights movement, namely we should speak about feminism and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender) movements. Although Nixon did not directly oppose to this new cultural and social trends, yet he was not willing to render any assistance to them. The scandal, which broke out 1972 revealed that the then government committed several blatant violations, namely illegal wiretapping of American citizens, political espionage, and illegal audits. When these facts were made public, Nixon was forced to resign his office. As regards Ronald Reagan, historians mostly focus on his open confrontation with the Soviet Union.

In one of his speeches, he called this state an evil empire. This was not only an accusation of the USSR, in this way Reagan wanted to emphasize the fact that the United States was the major opponent of this empire and other nations had to follow this example. In part, this was consistent with the philosophy of American exceptionalism. However, in late eighties, the negations between the two governments alleviated the situation.

Conclusion

Certainly, conservatism is inherent part of American internal and external policies but we cannot say that it dominates. The thing is that even in the most conservative community, there will be people, who oppose to traditional values and opinions. The main disadvantage of conservatism is its intolerance to other views. Therefore, we may conclude that the phrase America moved to the right is no longer applicable nowadays, but some aspects are still noticeable, namely, the belief in American exceptionalism.

The Vietnam War took place between 1959 and 1975. Also called the Vietnam Conflict, the War involved a confrontation between the Southern Vietnamese government with support from the US and the communist Northern Vietnam (Rushby 2). The participation of the US and other western nations was based on the fact that the Northern Vietnam was a communist country. This paper will thus discuss the different roles played by American and Australian women during the Vietnam War.

The role of American women during the Vietnam War

Women in America have played different role in all military engagements that the United States has taken part in. These women have taken on diverse roles such as secret agents, pilots, servicewomen, pilots when called upon. For example, women in the Navy Nurse Corps and Army Nurse Corp were sent to take part in the Vietnam War and the Korean War (Hornung 3).

During the Vietnam War, the US sent over 2.5 million soldiers. It is worth to note that, out of this number, over 6500 were women who played different roles such as nurses, air traffic controllers, intelligence and language experts, legal officers, occupational and physical counsellors and other administrative and security positions (Hornung 5).

According to Jan Hornung, the womens battlefields were Operating Room, Emergency Room, Pos-Operating Room, ICU and Surgical Rooms. Although majority of these women were young and inexperienced, they served their country with honor, courage, and diligence. In spite of the numerous first hand challenges they encountered, they were able to achieve the highest survival rate-over 82%- for the most seriously injured soldiers (6).

These women had to deal with high number military casualties. For example, during the entire period of the Vietnam War, over 152,900 military personnel suffered serious injuries that required immediate medical attention. In addition, an extra 149,000 had moderate wounds that needed medical care. It is worth to note that all these men were well taken care of by these nurses and other women from the Red Cross organization (Hornung 7).

Civilian women also played a role in the Vietnam War through a number of organizations for example: the USO; the American Red Cross Army; the CIA; the United States Agency for International Development and many others. Women also went to the War as flight attendants, press officers, and as representatives for a number of humanitarian and religious organizations (DeCillis 1).

Some went to the War as nice girls to provide leisure services and boost morale of US soldiers engaged in the War. Nice girls offered other services such as sports, hobbies, service clubs, fine arts and delivered personal letters from the soldiers to their families at home (Hornung 8). These women were brave enough to offer these services in a dangerous environment. Some of them died in line of duty. According to statistics, over 50, 000 American military and civil women died during the Vietnam War (Hornung 9).

American Red Cross Women in Vietnam

According to official Red Cross records, over 1100 women offered their services as Red Cross volunteers during the Vietnam War. Over 600 of that number young females who took part in the Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program run by Red Cross in Vietnam. Others were assign to work at Service t Military Installations (SMI) and the Service to Military Hospitals (SMH) programs. The Red Cross enlarged its operations in Vietnam to assist the US military personnel during the War.

