Vietnam Research Exercise: My Lai Massacre Phillip Niewald

On March 16th 1968, the men of Charlie company, of the 11th Infantry battalion, were ordered to go on a search and destroy mission in the Quang Ngai province. Led by 2nd Lieutenant William Calley, the men began to round up local villagers in groups while inspecting their huts for weapons. Despite finding little to no evidence of Viet Cong activity, Calley ordered the men of C company to open fire on the civilians. What ensued was later referred to as the My Lai Massacre. The killing was not directed specifically at military aged males, more just targeting the masses. “'I saw them shoot an M79 (grenade launcher) into a group of people who were still alive. But it was mostly done with a machine gun. They were shooting women and children just like anybody else,' said Sgt. Michael Bernhardt" according to the history channel. After several hours of rounding up villagers and executing them, a cease fire was ordered. The man responsible for the cease fire was Hugh Thompson, who was flying close air support over the Quag Ngai Province that morning. Hugh Thompson allegedly landed his helicopter between some of the men of C company and local villagers telling the soldiers that he would open fire on them if they did not stop. A young soldier named Ron Ridenhour, who was apart of the 11th Infantry Battalion but did not take part in the shootings, wrote several letters to President Nixon, the pentagon, and other politicians, requesting an investigation. What happened instead was a government cover up. It wasn’t until November of 1969 that the story caught press when freelance reporter, Seymour Hersh, wrote a story about it in The New Yorker. The My Lai Massacre had a lasting effect on the war because it openly displayed the atrocities of the war, causing a rise in anti-war protests and a loss of support of the war and trust in the government. Some could say that this was a decisive event that’s effects led to the United States pulling out its troops from Vietnam.

An image of the aftermath of the My Lai Massacre 

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/01/22/i-coverup

Vietnam Research: The Tet Offensive, Derrick Thompson

 The Tet Offensive occurred in 1968 all across cities in Vietnam. The Tet is the beginning of the lunar year for Vietnamese culture. During this time, it was understood that when the Tet came around there would be a cease-fire for both North and South Vietnamese troops. Unknown to the South Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers, the Viet-Cong launched their largest ambush on many U.S. and south Vietnamese strongholds. Most notably, the U.S. Embassy in Saigon was attacked. All of the Viet-Cong troops were wiped out, but the U.S. and South Vietnamese received heavy causalities as well. The north Vietnam's strategy was not to win these battles. They instead, believed that the battles would lower if not completely diminish the enemy's confidence. This was in fact the turning point of the war, but not because The Viet-Cong secured any land. The battles of the Tet Offensive were recorded and shown uncensored to many Americans back at home. The public opinion of the war in the U.S. reached an all time low after these battles. This opened the door for a eventual withdraw from Vietnam, occurring a few years after this event. I learned about a gruesome story from the battle at the U.S Embassy. There was an official stuck on the second floor the of the building. He told soldiers outside, after most of the battles had ended, that he believed there was at least one other person at least a floor below him. To help him, one of the U.S. soldiers tossed him a pistol and then began to pump gas into the basement. This caused the the Viet-Cong soldier to begin moving upstairs, only to end up getting into a firefight with the official that ended up killing the Viet-Cong Soldier .


