The Role of Nurses

Woman nurses played a huge role during the Vietnam War. Early in 1963, the Army Nurse Corps, the ANC, launched Operation Nightingale, an extreme effort to send nurses to serve in Vietnam. Most of these nurses who volunteered to serve came from primarily working or middle class families with military service in their history. These nurses often had to live in tents under bad conditions due to heat, humidity, bug infestations and noisy. They worked six days a week, expect during emergencies in which everyone worked. During the TET Offensive, of January 1968, nurses described that they slept if and when they could. "Nurses gained respect not only for their technical skills but also for their independent clinical judgements." states West, an Army Nurse Corps historian. I think this gaining of respect stuck with woman for the years to come and motivated them to continue to do jobs that were traditionally considered to be meant for men only. Woman had always been so limited to doing domestic work such as staying home, taking care of the children, cooking, and cleaning.

http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/pdf/iwest.pdf

As I have stated earlier in this blog, education is crucial.
American popular culture has helped to further the negative stigma associated to veterans of the Vietnam War and the American public treatment of those veterans.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) has worked tirelessly to bring additional substance to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by helping to create an interactive educational center at The Wall. Now the information gathered for this project will be available to our nation's school through the assistance of The History Channel.

It is true that due to the controversial nature of the Vietnam War many of it's returning veterans were met with controversy and conflict upon returning home. However it is important to be aware of the millions of men and women who returned and worked toward increased awareness of veteran's needs. The veterans of the Vietnam war are responsible for much of the work towards understand post traumatic stress disorders and the treatment which is being used to help our soldiers return from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars today.

Educating our nations youth on the mistakes made as well as all the wonderful achievements of our nations veterans is of vital importance to our future. We continue to grow as a nation from the lessons of our past.

http://www.vietnamgear.com/Article.aspx?Art=177

Five Names to be added to The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

A special ceremony was held yesterday to honor five service men who's names are being added to The Wall. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund continues to work towards indentifying all those who served and gave their lives as a result of the war in Vietnam.

Some of the ongoing work is that of status change to the names on The Wall. The search for remains of those missing in action continues to this day and is a testament to the level of respect the American people have for the men and women who serve our country.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is visited by over 3 million people annually and helps to bring a better understand of the war and those who served in it.

http://www.vietnamgear.com/Article.aspx?Art=180

The Wall That Heals

The Wall that Heals is a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, more commonly known as The Wall. It is a half-scale replica of the memorial that is transported throughout the United States. It has also visited Canada and Ireland.

The Wall That Heals gives millions of Americans a chance to honor and remember all the men and women who served in the Vietnam War. Both the traveling memorial and the original monument are tributes to those who served, died, as well as those who are still missing from the Vietnam War. These are not monuments to the war, they are monuments to the people.

The Wall That Heals travels on a flat bed truck along with a traveling museum and visitor's information center. Education is so incredibly important. Continuing to educate the public on the importance of supporting our troops is crucial. The treatment of the returning veterans of the Vietnam War is a stain on our countries history. The museum that is connected to the traveling wall was created using the more than 150,000 left at The Wall. These displays help identify and presonalize the over 58,000 names found on the memorial. 1200 of those are soldiers who are still missing in action.

The healing process is ongoing for many who served in the Vietnam War or those who lost loved ones and friends. The Wall That Heals is not only a wonderful tribute but also a way for people who can not travel to The Wall.


http://www.vietnamgear.com/Article.aspx?Art=179

"The means to an end"

January 27, 1973 was a day for all those involved that could not come soon enough. That was the date that the Paris Peace Accords produced an "Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam". The two main representatives involved in the negotiations were the U.S. National Security Adviser Dr. Henry Kissinger and Lê Ðức Thọ of Vietnam, both men were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for reaching the agreement. Basically the negotiations produced these main points(1):

1) A ceasefire would be in effect as of January 28, 1973 at 8 am Saigon time. As soon as the ceasefire was initiated U.S. and its allies would begin their withdrawal, which was to be completed in sixty days.
2) All U.S. POW's would be released and allow safe passage home.
3) Negotiated would take place between the two South Vietnamese parties to reach a political settlement regarding the ability of the South Vietnamese citizens to decide how they would partake in the future of the region through free and democratic elections.
4) The reunification of Vietnam was to be carried out step by step through peaceful means.