By 1968, the Red Cross hospital staff, field directors and leisure staff were offering their services to about 25,000 military personnel every month. The entire staff of Red Cross carried out recreational activities for the wounded soldiers and facilitated communications between the patients and their families back at home (Dickerson 1).

Red Cross also flew a number of female college graduates to Vietnam, at the request of the US military, to run recreation centers of the organization for military personnel posted in different in various parts of the country. According to estimated figures, these programs benefited over 280,000 servicemen. These college graduates (also called Donut Dollies) had to traverse their entire Vietnam, covering over 26, 000 miles using trucks, helicopters, and jeeps to provide these services to the military personnel.

For the seven years that these programs were in operation, the Donut Dollies travelled over 2,120,000 miles. The services offered by Donut Dollies had significant impacts on the US military operations in Vietnam. For example, the military leaders admitted that the Donut Dollies services were crucial because they not only offered welfare services to the servicemen but also boosted their morale (Dickerson 1).

At this recreation centers, both the servicemen and the Red Cross staff discussed about the adversities and dangers they experienced in the battlefield. Majority of the Red Cross members were injured and some died. For example, the Red Cross lost five of its members during the War. Of this number, three were women- Lucinda J. Ritcher, Hanna E. Crews and Virginia E. Kirsh. It is worth to note that they all part of the Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas program (Dickerson 1).

The role of Australian women during the Vietnam War

According to Megan wood, Australian women have played a number of roles in Australias combat missions as volunteers and also as service women (1). As they took part in combat missions, they encountered horrifying experiences as doctors, nurses, members of the press, and entertainers.

Moreover, they carried out important functions for the country during the Vietnam War while at the same time fighting off conventional views about the roles of women during war times (Megan 1). In addition, a number of women at home took part in movements that protested against the Vietnam War (Unit five 77).

Women as nurses

Majority of women volunteers served as nurses during the Vietnam War under the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). The AANS was made up of women trained on voluntary basis to serve as nurses during the Vietnam War. Their services was not only limited to giving medical attention to the wounded servicemen but also included serving close to combat areas such that a good number of them lost their lives.

They offered their services military transports, hospital ships and other military installations in Vietnam (wood 2). Thus over 200 civilian nurses and 40 Army nurses took part in the Vietnam War. The War zone was the most dangerous place for these women because the Vietnam War did not adhere to the international rules of military engagements.

The conditions were even worse for those nurses who lacked military training because they experienced stress due to a combination of several factors such as long working hours, insufficient supplies and souring heat in Vietnam. The Royal Australian army Nursing Corps set up four medical centers in several areas in Vietnam to provide medical care to servicemen. Hospitals were set up at Bien Hoa, long Xuyen, Baris and Vung Tau, near the Australian military installation (wood 2).

Nurses from the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) were sent to offer medical care to injured soldiers in Vietnam. These nurses did not have any military training or experience and therefore, were not adequately prepared for the task. They were force to work under hostile environment.

Since their work stations were located near combat fields, they had to take care of all types of military casualties. They also provided medical care to allied forces, injured civilians and prisoners of war. Thus, the services provided by nurses from RAANC marked a major transformation with respect to the role of military nursing since the First and Second World Wars (Unit Five 81).

However, the RAANC nurses were mainly concerned about the status of the Australian servicemen. A good number of Australian troops sustained grave injuries from gunfire, explosions, shellfire and mines. The swift medical attention offered by the RAANC nurses save many lives because most of the wounded servicemen would have died on the way to a nearby hospital. In spite of the grave injuries sustained by these soldiers, majority of them survived.

For example, a paltry 2.5 percent of the injured servicemen- the highest ever survival rate ever recorded- died during the Vietnam War. Although the Australian nurses were paid less income than their male counterparts holding the same rank, they did not complain. They focussed on proving medical care to the injured soldiers. For instance, according to Colleen Mealy, an Army nurse, all the injured troops were extremely happy when they saw women nurses with medical kits ready to treat their wounds.