The U.S. Embassy located in Saigon, Vietnam


Link: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/tet-offensive

Vietnam research exercise: Joey Tinnerello

           1971 was the year Muhammad Ali appealed his conviction in ‘67 for refusing to report to the induction into the United States Military. This is most famously known as the case of ‘Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698.’ In 1964, Ali took his reading and writing tests to see if he qualified for the U.S Armed Forces. His scores ended up being way below average meaning he wasn’t eligible to be in the military. As we know the war in Vietnam grew extremely fast, so the testing standards were lowered because they were in dire need of soldiers. Since the standards were lowered, Ali was re-classified as a ‘1-A’ which meant he was eligible to be a part of the military. Ali was informed of this and notified officials that he would refuse to join the army. According to Ali, “War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an…. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers.” A very large majority of people only new Ali because of boxing, not anything that happened outside of it. If you were drafted in the U.S, you went to the war, no exceptions. People were angry with Ali because they took it that he was dodging the war, so he could continue fighting. People that were close with Ali new this wasn’t the case. Ali famously said, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong, they never called me nigger.” Ali then appealed again when his local draft board refused to accept his application of being a conscientious objector. The justice department got a hold of this and there was basically a hearing. Ali’s application of being a conscientious was denied because he didn’t meet any of the three basic tests for the objector's status. After they denied his claim, they gave no reasoning as to why they made this decision. Eventually, Ali showed up to the induction of the military in his new hometown of Houston, Texas on April 28th of 1967. His name was called, and he refused, three times to be exact. An officer warned him that if he didn’t step forward one more time he could face prison time and a fine of up to $10,000. He refused for a final time. Because of this decision, Ali was stripped of his boxing licenses, world titles, and many sponsors. Eventually Muhammad stood in front of a grand jury and was convicted of the criminal offense of violating selective service laws by refusing to be drafted. The trial jury consisted of six men and six women, all of whom were white. To conclude Ali was jailed only for a short amount of time because there was a technical error made by the justice department, gradually he won unanimous assent from eight voting justices. He then continued his career. Muhammad Ali laced up his gloves one last time and stepped in the ring with opponent Trevor Berbick losing in the tenth round. Ali speaking to the press about his trial for refusal.

Ali speaking to the press about his trial for draft evasion.

Source:
“Census of Population and Housing, 1990 [United States]: Summary Tape File 3A.” ICPSR                                Data Holdings, Nov. 1993, doi:10.3886/icpsr09782.v1.
 Word count: 494

Research Exercise: The Tonkin Gulf Incident/Domino Theory Gage Fogle

Gage Fogle

English 1110.01 at 11, T-Th

9/26/18

The Tonkin Gulf Incident and the Domino Theory

     On August 2, 1964, a U.S. Navy ship called the U.S.S. Maddox was station in the Gulf of Tonkin.  Its mission was to gather intelligence and support the southern Vietnamese military raids on the North Vietnamese coast.  That morning the Maddox was pursued and attacked by three North Vietnamese patrol boats.  The Maddox was able to defend itself from the attack and the surviving North Vietnamese retreated.    

     The following day President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered another U.S. ship, the U.S.S. Turner Joy, to be sent to the gulf to support the Maddox.  Then on the night of August 4, both U.S. ships reported unidentified vessels in the area.  What happened next is the more controversial part of the Tonkin Gulf incident.  The U.S. ships allegedly came under fire and proceeded to try to evade and retaliate against the unidentified vessels.  Because of this incident, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7,1964.  This resolution gave President Johnson the power to begin and escalate U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.  In other words, the Golf of Tonkin resolution began the Vietnam War in regards to the United States.  Later, in 2005 and 2006, released classified documents showed that the incident in the Tonkin Gulf may have been faked and made up.  However, there was no definitive evidence that President Johnson or the Secretary of Defense purposefully mislead congress or American citizens.  

     The Domino Theory was the belief that if a country were to fall to communism, then the surrounding countries will become communist as well.  Before and during the Vietnam war the U.S. government was afraid of this spreading of communism, and felt as if they needed to intervene in foreign lands in order to stop it.  President Eisenhower was the first to discuss the Domino Theory, and President Johnson would later use the theory as a reason for involvement in Vietnam. 

Word count: 328

Cite: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/gulf-of-tonkin-resolution-1

Illustration of the Domino Theory

    

Research Exercise: Battle of Khe Sahn by Hunter Hires

The Battle of Khe Sahn  was a nearly 7 month battle (January 21st 1968- July 5th 1968) that was held in the Quang Tri Province in South Vietnam. The battle was between 2 regiments of U.S. Marines, backed up by components of U.S. army and Air Force, against 2 or 3 divisions of the North Vietnamese Army.

The battle started when the People’s Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) attacked the U.S. regiment stationed at Khe Sahn with a massive artillery bombardment. The reason why the PAVN wanted Khe Sahn was because it was in a area of strategic importance because the PAVN could get that and then secure a bunch of northern cities and have a strong position because of that. General William Westmoreland anticipated a attack because of this and started stockpiling weapons and mortar rounds to repel said attack.

