From the Paper "The Korean War is a war that many people will never forget. All wars in American history fought before the Korean War was based on either national survival or the gain of territory. A strong conflict was created between the Soviet Union and the United States. The conflict was so strong that wars were fought in the midst of this cold war. The Korean War was the first American war that was not fought for national survival, for territory, for manifest destiny or for hegemony. ?Korea was the first ideological war.?"
A look at the public view of the Vietnam War - during and after the war, examining the media interpretations and public outcries as well as films set in that time period.
Abstract This paper discusses the theme of controversy that surrounded the Vietnam War from start to finish to its memory. The paper analyzes newspaper articles from wartime and how the public viewed the war, what the soldiers were thinking, how they were treated during and after the war, and how the war is officially memorialized and the controversies surrounding each. Included in the paper are references to each news article, as well as pop culture novels and even the Rambo movie.
From the Paper "The Vietnam "War" is known as the most controversial war in American History. This controversy seemed grow with time and wane only at a slower speed. From the outset of the war, there were many who questioned America's objectives and ability to win. There were others though who were patriotic and believed America could succeed, such hopes were always classified with if?s. As the war continued, the controversy and questioning of the government grew, turning Vietnam into a political battlefield. The politics involved often overshadowed the reality of the situation, pitting policy against humanity."
This paper explains how the U.S. and Vietnam's misperceptions of each other affected the way they fought the war, mentioning the My Lai massacre and the affect this had on the way Vietnamese perceived the United States.
Abstract Because of the way the Americans fought this war, the Vietnamese had different perceptions or misperceptions of the United States. All of the assigned readings make this point valid. Many of the Vietnamese civilians saw the American soldiers as instruments for America's leaders wanting their war machine to defeat the North Vietnamese, not to help Vietnam, but just to win. American leaders were making their decisions by listening to certain people "who didn"t really know what they were dealing with.? This paper explains how the Americans misunderstood the Vietnamese and what went wrong when they tried to take over the fight between North and South Vietnam.
From the Paper "After reading the assigned books for this paper, I have come to the conclusion that the way the US fought this war was not very honorable. The American military leaders back in the United States did not know enough about what was really going on in Vietnam and as a direct result, they underestimated the power of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Regular Army. Herr makes this evident when he says ?there is a point of view that the United States got involved in the Vietnam War ... simply because we thought it would be easy.?1 "
This paper describes Philip Caputo's autobiographical narrative of his involvement in the Vietnam War, "A Rumor of War" (1977), in its Cold War context.
Abstract The author argues that Caputo's preoccupation with seemingly universal attributes of (male) human nature and essential moral qualities is inconsistent with the few passages in which he acknowledges the specific political context of the conflict. The conclusion is that Caputo was so successfully indoctrinated by the Cold War ideological system that even his disillusionment with the war did not allow him to depict the functioning of that system in his own life.
From the Paper "From the foundation of the Soviet Union in 1917 through until the Gorbachev era, America's elites were frankly obsessed with the specter of communism. What was essentially at issue during the Cold War was the possibility of an alternative social and economic order to capitalism emerging and proving it viable. What communists promised to create was a social and economic order that offered its people as much in material terms as capitalism, if not more, but without the latter's exploitation of the working classes and its vulnerability to periodic busts and depressions."
This paper discusses what occurred during the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam and what may have triggered the U.S. soldiers to "murder" countless civilians and not the enemies that is, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong armies.
Abstract The following paper examines how the U.S. military dealt with the moral issues of human death in the Vietnam War, with particular reference to the 'My Lai Massacre'. This paper illustrates and discusses in detail how such an event happened, and examines how the massacre affected the way Americans view the Vietnam War, the government's participation in the war, and the moral issues that go along with the human deaths that are inevitable during wars and conflicts with other nations or enemies of the United States.
From the Paper "The My Lai massacre was triggered by a series of events that led to many deaths of the American troops in Vietnam, particularly the 11th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Charlie Company, the troop of soldiers that were later accused of mass murdering the civilians in the village of My Lai. In a comprehensive report by Mark Gado (2001) of The Crime Library entitled, ?Into the Dark: The My Lai Massacre,? the author discussed in detail several events that have occurred which may be attributed as one reason why the soldiers of the 1st Brigade of the Charlie Company were able to kill many people, civilians who were defenseless against them. Gado discussed the difficulty the Americans were facing in looking for the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, and one of the solutions that the American military were able to formulate to indirectly inflict harm to the enemy is by destroying all resources that might prove to be helpful to them."
