#heartinseattle

[berrykoolaid-blog]

GRACE :)

G: Single/taken.: siiinggllle

R: Last movie I’ve watched.: Emperor’s New Groove

A: Age.” 18 BUUUUUT MY BDAY IS ON SATURDAAAAYY!!!

C: Where I would like to live. Not America

E: Religion. Fascinating subject but i dont really practice any (im supposed to be jewish)

[rambleonanxiety]

The Vietnam War Divides a Nation and An Anti-War Movement Emerges

My name is Grace Kufeldt. Today, I will be speaking about how the Vietnam War divided the nation and the resulting anti-war movement.

Introduction

The Vietnam War was the first to be fought in the living rooms of Americans. Images such as those on the screen behind me were seen on television sets nationwide. This forever changed the way we looked at combat and human life around the world. A large part of the controversy stemmed from a huge sense of dehumanization. By denying their personhood and portraying them as less than human, the troops found it easier to wage war on the Vietnamese people, whom American soldiers called “gomers” or “gooks.” All Vietnamese people were considered Communist, regardless of whether they were North or South Vietnamese, and therefore the enemy- even women, children, and the elderly. Any “enemy” killed was referred to as Viet Cong, no matter what.

Question

So, how did the Vietnam War and resulting anti-war movement affect the United States?

I will answer this question with the sociological, cultural, psychological and political impacts of these two events in our nation’s history.

Sociological Impact

The war had a major affect on society. A great example of a protest against the war was the Kent State Massacre. On May 1st, 1970, about 500 students began demonstrating in the commons of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio to put an end to the Vietnam War and the “Cambodian Incursion” which had been announced by President Nixon on April 30th. One graduate could be seen burning a copy of the Constitution while another burned his draft card in a symbolic protest. Over the next few days, the situation escalated and many arrests were made. Tear gas was used as well as bayonets to break up the protest. The demonstration slowly grew larger and on Monday, May 4th, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on the protesters. In a period of only 13 seconds, the guardsmen shot 67 rounds into the crowd, killing four unarmed students, and wounding nine others. One was permanently paralyzed from the chest down. All these students wanted was for the invasion of Cambodia to stop. Enough lives had been lost in Vietnam. We didn’t need to exacerbate the situation

Throughout the war, there were many protests opposing it. Some turned violent quickly. Others were peaceful and quiet. Many people wanted to promote peace. There were huge gatherings in almost every major city at one point or another to put an emphasis on togetherness and understanding. One of the first was the Monterrey Pop Festival, but the most famous was Woodstock. Those who hadn’t cared about politics before became very involved when they realized what was happening in Vietnam. Most joined the fight against the war, but there were many who began to avidly support it.

Cultural Impact

Despite the horrors across the Pacific, this was a great time for the world’s music. Many bands and solo artists had huge hits inspired by the war and anti-war efforts. Those involved in the music scene of the time were generally against the severe losses of human life occurring hundreds of miles away. Woodstock was a promotion for peace and love around the world.

The anthem of the time was a tongue-in-cheek song by Country Joe and the Fish called the “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag,” or, more commonly, “The Vietnam Song.” The chorus of this monumental song went “One, two, three/What are we fightin’ for?/Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn/The next stop is Vietnam/And its five, six, seven/Open up the pearly gates/Well there ain’t no time to wonder why/Whoopee! We’re all gonna die.” This song was one of the many performed at Woodstock.

There were others like Creedence Clearwater Revival with “Fortunate Son” and “Have you Ever Seen The Rain;” John Lennon with “Give Peace a Chance”and “Imagine,” and with The Beatles he performed songs like “Revolution;” Elton John with “Daniel,” which was originally written with a last verse about Daniel being a Vietnam vet; Seattle native Jimi Hendrix’ song “Machine Gun” was about the horrors of war; Iggy Pop and The Stooges wrote a song about a popular military command of the time, “Search and Destroy,” which meant to find and kill any VietCong soldier; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young with the song “Ohio” which Neil Young composed after looking at pictures of the Kent State Massacre in Life Magazine - but due to its anti-war, anti-Nixon sentiments, it was banned in some parts of the country. The lyrics to the first verse and chorus go, “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming/We're finally on our own/This summer I hear the drumming/Four dead in Ohio.   Gotta get down to it/Soldiers are gunning us down/Should have been done long ago./What if you knew her/And found her dead on the ground/How can you run when you know?”; and last, but not least, The Doors with “Unknown Soldier.”

Psychological Impact

The greatest psychological impact was on the soldiers. According to actual Vietnam Veterans filmed in Winter Soldier, a documentary about the Winter Soldier Investigation of 1971, the troops’ brains were practically rewired. All Vietnamese were thought of as the enemy. The communist military of Vietnam was called the VietCong. After World War II, the start of the Cold War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, there were still major feelings of uneasiness, and often hate, for those who believed in communism or in some way helped or sympathized with communists. This helped when generals told soldiers to basically treat the Vietnamese people as less than animals. They were told to evacuate homes, then ignite entire villages. They were told to report all VietCong kills, but many who shot down civilians added them to their numbers as well. This war was not about gaining land. It was about eliminating the enemy and all sympathizers, plus anyone who looked at them the wrong way or got in the way.

