Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the American citizens believed that warfare was necessary to defend the global community from the communists actions. However, as the war progressed, the number of casualties and the horrors of the war action prompted small groups of people to form an opposition to the popular opinions. Later on, the small anti-war movement grew into a larger one, gaining the support of the many citizens in the United States. The anti-war movement in the United States was successful in helping change the course of events.
Over time, the anti-war movement grew stronger and gained the support of many Americans, including a large number of college students. For example, Backderf describes the events of the 1970s, where on May 4th, the students protested against the war. The National Guard used guns against these citizens, and therefore, several people were injured and even killed. In general, in his graphic novel, Backderf describes how the National Guard used force at first to stop a protest of local truck drivers in Kent and then moved on to attack the unarmed college students who protested against the war. This novel shows that the anti-war movement was primarily supported by the young citizens, while the politicians decided to use the National Guard to suppress the protests. Hence, the leaders of the state were inclined to continue the warfare, perhaps because withdrawing the armed forces from Vietnam would be viewed as a defeat. On the other hand, the young citizens supported the freedom of the Vietnamese to defend themselves in a national war. One of the reasons why the government used the National Guard against the protestors was because their movement was becoming increasingly popular, which would require the former to change their strategy.
In the Letters Home from Vietnam, the author is a young man aged 18 or 19 years old who describes his experience at war to his sister. In the first few lines, he mentions that the majority of his colleagues are injured or dead, and all of them are as young as he is. This shows another reason why the anti-war movement gained popularity across the United States since the majority of the soldiers were young. Instead of going to college and experiencing life, they were drafted and sent to Vietnam. On the other hand, some of these letters explain why despite the strong anti-war movement, some Americans still supported the continuation of the war. For example, one soldier wrote the following: Some people wonder why Americans are in Vietnam. The way I see the situation, I would rather fight to stop communism in South Vietnam than in Kincaid, Humbolt Blue Mound, or Kansas City. Thus, these letters help one understand both sides of the debate and see how the anti-war movement has helped change the course of events in the Vietnam war.
The fact that some Americans supported the war in Vietnam as they feared that this was the only way of stopping communism that could later affect the United States also shows why the anti-war movement emerged initially. Some of the activists were opposed to the Cold War and warfare in general and did not see a point in engaging in such an action abroad. Hence, the main struggle of this movement was raising awareness about warfare, and its consequences since the Americans supporting this war believed that it was a manifestation of freedom. The communists, if they were to take over Vietnam, would threaten the freedoms of the local people and would attempt to spread their ideology further. The anti-war movement supporters, therefore, aimed to explain freedom from another perspective and to show that engaging in warfare was the opposite of what the Americans as citizens valued.
The college protests described by Backderf showcase another stage of the anti-war movement, where the middle-class families and students who were drafted at the age of 18 took notice of the events. Mainly, the students were forced to go into the military with little preparation and were sent directly to the battlefield. In contrast to this, the legal age for when a person was allowed to drink alcohol was 21, which was a great discrepancy. Hence, there were several issues that propelled people to be involved in the anti-war movement. Although at first it was initialed by individuals who did not support the ideology of war or Cold War in general, later students and middle-class families joined the movement. They supported the anti-war protests because of the many casualties that happened in Vietnam and because their children, aged 18 and older, were forced to participate in the warfare.
All in all, the movement has been successful in changing the course of the war and Americas involvement in it. Mainly, the protestors helped raise awareness about the horrors of the war and the discrepancies in the views of freedom and involvement in another states national war. Additionally, college students and their family members supported the anti-war protests because young individuals were forced to be drafted.
Works Cited
Eric Foner. Give Me Liberty!: an American History, OSU Brief 6th Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2020.
Derf Backderf. Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. New York: Abrams Comicarts, 2020.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.