Battle of Khe Sahn

The attack came as a surprise and as such, 90% of the U.S. stockpiled weapons were destroyed. President Lyndon B. Johnson agreed with General Westmoreland on the fact that the base should be held. President Johnson allowed U.S. and South Vietnamese forces to embark on Operation Niagara which was all about artillery bombardments on areas in the hills around Khe Sahn suspected to have PAVN artillery. They completely ignored communist buildup in urban areas of South Vietnam which would lead to the Tet Offensive. Tet Offensive was PAVN and Viet Cong forces launching attacks on over 100 South Vietnam cities. A full on battle at Khe Sahn never came and the base was shut down July 5th.

Takeaways:

• Battle of Khe Sahn was a 7 month battle that included the Tet Offensive
• General Westmoreland stockpiled U.S. weapons
• PAVN artillery blew up stockpiled U.S. weapons
• President Johnson ordered Operation Niagara
• Blow up suspected areas where PAVN artillery were
• Completely ignored Coummunism growing in South Vietnam
• Led to Tet Offensive
• Viet Cong attacked over 100 South Vietnam Cities
• Full out battle never came
• Base shut down on July 5th
  
  History Channel source: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/battle-of-khe-sanh-1

Vietnam Research Exercise: General Westmoreland and the Controversy of Body Counts

General Westmoreland led the military command during the Vietnam War from 1964 – 1968. That very year, 1968, General Westmoreland became The Chief of Staff of the United States Army until 1972.

“We were succeeding. When you looked at specifics, this became a war of attrition. We were winning.” – General William C. Westmoreland

Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material (Wikipedia). Search and destroy became the coined phrase among the armed forces to describe the mission aimed at flushing out the Viet Cong. The body count figures as a result of this military strategy are not only controversial but also staggering. It is estimated by the Official U.S. Department of defense that nearly one million communist forces were killed from 1965-1974. The controversy of course, is that these numbers were so grossly exaggerated because of the extreme pressure most if not all military officers faced when it came to collecting enemy KIA numbers. The higher the body count the greater success. Why? Good question. Because according to Westmoreland and Whitehouse Politicians, Body counts win wars.

The problem with the body counts was this. In a free fire zone, dictated by General Westmoreland, whether a KIA communist was a combatant or a civilian, military records made no such distinction. As stated by one U.S. military officer “…if it’s dead and Vietnamese, it’s a VC…” (Former Marine Officer Philip Caputo). All three massacres, The My Lai Massacre, Thuy Bo massacre and Son Thang massacre were reported as enemy combatants when in reality more women and children were killed then actual enemy soldiers. Today the numbers still vary greatly ranging from one third less the initial number to over 1.1 million Vietnamese lost.

According to Lewis Sorley, author of the book “A Better War” he writes, "Body count may have been the most corrupt - and corrupting - measure of progress in the whole mess…”

Why would this subject matter be so important in understanding the Vietnam War? In the end, I believe O’Brien put it perfectly in his book, The Things They Carried. “In a war without aim, you tend not to aim.”

          

                                         Image: Wife of victim of Tet Offensive, Hue, Vietnam, by Horst Faas 1968.

https://providencemag.com/2017/10/burns-novick-vietnam-war/

                  General Westmoreland                         

                         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Westmoreland                         

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attrition_warfare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties



Word Count: 405

Vietnam Research Exercise: Ho Chi Minh: Austin Snook

     Ho Chi Minh was the former Prime Minister and President of North Vietnam. He was born May 19th, 1890 and died September 2nd, 1969. He first found his Voice for Vietnamese independence during world war 1 when living in France. He then joined the communist party and followed it to the Soviet Union or modern day Russia. In 1930 he helped form the indochinese communist party and the league for the independence of Vietnam or also known as Viet Minh in 1941. Towards the end of World War II he and Viet Minh forces marched on and took over the North Vietnamese City of Hanoi. There he declared a Democratic state of Vietnam or North Vietnam with himself as president. He would be president for 25 years and play a huge part in the conflict between south Vietnam who was anti-communisum and allies with the Untied States. His forces and presence was felt more and more by south Vietnam. The U.S starting to send aid and by December of 1961 Troops. Ho sent a message to the counties people that became almost their slogan. It read "nothing is as dear to the heart to the Vietnamese as independence and liberation. Then during the war Ho died at the age of 79. The U.S officially left in 1973. the Viet Minh took the city of Saigon in April of 1975 and named it Ho Chi Minh City after Ho.