It was most unfortunate that it took five years to reach the outcome that the Paris Peace Accords produced because who knows how many lives could of been spared, saved, and needless incidents averted on both sides. 1968 was when the negotiations began and there were numerous delays from both sides that neither side was willing to work out till 1973. But thankfully a decision was reached although the lessons learned from Vietnam will never be forgotten nor will the men and women who gave their lives in the war.

This is a photo is known world wide for being awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1964. As you can see it is a picture of a self-immolation, one of many that took place during the Vietnam war. The man in this picture, Thích Quảng Đức, is a South Vietnamese monk and is the most famous of all those who partook in similar acts. He was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by the U.S. supported Diem administration. In the U.S. there were two men that protested in the exact same way, there was Norman Morrison on November 2, 1965 and one week later Roger LaPorte. Both men had separate reasons for their actions, Morrison was a Quaker who was outraged at a bombing of a village in Vietnam, and LaPorte was from the Catholic Worker movement who was against the war and all wars.

Now, some people might think that these types of protests were a bit extreme and done in poor taste but they were highly effective at getting their causes noticed. President Kennedy commented on the monks' self-immolation, "no news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one."1. That was a statement coming from the leader of the free world and it gripped him enough to go public with that thought.


1.Jacobs, Seth (2006), Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield,
http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2008/11/another-self-immolation.html

Johnson's Promise

A huge part of Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign to the presidency was the promise, if he were elected to office, he would not send ground troops to Vietnam. Almost immediately after taking office and being sworn in, Johnson and his administration decided to relocate U.S. soldiers to South Vietnam which marked the just beginning in a long, dragged out ordeal. By the end of his term in March of 1986, Johnson readdressed the nation and owned up to his broken vow "With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office." Johnson concluded, "Accordingly, I shall not seek...another term as your President." (L.B.J.)

It just goes to show that no matter who you are or what position of power you hold, people will say and do things that the majority wants to hear. Johnson wasn't the first nor was he the last to make promises that he couldn't keep, or that he pledged upon in their campaigns and never followed through with. It's just how messed up political battles are waged. We all know it happens and we still buy into this system that continuously lets us down. I realize that not everyone can be reached or made happy, but if you make promises and are in a position to do something about it then I believe they should keep their words and follow through on their vows.

The End Result

After the Tet Offensive and Nixon's Vietnamization, the Paris Peace agreement was signed and put into affect. Causalities were put into numbers and along with the other realizations. The number of dead had reached 58,148 killed in Vietnam, while other soldiers had become disabled had reached 29,578. Soldiers were also asked if they would serve again if they knew the outcome of the battles and war, 74% of the veterans that were asked, stated that they would serve again along with 91% of them said they were glad they had served in the Vietnam War.

When the U.S. troops left Vietnam, accusations came up of who lost the war, what is going to happen to the workers, what is going to happen now? Accusations of who lost came up across the country as people were asking did we loose the war. People were also asking what was going to happen to the economy due to the massive increase in inflation. With the war costs estimated around 167 billion dollars spent and without a increase in taxation to counter the spending, inflation went into double digits and also putting America into even more debt causing living standards to spiral downward up into the 1990's. The effects of the governments choices led to the countrywide distrust of all government agencies until later years which is now the opposite of the distrust. Even though soldiers had to go through a tough war and a tough home coming, today, we see the remaining veterans as heroes and good soldiers that had to do what they did due to orders. A memorable site that salutes the soldiers that had lost their lives in the war is the Vietnam Veterans memorial that is now one of the most visited site in our Nation's capitol.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/postwar.htm

