For my final paper this semester, I chose the Vietnam War topic. This topic interests me because I am curious and want to know more about Vietnam’s origins and why America participated in it.
I was curious to know why Kent State students protested the war in 1970. I also wanted to know why the people who died that day felt passionate about protesting. What I did not expect was to find such joy in looking at the political cartoons of the time. This clearly shows that this is an American soldier, walking into the Unknown in Vietnam. The slight downturn of the lips suggests that the soldier is not ready for battle.
The man’s expressions to me suggest that he is confused and has already been defeated. I find his posture to be very dissimilar to how he was drawn. It seems as though he’s stopping. The soldier’s left leg is curled and his heel looks like it’s flattening. While his right leg appears to be moving along the next step, his left leg seems to be dragging him down. It doesn’t seem like someone is ready to go to Vietnam. This is similar to America’s overall inability to prepare for the destruction it will bring.
What I learned was that the Vietnam War began because of America’s desire to stop communism in the Cold War. For around fifteen years, the Communist Nation of the Republic of Northern Vietnam fought a Republic of Southern Vietnam that was American-supported. The war was designed to assist South Vietnam in its overthrow. Unfortunately, the U.S. had not acquired the tactical expertise of “jungle” warfare against gorillas.
Lyndon Johnson stated during the 1964 presidential campaign, that Barry Goldwater’s strength was not sufficient to end the war in Vietnam. Johnson’s intentions were clear shortly after his election. He wanted to increase American participation in Vietnam war.
Johnson finally authorized the USA to assume the more direct military role in Vietnam. South Vietnamese citizens only had to request this. It can be considered significant as well as a significant step for US forces that were already in Indochina.
This cartoon depicts these soldiers marching into combat under Johnson’s command and will to win the Vietnam War. The possibility of direct combat roles was announced by the Department of Stated on June 16, 1965. Johnson had all along been obscuring the true extent of America’s involvement in Vietnam. Johnson, according to Goldfield, “failed” to comprehend the magnitude of opposition and North Vietnam’s determination of sacrifice for national unity.
The American armed forces were severely affected by this war’s strategy of search and destruction, which was not well-prepared. US troops carried out numerous sweeps through farms and villages, but due to the Vietnamese tactics in guerilla warfare, it caused many problems. The troops had difficulty distinguishing an enemy from an accomplice.
In addition to the search and destroy strategy, the military was unable to plan offensive or defensive attacks on their targets without the approvals of the President or Congress. Worse, Mai Lai, a female activist, was the one who came forward and provided proof that over 300 children and women had died because the soldier failed to recognize the “good guys” and “bad guys”.
The worse the war got, the more protests and riots against it were held. America had lost too many soldiers. This war was marked by the Kent State shooting on May 4, 1970. It is amazing to see how this terrible incident in the history of our school seems to be something that people don’t talk about. This war was so disastrous for our country that everyone was suffering. Resources are essential to a war and America’s burden with this war was one of its biggest.
The Cold War against communism had never been held in a different manner until Ronald Reagan was elected. He decided to employ a completely different strategy. Reagan set a alarming pace for building our military, which was far more than the Soviet Union could match.