Ho Chi Minh

Source: History.com

Vietnam Research Mary Ulicny

Word count: 295

Collateral damage is when deaths or injuries happen unintentionally during a war, specifically to people who are not soldiers, and not even part of the war. This can be anywhere from damage to their home or environment where they live, or even as far as a person completely dying. The term originated as basically slang in the military dating all the way back from 1947, and it can even still be used today. Today the term has more to do with when someone takes out anger on someone or something other than the source of the anger. The same way that innocent civilians are feeling the effects of the war, even though they are not the ones who are fighting. The term is now in the Cambridge Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. There is a collateral damage rule, that basically allows for civilians to be hurt, only if it is unavoidable with the attack on the military target, such as a bomb or anything of the sort. Although, it’s getting out of hand. The amount of civilian deaths has been increasing to a number higher than the amount of actual soldier deaths.

    Over the course of the Vietnam War, 465,000 to 2,500,000 civilians were killed, unintentionally. An example would be Rolling Thunder, an air raid on North Vietnam, occurring between March 2nd, 1965 and October 31st, 1968. Even though this raid was only meant to keep military supplies from spreading to South Vietnam, many civilians were hit. The US military even began using more harsh weapons, due to less restriction in what they were allowed to use, such as napalm for example, and since it is an air raid, it was very likely for innocent people to be hit, and they were.

https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/vietnam-vietnam-war/

https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1036&context=gjicl

https://truththeory.com/2015/07/04/collateral-damage-the-civilian-cost-of-american-wars/

These are innocent people who are warning others that it is safer to not even be in their own country during the war, because of the large numbers of people being killed accidentally. 

Vietnam Research Exercise: Nixon and Watergate: Andrew Quakenbush

Word Count: 341

Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States. He is known for ending American fighting in Vietnam, and the famous Watergate scandal. He is the only president to ever resign the office. Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in California. he attended Whittier College and was the elected president of the student body before he graduated in 1934. Then, he earned a law degree from Duke University. He died on April 22, 1994, at the age of 81. Nixon was married to Thelma Ryan(1912-93), and had two girls, Patricia (1946-) and Julie (1948-). Nixon joined the U.S. Navy as an operations officer in the Pacific in WW2. Nixon took office at a time where the country was divided over the Vietnam war. He declared “peace with honor” in Vietnam, with a strategy known as Vietnamization. He resigned from office on August 9, 1974. Vietnamization was a plan to withdraw American combat forces, and simultaneously train South Vietnam to defend itself. Not on the war front, Vietnamization offered U.S. assistance to help South Vietnamese officials toe organize local elections, and implement social and economic reforms. Nixon reduced the number of troops in Vietnam from 549,000 troops in 1969, to 69,000 in 1972.

The watergate scandal happened in June of 1972. In May, members of Nixon’s Committee to ReElect the President broke into the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate headquarters, when they got there they stole top-secret documents and bugged the office. Then, in June, 5 men returned to Watergate to fix the wiretaps. As they were braking in a security guard saw someone had taped over many of the buildings door locks. The police came to catch the members red-handed. One of the members had the reelection committee’s phone number, which connected them to president Nixon.

This is a picture of the Watergate hotel.