http://www.uswings.com/vietnamfacts.asp

A Waiting and Patient Enemy

While fighting the Viet Cong and against the North Vietnamese, both had surprises against the U.S. which showed that they were more coordinated and also were a stronger force then anticipated. The fighting against the Viet Cong took a major toll on U.S. troops since the Viet Cong used guerilla tactics. The guerilla tactics would consist of ambushes, booby trapping roads or the outskirt of villages, and also the troops could not tell who was helping the Viet Cong. Villagers would make booby traps, house and feed, and also help the Viet Cong escape through complex underground tunnels. Without knowing who was helping the enemy, U.S. troops were becoming angered and started becoming angry when fighting started, started to use drugs, and moral declined.

Another surprise to the U.S. troops was the coordinated attack of the North Vietnamese called the "Tet offensive". The coordinated attack went across the country, attacking around 100 different South Vietnamese cities. The U.S. forces at the cities defended the attack but showed that they were facing a formidable foe that can make such a coordinated attack. After the coordinated attack of the North Vietnamese, President Johnson had to now face a angry country along with bad news from his military advisors that state war is escalating and can become worst for U.S. troops.

(http://history1900s.about.com/od/vietnamwar/a/vietnamwar_2.htm - "Surprise Attack" and "Life in the Jungle" )

Bring the Troops Home

The photo I chose shows mobs of American citizens protesting against the Vietnam War as well as sending their American troops to Vietnam, the anti-war movement. It is obvious that the majority of Americans did not want to see their loved ones involved in fighting a war they did not agree with in the first place. In August of 1965, 61% of Americans believed it was not a mistake in sending the troops to Vietnam. Not long after in May of 1971, after five years of slowly fading approval, 28% of Americans agreed it was no longer the right decision. It is a very big issue having such little support, especially during a war as brutal as the one in Vietnam, and at such a fast plummeting rate. It was no secret to the public of just how graphic and violent combat actually was and how powerful their weapons and bombs really were.

http://vietnammedia.wikispaces.com/5.+Public+Opinion+During+and+After+the+War

Breaking Political Boundaries

Prior to 1971 it was alright to serve in the U.S. military without having a say in, or influencing the people sending troops to war. Eighteen years of age was the minimum age that one could be drafted yet in order to vote, the age was twenty-one. The roots of the drafting age starts back in WWII when President Roosevelt lowered it to eighteen to boost conscription. But at the time all one could do was serve and die for their country, that was until the Vietnam War and the protesters that surrounded it. The protesters and anti-war radicals argument was to have more of a say in the country's policies and leadership. Considering most of the protesters and radicals were college age students (not 21 years of age) it was a logical direction for them to pursue.

The 26th had its up and down moments before finally becoming ratified. At first in 1970 it was seen as an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which allowed 18 year olds the right to vote in all elections. Then on December 1, 1970 it was decided in Oregon v Mitchell that 18 be the age one was aloud to vote for national elections but not for state and local elections. It took 3 months from that decision for Congress to pass the specific text stating that the voting at be 18 at all levels of election. It was finally ratified July 1, 1971. (26th Amendment)

This was a huge decision for the country, the protesters, and the youth of American. It was a decision that still holds today and allows us to continue to vote as soon as we're 18. I can understand the argument against this amendment just as well as I understand the argument for it. 18 year olds demand respect because they want to be thought of as adults and because they are able to enlist in the military they should have a voting say in who is in charge of the country. On the other hand an 18 year old, for the most part, is barely out of high school and could care less about who is leading the country, let alone make an informed decision on who to put in office. It's something, I feel, to this day that we haven't been able to find the correct balance between the two and who knows if we as a country ever will.

http://www.deafvote.com/why_vote/26th-amendment-explained.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html#Am26

Nixon's Ambition

Before Nixon got into office, he already had a plan that would win the war and called his secret strategy "Vietnamization", which stated that the Vietnamese people were not fighting hard enough to win the war. The strategy called for pulling out troops and increasing the air warfare, which pushed the ground warfare onto the ARVN. When Nixon was elected into office, his plan went into effect and took troops out of Vietnam. While the plan was in effect, the Communists party started to take the war into neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos.