On a number of occasions, these women were required to transport the wounded and dead soldiers back home. These nurses were trained to prioritise the interests of the wounded soldiers because they had to bear the massive emotional distress of the wounded and dying servicemen (Unit Five 81).

The role of civilian nurses during the Vietnam War

During the entire period of the Vietnam War, over 200 Australian were sent to take care of the wounded civilians. Although they were required to spend only six months in the War zone, some opted to extend their stay so as to help the injured. The working environment was deplorable.

They had to work in extremely packed wards to treat adults and children who had horrible wounds due to exploding mines. These nurses had to work tirelessly throughout the day as theatre and ward nurse. In addition, they had to report for night shifts after every two days.

They only rested for two days after working continuously for three weeks. When the number of patients reduced, the off-duty nurses would travel along with the medical doctors to a leprosarium, over 40 kilometres away, to carry out plastic surgery. Since the hygienic conditions in most medical facilities were deplorable, the nurses had devise creative ways to ensure that medical facilities and equipments were well sterilized (Hudson 27).

Women as entertainers

A number of women from Australia were sent to Vietnam as dancers and singers to entertain Australian servicemen. For example, Lorrae Desmond, a cabaret singer was among the famous entertainers from Australia who entertained servicemen posted in Vietnam during the War.

In addition, a number of government agencies in Australia sponsored several female entertainers to visit Vietnam. In spite of the apparent dangers in Vietnam, a number of entertainers volunteer to travel to Vietnam under the sponsorship of the Australian Forces Overseas Fund to offer their services to the military.

These female entertainers were brave enough to travel to this volatile region to entertain the military. Although the government made efforts to ensure their safety during their tour in Vietnam, one of the entertainer-Cathy Warnes- was murdered during the Vietnam War (wood 6).

One important aspect that was evident among all the entertainers who travelled to Vietnam is that they were motivated to travel, not because of the monetary gains but out of a deep sense of commitment to contribute to the welfare of their fellow countrymen engage in the war.

For example, while the voluntary entertainers from the United States were paid over $140 per week for the services rendered, their Australian counterparts got no pay. They were only provided with a small token to help them sustain their basic needs (wood 6).

As the discussion above has shown, the Vietnam War was one of the riskiest military combats since the culmination of the First and Second World Wars. This is because both sides employed unconventional strategies in their military engagements. This posed great dangers to women who volunteered to offer medical attention and other services to servicemen.

However, these women carried out their different roles with courage and humility to treat both the military personnel and civilian casualties of the Vietnam War. In spite of the primitive conditions they had to operate in, these women responded swiftly when called upon. Their contributions resulted in the highest survival rate ever recorded in any other war.

Works Cited

DeCillis, Paul. The Vietnam Conflict. Academic Information Portal for Education and Research. Web.

Dickerson, Sharon. American Red Cross Women in Vietnam. Web.

Hornung, Jan. In Honor of Veterans Day: women Vietnam Veterans. Trackpads. 2002. Web.

Hudson, Susan. Pain remembered. Australian Nursing Journal. 1995. Web.

Rushby, Pamela. When the Hipchicks went to War. 2009. Web.

Unit Five. Australian Women in the Vietnam War (1962-1973). Web.

Wood, Megan. Changing roles: women take up the fight. Web.

According to Errington & Miragliotta, the American government used national security to inflict more control on civil autonomy and media (2007, p.6). National security influenced the media to put across their preferred views. National security manipulated the media to portray the opponents as untrustworthy and weak individuals. National security used stereotypes and scapegoats to defend the government. For example, the decision of national security to control press freedom during the Vietnam War caused controversial issues concerning the legality of the journalistic operation. National security contravened the constitutional provision that permitted dissemination of information to the public (Economou & Tanner, 2008. p.50). Social dimension encouraged press freedom in a democratic community. Media served an important role in society since it acted as a watchdog for societal interest.