Sources: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/richard-m-nixon/

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/richard-m-nixon

https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/watergate

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization

Vietnam Research Exercise: Agent Orange By: Emilee McCabe

     Agent Orange was a tactical herbicide that the US Military used between the years of 1962- 1975. It contained a very highly toxic chemical called Dioxin. This herbicide was contained in a barrel with an orange band around it. The main reason that Agent Orange was used in the Vietnam War was to defoliate trees (making the trees leafless) to prevent North Vietnam and Viet Cong from being concealed or hiding, and it destroyed their crops, limiting the amount of food for North Vietnam and Viet Cong. Nearly 50% of Vietnam's mangroves were destroyed from Agent Orange. The mangroves were the country's natural defense against typhoons and tsunamis. The Vietnamese government and the US government eventually worked together to restore the soil and water that had been contaminated with the chemical Dioxin.
     Army Chemical Corps Vietnam- Era Veterans Health Study is a study of 4,000 Veterans who served in the US Army Chemical Corps between the years of 1963-1973. This study determines that High Blood Pressure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are related to the exposure of Agent Orange. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention published a study in 1984 for Vietnam War Veterans that exposure to Agent Orange poses a risk of fathering babies with birth defects such as spina bifida, various types of cancers, physical and mental disabilities, and deformed or missing limbs.
     After being exposed to Agent Orange, symptoms of effects would not be immediate. Sometimes, it took six months to over a year before one would know he or she had been affected. Among the people affected were US Military members and everyone that came in contact with it through the air or physical contact. Animals and fish living in the area were also affected; the chemical became in contact with them and their food. In some cases, Vietnamese people would mistakenly use the barrels contaminated with remnants of Agent Orange without knowing. This would pose a high risk of serious health problems in the future.

Before and after the use of Agent Orange

Agent Orange Barrels

                                                   

https://www.theamericansixties.com/agent-orange.html
 https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/
http://theconversation.com/agent-orange-exposed-how-u-s-chemical-warfare-in-vietnam-unleashed-a-slow-moving-disaster-84572

https://www.veteransnewsreport.com/2016/04/23/iowa-veterans-fight-to-stop-government-from-defunding-agent-orange-research/

Vietnam Research Writing Exercise by Carlyn Bower

The song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival was released in 1969. This song was an anti-war song, specifically protesting the Vietnam War. This song also highlights some of the issues and injustices that occurred in the political system during the Vietnam War.  One of the main ideas in the song is the divide between the fortunate and unfortunate in the United States and the different roles that these classes played in the war. The higher classes are referred to as the "fortunate sons", while the lower classes are known as the "unfortunate sons".

"Fortunate Son" poster displaying the song's association with the anti-war movement

The "fortunate sons" in the song have privilege due to their class and do not have to worry about being drafted because of the way that the drafting system is set up to favor them. These people are able to support the war without enduring the consequences and to them it even seems like a far off place.

The "unfortunate sons" do not have any protection, however, and have to suffer through the consequences of the fortunate sons who support the war. These men who were drafted were sent overseas to fight and possibly even give up their lives in a war that they don't necessarily believe in.

The timing during which this song was released was very significant. During the late 1960s, over 2 million Americans participated in a nationwide protest against the war. Nixon tried to dismiss these protestors by portraying them as unpatriotic bums. When the song "Fortunate Sons" was released, this disputed Nixon's portrayal of the protestors because the members were known for their "unimpeachable blue-collar background and perspective."

https://www.shmoop.com/fortunate-son/meaning.html

The Ho Chi Minh Trail: Cheyenne Zurski

Traveling along the trail

     The Ho Chi Minh Trail, named after the president of North Vietnam, was a military supply route including an elaborate system of mountain and jungle path trails. It ran from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia all the way to South Vietnam.  The trail was one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 21st century. It was made for Communist North Korea to be able to send things like ammunition, weapons, and manpower to their supporters in South Vietnam. The trail moved several tons of supplies every single day. Medical aid stations, radio and telecommunications facilities, barracks and food and weapon stations were all underground, hiding thousands of Vietnamese at any time during the Vietnam War.

     The American involvement in Vietnam increased around the 1960s. The U.S. would constantly bomb the trail, but often times it didn't do much. In 1965, over 30 U.S. Air Force jets attacked the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. This was one of very many attacks on villages and roads along the trail. The trail was also known as "The Blood Road." It would take a Vietnamese soldier 6 months to get down the trail, if not gotten by an American bombing of course. Today, parts of the trail still exist.