As Nixon kept sending bombing runs to push back the Communist Party, the bombing runs started a wave of anti-Nixon rally's all over the United States. Two examples of protests that stood out across the country was on Kent State, Ohio, and also at Jackson State, Mississippi which combined had 6 students killed, which made a mother cry out "They are killing our babies in Vietnam and in our own backyard". With Nixon relying on air warfare angered citizens and his administration working on a treaty. With the pre-treaty talks not working, Nixon and his administration started a series of major bombings of the DRV's major cities of Hanoi and Haiphong (referred to as the Christmas Bombings). After the attacks were made, the severe attacks brought a lot of dislike to Nixon and his administration from people around the world. The immediate talk and dislike of the choices caused Nixon and his administration to rethink their war tactics and also talk of negotiation. After new negotiations went underway, Nixon and his administration signed a peace accord on January 23, 1973 which stated that the United States would not abandon the GVN.

(http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html - "The Nixon Years" and "The Paris Peace Agreement" )

Assessing the Future

Before entering a war, would you send advisors to tell you what you need to do, how much aid is needed and how bad the situation would get if the worst came, would you try and go the middle route and please as many people as you can? Before entering the war, President Kennedy sent a team of advisors to assess the situation and tell him what aid is needed. The report now is known as the "White Papers", which stated that there needed to be an increase in military forces to counteract the successful actions/victories that were taking by the NLF. After receiving the White Paper's, Kennedy talk with other advisors on what should be done. Some agreed to intervene, while other's advised that the war would be meaningless.

After talking about the situation and what should be done, Kennedy ended up making a compromise and limited the warfare that would be done in Vietnam. Kennedy ended up sending more guns, ammo and aid, along with more advisors to help the war. After some time sending just aid and advisor's to Vietnam, more papers came into Washington stating that the victories by the NLF are taking the countryside. With Kennedy taking the "please everyone road", the victories by the NLF led to attacks on rural areas. With the rural attacks continuing, the advisors are completely separating themselves from the people being divided.

( http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html - December 1961 White Paper)

Losing Battle

If someone in power say's "we are going to do it this way and with little interaction", will it actually happen? During the Vietnam War, this did not happen and went in the opposite direction of what was said. At the start of the war, the Johnson Administration stated that the war would be done in "cold blood" and also a limited war. The limited war that the Administration saw was little confrontation, little domestic impact, limited resources and bodies. The goals that were said were never achieved and it was seen among the people across the nation. With the Johnson Administration not keeping its word on a "little interaction" war, the Administration met with a lot of civil unrest and protesters across the country.

( http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/history/index.html - "The War In America")

The wait and see mentality.

It took four different presidents to eventually commit the US completely to war with Vietnam. It began with Truman authorizing aid to the French, shifted to Eisenhower taking control from the French and unleashing the CIA's campaign in Vietnam, and then took on another role as Kennedy sent 2,000 military advisers to train the South Vietnamese army. These were all tactics that didn't offensively commit us in the war, it wasn't until Kennedy's unfortunate assassination that the US was thrust into an offensive mindset when Lyndon B. Johnson gave the go ahead for air strikes and bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel. It took about 15 years from the onset of the conflict until the US was fully involved in Vietnam, some might say a little too long.

All of them had one goal and that was to keep the Communists at bay and keep them from flexing their might. That was the US policy regarding foreign affairs surrounding the Cold War. Each president took a different stance on that approach and I believe it ultimately allowed North Vietnam to succeed. Truman took the initial stance with the Truman Doctrine, which promise U.S. support to countries threatened by communism, spread us too thin as a nation. Truman was ambitious to think that we could prevent its spread, especially following WWII when the world was left with so many voids. (Truman). Eisenhower was the first to take a stance with regards to Vietnam and with his outstanding war credentials decided to allow the CIA, which had been successful in ousting other regimes during his administration, to get involved. I'm not so sure the CIA was the best route to go. Sending spooks and spies into a region already in turmoil and unrest I think did more harm than good. Eisenhower should of sent a military presence over there with the CIA and advisers, if not in place of them. (Eisenhower).