The soldiers were appalled by the atrocities they were involved in. They could not believe that they had shot children or dropped napalm bombs on entire villages and believed it to be right. One soldier said that on the last day of training before being shipped off, one of the officers would bring out a bunny. Just when everyone started to fall in love, they would skin it alive, then disembowel it. Nothing was said. Soldiers all took different lessons from this demonstration, though for many, the actual reason for it did not occur until after they had come back and recovered from the war. This is what they were expected to do to the Vietnamese. Strip them of all their clothing and of their dignity , then kill and disembowel them. And not necessarily in that order.

It took years for veterans to recover. Some of them, however, still are not themselves and have not come to terms with the part they played in the destruction of a nation.

Political Impact

During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency, the French were fighting the Vietnamese. Eisenhower wanted to keep the peace, so when the French asked for our assistance he refused. But as the years progressed, it became harder to stay out of it. By the end of his second term, we had taken irreversible steps towards joining the war.

John F. Kennedy was the youngest man to ever be elected president and was also the first Catholic. He was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States on January 20th, 1961. JFK was a major civil rights activist. His presidency ended a year early when he was assassinated on November 21st, 1963. If he had lived to be re-elected, the Vietnam War may have ended with this man.

Lyndon B. Johnson was JFK’s vice president and was sworn in when his predecessor was pronounced dead. Johnson was a peaceful man. He limited bombing on North Vietnam so negotiations for peace would have a chance to begin. He was voted President once JFK’s term was up. He did everything in his power to bring peace to all the horrible situations he had to monitor. Johnson, however, did not feel he was up to the task. He could not be President and work towards peace in the middle of a major war. He was adored by the public, and when he announced he would not run for re-election, the nation was shocked.

Richard M. Nixon was president from 1969 to 1974. He supported the war and though he acted like he was going to end it peacefully, he reinvigorated the army. He had promised to end the war throughout his campaign. In November 1969, the My Lai Massacre that he had encouraged was exposed and it stirred up even more opposition to the war and Nixon himself than there had been before. This event was a mass murder of 347-504 unarmed civilians by a large US military unit on March 16, 1968 in South Vietnam and was covered up as “a fierce firefight” where the majority of casualties were VietCong soldiers and that very few civilians were harmed, though this was not the case. On January 27th, 1973, The Paris Peace Accords were signed by US officials and officials of North and South Vietnam, though Nixon was not necessarily in support of this treaty. He felt pressure from the anti-war movement within the states, so he pushed for it and convinced South Vietnamese President, Nguyen Van Thieu, to sign it, even though he had not been involved in negotiations.

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, and Gerald R. Ford, his vice-president was then sworn in. North Vietnam broke the Paris Peace Accords when they invaded South Vietnam. They wanted to test the reaction of the US and their enemies to the south. Ford requested over $500 million in military aid for South Vietnam, which had been promised in Nixon’s presidency, but Congress voted against it. On April 21st, 1975, President Thieu of South Vietnam resigned, and two days later, President Ford gave a speech saying that “...as far as America is concerned...” the Vietnam War was over.

We went through many presidents; three Republicans, and two Democrats. But finally, we were out of the war. There would be no more American children, husbands, fathers, or uncles coming home in boxes. The anti-war movement had won.

Summary

Through my research, I have learned a lot about the Vietnam War, and war in general. I learned more about how war affects those directly involved. I learned more about what “hippies” supported and opposed. Not all hippies did drugs. A lot did, but they still believed in peace and understanding. They carried with them Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals. Many other protesters, however, were just tired of the war and destruction. It had lasted too long and too many people were coming home in boxes.

Conclusion

After the Vietnam War, the military began to change its tactics. We no longer actively search for and bomb small villages, as World War II American air force general, Curtis LeMay suggested when he stated, “We should bomb Vietnam back into the Stone Age... until we have destroyed every work of man in North Vietnam.”

We now try to attack only enemy soldiers. We have greater respect for human life and have a greater understanding of the damage chemical warfare can cause. We do everything in our power to protect civilians, whether in enemy or allied territory. Though war still causes controversy and mental as well as the more obvious physical destruction, it appears to be on a much smaller scale than it has been in the past. This is due to the abolition of the draft, a much higher number of volunteer soldiers and less man-to-man combat.

[weathervanes]

heartinseattle replied to your post: I think I'm gonna start to watch Sherlock

be prepared for johnlock feels and sexual tension…

I started to ship them on the first episode! hahah thanks for the warning

[rambleonanxiety]

Maybe its me. Maybe i'm just addicted to Getting hurt. Every guy I've honestly liked Has turned me down. Maybe i'm just attracted to losers. I don't know what to say.

[rambleonanxiety]

I've liked you for the longest time And my feelings can't stop growing I can't hold back my affection for you And I feel I need to say:

I wanna be next to you I wanna hold your hand I wanna hold you close I just wanna be with you I wanna be with you I wanna be with you Even if  its for just one night

All you need to do Is lay down next to me Hold me in your arms And we can talk And we can smile And we can kiss And we can cuddle That's all I've ever wanted to do with you

I wanna be next to you I wanna hold your hand I wanna hold you close I just wanna be with you I wanna be with you I wanna be with you Even if  its for just one night

I wanna touch your hands I wanna feel your warmth I want to not feel alone For once in my life I don't know how to handle you Or how to keep going strong I think I need you More than I've ever needed anyone

[rambleonanxiety]

All I Want

All I want Is for music To surround me Fill my life Day and night All I want Is to be wanted To be cherished To be loved To be needed

[trytobesweet]

Formerly known as changeisnigh

Now my url is heartinseattle

because I think I lost it there somehow.

And I am homesick today.

But also music.

And much Seattle pride.