                                 

Map of the trail

Underground Guerrilla escapes along the trail

Vietnam Research Exercise: Eleni Smock

May 4, 1970- Kent State Massacre

     On May 4th, 1970, four students were killed during a protest of the Vietnam War over the bombing of Cambodia that President Richard Nixon put in place only 5 days earlier. The protest was scheduled for noon that day, but because of the protests days before, protesting students were actually passing out flyers saying that the event was being canceled. Against what the papers said, 2,000 Kent State students showed up in light of protesting the War. Just then infantries from the Ohio National Guard came and tried to stop the protest, and make the students exit the premises. Protesters began to become angry, throwing rocks at the National Guard. It came very clear to the infantries that the crowd was not going to disperse, and that further action needed to be taken into consideration. They tried to move the crowd up the campus ground, but it was becoming harder and harder because the force of the protesters were becoming too strong. The tear gas that was used in the beginning of the force did not work because of the wind and it was blowing it away from the crowd. Once the National Guard stopped at Blanket Hill, they knelt down and at 12:24 p.m. the first shot of the May 4th Massacre rang out. After Sergeant Myron Pryor fired his first bullet, at least 29 of the 77 guardsmen present also started shooting (approximately 67 rounds of ammunition were set off at the scene.) 4 students, Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer were killed during the Kent State Massacre. Krause and Miller were the only two victims that were participating in the protest; Schroeder and Scheuer were walking to class while shot. 

     After the May 4th shooting, many protests began around the country. The reason for the shots is still unknown today. Many think that it was self defense because the crowd was becoming too strong for the guardsmen, or it could have been because the guardsmen were in no sense of danger, and the reason is still unjustified. The 13 second shooting shook the world, and made a huge impact for the Vietnam War.

Guardsmen at Blanket Hill, Kent State University

Mary Ann Vecchio (14) kneels over Jeffrey Miller's Body

Works Cited: https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

Word Count: 363

                      

Vietnam Research Exercise Tiffany Rossetti

I chose the Jane Fonda and "Hanoi Jane" controversy. Jane Fonda (age 80)  is a successful actress who has won many awards including the Golden Globes Award and the Academy Award. She is also a writer, and political activist. Jane's antiwar agenda got her arrested multiple times. One specific example is May 1970. She was heading to Fort Meade military base in Maryland and was planning to hand out antiwar pamphlets to the soldiers but was arrested before she even got the chance. She was a very strong and prominent face of the antiwar movement and an active participant in the antiwar agenda.

In 1972 the opportunity to travel to Hanoi North Vietnam was an offer she couldn't refuse. She was invited to tour the dike system (naturally occurring ridge that regulates water levels), which had been rumored to have been purposefully bombed by the U.S troops for no real apparent reason, but the government still denies that statement to this day. Jane came to the conclusion that America was unjustly bombing farmland and other areas that were far away from their designated targets. She also made announcements over the Voice of Vietnam radio speaking to the U.S pilots telling them that they did not have to do what they were doing and that they didn't understand the impact of the bombs. But the most controversial thing she ever did that really angered everyone was a published picture of her sitting on top of a North Vietnam antiaircraft gun that would have been used to shoot down U.S planes and kill U.S pilots. Everyone was outraged. The Veterans of Foreign Wars passed a resolution, wanting her to be prosecuted as a traitor. But that didn't stop Jane, she continued to speak out about the war and she basically sided with the North Vietnamese. She talked about the POWs (prisoners of war) who were trapped in a North Vietnam prison basically saying that they deserved to be beaten and tortured for trying to escape because of the way they have destroyed Vietnam (bombing, napalming), and that they should pay for their crimes. 

As the years passed on and the war in the past Jane has reinvented herself focusing on other things like modeling, fitness and acting. She has apologized multiple times about the controversial photo of her on top of the gun but the veterans will never forgive her.