Abstract Discusses reasons for American intervention and failure. Examines its background from WWII, the role of Presidents, Cold War ideology, strengths of North Vietnam and Viet Cong and military and political aspects.
From the Paper "U. S. ENTRY INTO AND FAILURE IN THE VIETNAM WAR
This research paper analyzes the reasons why the United States entered the Vietnam War as it did and why its military intervention in that war failed.
After initially opposing French colonial policy during World War II, the United States became convinced after 1945, and especially after the communist victory in China in 1949, that U.S. vital interests required that a communist takeover of South Vietnam be resisted. Toward that end it supported with military and economic assistance the French war effort in Indochina and, after the Geneva accords were signed in 1954, the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.
During the administration of President John Kennedy, American assistance to Diem increased, including military ..."
An examination of the roles and effectiveness of mechanized warfare in the Battle of France (won by Germany in WWII), the Tet Offensive (won by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese) and the Persian Gulf War (Allied forces over Iraq).
4,950 words (approx. 19.8 pages), 7 sources, 2000, $ 135.95
Abstract The mechanization of war, which began tentatively in the 19th century, has been its dominant feature in the 20th. This mechanization is most obvious, and most often thought of, in terms of weapons: machine-gun, aircraft, missiles.
From the Paper "The Shock of Speed
Mechanization in Three 20th-Century Campaigns:
Battle of France; Tet Offensive; Persian Gulf War
Introduction
The mechanization of war, which began tentatively in the 19th century, has been its dominant feature in the 20th. This mechanization is most obvious, and most often thought of, in terms of weapons: machine-gun, aircraft, missiles. Looking back at the experience of turn-of-the-century colonial wars, the intellectual Hilaire Belloc offered a mordant witticism in rhyme:
Whatever happens we have got
the Maxim gun, and they have not."
Abstract This paper analyzes Caputo's novel which tells of his battle experience in the Vietnam War and how it changed him from an idealistic young man fresh out of officer's school, to a ruthless killer, to a disillusioned soldier. Four main themes are presented. First, "A Rumor of War" gives a firsthand account of the corrupting power of war and its ability to strip soldiers of their humanity. Secondly, it exposes the dark side present in even the best man's heart. The book also graphically documents the capacity of man to be inhumane to man. Finally, the novel serves as a testament to the senseless destruction of life and property in the war.
From the Paper "To document the ability of war to corrupt a man and steal his humanity, Caputo unflinchingly documents his own transformation from a young man eager for the test of war to a cold-hearted killer motivated solely by raising the enemy casualty count. As his relationship with Vietnam grows, it is revealed to the author as a place of corruption. "Everything rotted and corroded quickly over there: bodies, boot leather, canvas, metal, morals" (229). He tells of his own loss of morals, a result of the futile missions to eliminate elusive guerilla enemy, the days of uncomfortable waiting laced with momentary terrors of sniper attack, and the mounting pressure from his superiors to show something was being gained with the ever-increasing American losses. A turning point in the book is when Caputo allows the platoon under his command to burn a village to the ground with only marginal justification."
Abstract The American media's powerful influence can be seen through its portrayal of major events like the Vietnam War. The paper shows that Vietnam was America's first ?television war,? meaning that United States citizens were able to watch video clips of virtually uncensored images of war including exchanges of gunfire, atrocities and wounded and dead soldiers from both sides. It describes how the Vietnam War's images haunted the television, magazines, and newspapers. This paper covers issues including propaganda, television images, the massacre at My Lai, Son Thang 4, Trang Bang, the dulling effects of graphic images, and civilian protests.
From the Paper "On June 8, 1972 during an air raid of NVA fortifications just outside Trang Bang, a picture was taken of a girl running away from the bombings. Kim Phuc, then nine, was wearing no clothes, waving her arms, and had an expression of terror on her face. She and other civilians including photojournalists were mistaken as NVA and targeted by the pilots. Kim received major burns to the majority of her body. Up to this day, a myth exists that it was an American-ordered bombing and was executed by American pilots. This is not true. Both the officer who gave the order and the pilot who dropped the bomb were Vietnamese and operating without the aid of the United States Air Force. Nick Ut, the photographer who took the snapshot, won the Pulitzer Prize that year."