The one president I think that would have best suited the U.S. involvement was President Kennedy. The reason why I think he didn't have a bigger impact was because his focus had to be closer to home with the failed Bay of Pigs operation, set up by the Eisenhower administration, along with the Cuban Missile Crisis. J.F.K. and his hard-lining stance toward the Soviet Union could have proved productive in Vietnam and yet before he got the real opportunity he met his untimely fate. His stance toward Vietnam could be summed up by this quote he gave in April 1963, "We don't have a prayer of staying in Vietnam. Those people hate us. They are going to throw our asses out of there at any point. But I can't give up that territory to the Communists and get the American people to re-elect me". (Kennedy). Then Johnson picked up where Kennedy left off and expanded the military involvement with bombing and more troops on the ground. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident and its resolution allowed Johnson to use the military as he saw fit without the approval of the Senate. America's proactive stance in Vietnam forever changed with Johnson.


http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/anderson.htm
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/causes.htm

Communism .. was it the only reason for the war?

We're all aware that containing the spread of Communism was the main political stance of the U.S. following WWII and making sure that the U.S. was in the forefront of every potential conflict. I believe it was during this time when the U.S. took up its "World Police" mentality because as a superpower it felt the need to involve themselves in matters that may or may not concern them. France's inability to hold off the Communist threat in Indochina and their ultimate defeat to Ho Chi Minh led to a more proactive U.S. involvement. But could there have been underlying reasons for why the U.S. wanted the region to not fall into the hands of the Communist?

There have long been reports of studies conducted in the region for its oil deposits and its rubber industry. I read an article stating that indeed there was a large deposit of oil off the coast of Vietnam of which Rockefeller's Standard Oil company had an interest in. And today there are oil derricks pumping it out from various U.S. companies.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions but it does raise some questions about why it was so difficult to withdraw troops from the region even after the tremendous loss of American and allied soldiers. I find it hard to believe that our only political agenda in Vietnam was to keep Communism at bay. It didn't work in Cuba, North Korea, Laos, China and ultimately North Vietnam, that's not including the countries that adopted it for even a short while. Afghanistan was a communist country for a while in the Cold War era but that's another topic entirely.
http://www.oilcompanies.net/oil1.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/vietnam2.htm

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans and Thank You All for Your Service.

http://www.historynet.com/senate-sets-march-30-as-welcome-home-vietnam-vets-day.htm

For all those who served in the Vietnam War I would like to say thank you.
The reception you received upon returning home from a brutal, hellish war was unjust and frankly an embarrassment to the American people as a whole.

The United States senate has passed a resolution designating March 30th as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. This is an something that has been a long time coming.

On March 30th 1973 all U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam. I was born in June of 1973 and the history of the Vietnam War is as real to me as it must have been to the young adults of that era.

Our soldiers and those that choose to serve and support our military efforts in Vietnam are hero's. All of those young men who never made it home are hero's of the highest caliber.

Again, I wish to thank you all for your service to our country and to apologize for the injustice done to you upon your return home so many years ago.

Tough Time Walking

( http://warvietnam.org/ )

The picture that I had chosen shows American soldiers going through the tough terrain to get to the nearest city. During the Vietnam War, American soldiers had to go day by day through some of the toughest terrain they had seen. Soldiers had to watch where they were walking and also had to watch their equipment while walking through wet or muddy terrain. The soldiers had a tough time staying dry and watching out for Vietcong.Soldiers did not want to walk through the jungle and wanted to stay in the base and have a nice desk job.People that were getting drafted did not want to get involved in the war and tried to dodge the draft. The only way people wanted to go over was away from the actual fighting and doing minimal engagement.

The Vietnam War - Global Conflicts Project - Team 3

This blog is created for Team 3 of the Global Conflicts and Human Behavior Spring 2011 course at NSCC.