Press restriction ruined political progress by hindering the flow of accurate and well-timed information to the people. However, some people claimed that press restriction never breached the principle of First Amendment; they felt that media restriction reorganized relation between the media and military (Economou & Tanner, 2008. p.50). Certain individuals perceived that national security acted unconstitutionally to restrict media involvement during the war in Iraq. It became evident that the rule of law got restricted during wartime. American national security-controlled civil liberties during crucial wars such as the Vietnam War, first and second world wars, War of Iraq, and the Civil War. Errington & Miragliotta viewed that American government-controlled media freedom as a way of conserving national security, silencing accusation of political views, and curbing rebels (2007, p.7). President Lincoln hampered media liberty, during Civil War, and commanded that the suspected political offenders be charged before the military court; Lincoln focused to develop railroads, though, rebels ruined railroad bridges in1861 at Baltimore.

Economou & Tanner asserted that American congress, during the First World War, prohibited the use of American mails for delivering materials (2008, p. 51). National security punished lawbreakers with a fine, and imprisonment. U.S President Wilson ordered American Congress to punish any person found useful publishing information to the opponents. The government-controlled media access to the Warfield, because they perceived that media would report information, which might influence public views leading to reduced support for the battle. National security expected the media to disseminate information that entailed successful reports; it also wanted media to avoid disseminating information about enormous death in the Warfield, which would negatively affect public views (Errington & Miragliotta, 2007, p. 6). National security wanted to avoid disseminating sensitive information, which might jeopardize, the lives of soldiers on the Warfield. Historical events showed how Media and politics came into the clash, especially during the moment of conflicts. Press Media aimed to reveal vital information to the public; while governments aspired to conceal many issues from the public. This paper explained how national security collided with Press Media on societal issues. The paper reflected on events that took place during the Vietnam War.

Errington & Miragliotta affirmed that American national security catered for the necessities of journalists in disseminating information about the battle (2007, p. 6). Though journalists had entire access to the Warfield, their information got restricted by national security. Government influenced what journalists had to report to the public. Nevertheless, media later realized that national security distorted information during the Vietnam War. The media insisted on reporting the whole truth to the public. This caused mistrust between national security and the media. Moreover, the public realized that the government disseminated false information while reporters stood for truth. Television became an effective way to convey true information to the public, which fuelled public criticism against the battle (Economou & Tanner, 2008. p.50). Journalists reported such protest showing how American people opposed the Vietnam War. Furthermore, anti-war campaigns caused President Johnson Lyndon not to vie for re-election during 1968. America lost the battle because politicians and military commanders lied to the public; after ten years of war, the public mistrusted their leaders.

Errington & Miragliotta viewed that American administration accused Press Media during the Vietnam battle, and threatened to censure media journalists over malicious information (2007, p.4). Military officials accused journalists of being responsible for supporting opponents; they felt annoyed by the manner press media caused intolerance in society. Such reports showed the public how United States was losing the Vietnam battle; thus the only alternative was to pull out American troops from Vietnam. American National Security perceived that Media Press exaggerated reports concerning Vietnam War (Economou & Tanner, 2008. p.51). For example, Life Magazine edited how 242 American troops got murdered in Vietnam in a single week of the battle.

This incident compelled military commanders in Vietnam to accuse media reporters for supporting the opponents to gain victory. Nevertheless, Press Media defended themselves asserting that journalists only reported varying opinions of American citizens concerning the battle (Economou & Tanner, 2008, p.48). Press Media revealed that taxation increased to incur the cost of the Vietnam battle; however, was burdensome to tax payers. The American national security perceived that press media would shift peoples attention to oppose the battle (Errington & Miragliotta, 2007, p. 3). However, it was necessary to note that media reports were objective without favor of any part. Journalists believed that they aired events of the battle honestly, even though their contents challenged government officials.

Reference List

Economou, N., & Tanner, S 2008. Media, Power and Politics in Australia. Pearson Education Australia, French Forest.

Errington, W., & Miragliotta, N 2007. Media & Politics: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.