Jane Fonda Pictured on top of North Vietnam gun that would be used
to shoot down U.S planes and kill U.S Pilots  

Word Count: 398
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/18/how-jane-fondas-1972-trip-to-north-vietnam-earned-her-the-nickname-hanoi-jane/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3f4f0c7739c9 

Vietnam Research Exercise Evan Burkart (MLK)

On April 4th 1967 Martin Luther King gave his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church in New York City. This was an anti-Vietnam and pro-social justice speech, which made people all around the world have mixed emotions about the speech and the war that was going on at the time. King talked about all the problems that were happening at the time and what was happening in Vietnam, he explained that America could be spending their money on other things such as poverty and fixing racism. He felt it was wrong to send young men to a new country to serve for a country that had treated them so poorly. Martin Luther King felt that the war was a horrible thing and it should not have been happening. This made people begin to protest against the war all around the United States. King thought that the U.S. government should withdrawal the troops from Vietnam and should stop bombing North and South Vietnam. He believed they were wasting money that should be spent more on the poor blacks in America. King said "We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem." King maintained his antiwar stance and supporting peace movements until he was assassinated on April 4th 1968. On the other hand many people who supported the war began to distance themselves from King, many popular news companies and people around the U.S. call King's speech a "mistake". While others began to call it King's most important speech. Martin Luther King repeatedly rejected the sunny optimism of his I have a Dream speech and began to say that his dream had turned into a nightmare. Martin Luther King had tried to stay silent about his opinion about the war, but after he saw a picture in the paper of a Vietnamese boy burning he had decided to stick up for what he thought was right, which led to the "Beyond Vietnam" speech. 

This picture shows MLK protesting the Vietnam War with other protesters.


Sources: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/beyond-vietnam

Vietnam Research Exercise - Ben Berger

12. The issue of suicide and mental health problems for Vietnam Vets.
     The issue of mental problems and suicides in Vietnam Vets is still a major presence in our society. It was a major problem during and at the end of the Vietnam war and it is still happening today. The number of Vets who had PTSD at the time was very high, but with recent reevaluation, the numbers have gone up staggeringly. "4 out of 5 people reporting recent symptoms when interviewed 20-25 years after Vietnam" (Veterans Statistics: PTSD, Depression, TBI, Suicide). Because of this immense mental health problem, many Vets do not know how to get help and deal with their problems. A lot of these Vets choose to commit suicide. During the Vietnam war, roughly 60,000 people lost their lives. According to The New York Times, more active duty personal die by their own hand than actually in combat. These numbers are staggering because most Vets are afraid or refuse to get help. The older Vets don't trust the government anymore. Some Vets don't want to get help due to pride or fear as well. They don't believe they need it. Because of this, the suicide rates aren't getting really better. This epidemic of suicide rates and mental illness are still up. There needs to be more funding to this operation to stop this. The VA is there now to help these Vets with their mental issues. They are doing a great job to prevent things like suicide from happening. But Vets cant be afraid of going. They cant feel ashamed or upset by getting the help they need. Once Vets aren't afraid to go get help, this issue will get a lot better.


Some Vets are driven to drugs and drinking to handle the pain. This is not the proper way to heal and get better.

https://www.research.va.gov/topics/vietnam.cfm
http://veteransandptsd.com/PTSD-statistics.html

Vietnam Research Exercise: Hannah Belden

The Use of Psychological Warfare and Propaganda in Vietnam
Psychological warfare was first used in Ancient Greece by Alexander the Great, but it hadn't been used nearly as heavily or as advanced in any war leading up to Vietnam.  Psychological Operations (PSYOP) is an organization through the US government that chooses selected audiences (usually the enemies) and uses different psychological tactics, such as sight and sound, to play on their emotions, senses, behavior, reasoning, and motives.  This can be done through leaflets and posters, television, radio, and/or in person contact.  For this to work though, planned propaganda must be used.  This is done by doing intensive research on the enemy and knowing their vulnerabilities, what makes them feel safe, and what they fear inside and out.  These are then used to make the enemy soldiers perform a specific action that will be beneficial for the government employing the psychological warfare.  It is important to note, that this type of warfare can be just as effective of a weapon as traditional warfare tactics, without the use of bloodshed.
North Vietnam spread propaganda to the American troops urging them to give up on the war through radio broadcast shows, such as "Hanoi Hannah", where pro- VC messages were mixed in with soothing music.  The US soldiers also handed out leaflets to wounded VC soldiers saying if they surrendered they would be given full medical treatment and safety from the US soldiers.  They also would drop leaflets from planes depicting a dead VC soldier on them laying on the battlefield, unburied, with the caption "Will you be next?" on them? They even used had to coerce the Vietnamese enemies to sign the peace treaty through psychological threats of air strikes and bombings.  But, probably the most shocking and one of the most well known PSYOP campaign was created by the US and used on the VC, called The Wandering Soul.
This operation was used against the Viet Cong soldiers and it had some of the most lasting effects on the soldiers.  The US played on the deep rooted Vietnamese belief in the wandering souls and was able to use it to scare opposing troops.  The VC believe that if someone dies on land that is not their homeland (North Vietnam), then their soul will never be able to rest and will wander around forever looking for it's "home".  The US troops set up speakers in bushes and broadcasted different audio clips from airplanes and played different audio tapes around VC troops, mostly at nighttime.  Some included music and children laughing, but many of them played the audio of the "wandering spirits" talking and haunting the soldiers because they could not peacefully be laid to rest.  Some of the audio included them crying and moaning, and others included their wives and children asking where they had gone, and why they were not home yet.  This scared the VC soldiers greatly because for all they knew, they could be one of these soldiers next.
I was able to get most of my information from: http://www.psywarrior.com/VietnamOBPSYOP

A plane dropping propaganda leaflets onto opposing troops

Vietnam Research Exercise- Holly Galvin

23. Controversial issue of pardons by President Carter for those fleeing service.
President Jimmy Carter pardoned hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. An estimated 100,000 men went abroad in the late 60's early 70's to avoid being drafted to the war. President Carter promised to give draft pardons if he was elected into office to help put the war in the past. President Carter quickly granted pardons to draft dodgers once he was elected into office in 1976. He gave pardons to those who committed ant offense between August 4th,1964 and March 28th,1973. Anyone who was convicted in that time period were given full political, civil and other rights. President Carter used an executive order to pardon the men who evaded their draft notice, he did not go through congress to make this decision. This was very controversial because 209,517 men were formally accused of dodging the draft and violating the law, so now the men coming back home were not getting into trouble. People said these men who evaded the draft are unpatriotic and they shouldn't get off without getting into trouble. This is an important subject because Tim considered evading the war and he explained in great detail his internal struggle. He didn't want to go to war but he didn't want to stay home and be looked down upon and ashamed of himself for being unpatriotic. Tim did end up going to the war so he was not apart of the pardoned men but he did highly consider evading his draft notice.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/01/22/president-pardons-viet-draft-evaders/dfa064a5-83fc-4efb-a904-d72b390a909e/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.264cba8ec4d2
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-carter-pardons-draft-dodgers
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/21/president-carter-pardons-draft-dodgers-jan-21-1977-346493

President Jimmy Carter granting his promise to draft dodgers January 21, 1977

Vietnam Research Exercise #22: Draft for the Armed Forces

My topic was over the Armed Services’ draft. How people were drafted completely depended on where you lived as it depended on the local draft board. Each board is run by 5 people, chosen by the director of Selective Services or by recommendation. Men within the ages of 18-26 were selected based on their mental, physical, and moral characteristics in order to decide who should be drafted first, each person was given a respective classification card that acted in tiers based on these traits. This method was changed on December 1st of 1969 where a lottery drawing method was introduced. In this current version every date of the year is put into a big lottery style container aired nationally, the order the dates were pulled from the container represented the priority level of the people who were born on said dates, the first being pulled being the first drafted and so on. This method gave the army less qualified men who would have a harder time throughout the war rather than as a last resort like the other method, however this way has much less bias involved. The Vietnam War went through both of these processes, starting in 1955 and ending in 1975.

       75% of the forces sent to Vietnam were volunteers, with about 2.2 million out of the 27 million draft eligible men being selected, this is about 8.15% of eligible men. With this in mind only 38% of those selected were sent to be Vietnam ground troops, with the rest covering positions elsewhere, this means that only only about 3.1% of mean had to go to Vietnam. This is significantly less than the number I thought it was in my head and it turns out that our TTTC character Tim O’Brien is just one unlucky guy, though his story did make it sound like being selected meant going to Vietnam, much less did in fact.

Dates for the draft picks were placed into capsules that look much like these lottery balls, but getting your number chosen felt nothing like winning the lottery.

Information Source: https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Vietnam-War-draft-lottery-work