Abstract Richard Hammer's book "One Morning in the War: The Tragedy at Son My", describes the massacre of a Vietnamese village by American troops during the Vietnam War. The paper examines how Hammer's work investigates the reasons for the tragic killings of the villagers of Son My and the consequences of the incident, both in Vietnam and America.
From the Paper "While this explains the initial mistake, it still leaves the massacre of about 400 civilian Vietnamese unexplained. The American troops encountered no opposition that morning. Almost all of those slaughtered on that day were women, children and older Vietnamese. In order to understand how American soldiers could do such a thing, Hammer explains how the American troops felt at this time. He explains that most of the men were very young, between 19-21. They were in Vietnam because they were not in college or did not have the right connections to avoid being drafted. These boys were sent to a strange country where they quickly learned to fear everyone and everything. A rock could be a mine; a stick could be a trip for a booby trap; a grandmother could be a human bomb; a fourteen year-old girl could be an assassin. The Americans were completely unable to tell whether any Vietnamese they encountered was a friend or enemy. Hammer explains that this fear led to anger towards all Vietnamese."
Abstract In his memoir of the Vietnam War entitled "A Rumor of War", Phillip Caputo his experience as an ordinary soldier in Vietnam in explicit and vivid terms. He does so without any romanticism or any sense of higher purpose about the United States' goals in the conflict. The paper shows that, rather, Caputo writes to deflate those who might feel such romanticism about war. The paper discusses his use of dividing the book into three sections to portray his evolvement from naive, idealistic soldier to one who returns home feeling as if he has aged sixteen years.
From the Paper "During the second section, however, Caputo says he did try feeling some dignity in what he did, but a philosophical intelligence had intruded upon his consciousness that caused him to question things, even while he was committing misjudgments. "Whatever the rights and wrongs of the war, nothing can diminish the rightness of what you tried to do,? he reminded himself after his friend died. However, the gross reality of the battlefield inevitably intruded."
Abstract American military fighting men who saw action in Vietnam between 1965 and 1973 participated in perhaps the most unusual battleground ever. Often, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers did not wear uniforms, making the enemy virtually indistinguishable until they opened fire. But equally frustrating for American and other allied fighting forces was the unusual terrain of Vietnam, which not only protracted the way, but also made victory a virtual uncertainty. I will look at some of the geographic conditions in which allied forces fought and why the terrain put our men at such a grave disadvantage.
Abstract This paper explains that the roots of the Vietnam War (1961-1975) really began with the fall of the French Colonial Empire at Dien Bien Phu, when the Americans became involved in the greatest war debacle in U.S. history. The author points out that this secret war was being conducted mainly by the Central Intelligence Agency and its founding Director Allen Dulles, the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Dwight David Eisenhower. The paper explains that this war started when Ho Chi Min, the Communist strong man in Hanoi and founder of Viet-Cong, and Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam, who had the full backing of the United States' assets, got involved in a gorilla war, which escalated into the Vietnam War from which Ho brought the United States to their knees in disgrace.
From the Paper "With the abrupt fall of the Japanese Empire in August of 1945, Ho Chi Minh seizes his opportunity. Using the established Viet Minh, formally known as Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh or The League for the Independence of Vietnam, Ho established at the 8th Plenum at Pac Bo, in May of 1941, as his tool. In September 1945, Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam's independence in Hanoi. Surprisingly there is little to no opposition to his declaration and he feels confident his organizational structures and skills are sound. So confident, in fact, Ho goes to Paris in 1946 to negotiate the separation from France personally with his staff of advisors."
Abstract This paper analyzes the Battle at Khe Sanh, which the author asserts was the changing point in the Vietnam War. It was during this battle that the U.S. realized it could not win the war. The author of this paper details the battle and U.S. and Vietnamese troop movements. It also explores what the author called the inefficiency of the American High Command.
From the Paper "Despite American soldier's heroism and determination (for which they still have never been justly recognized or rewarded), Khe Sanh was one of the milestones that provided not merely American arrogance, but the inefficiency of the American High Command, who had no skills in fighting a jungle war where tanks, and even jet bombers, could not penetrate the thick coating of the jungle. Generals, who had been trained to fight on a different terrain, and whose lessons came from World War II and Korea, were ineffective in their planning for the campaign. What began with just some military advisors, turned into the commitment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, hardly any of them prepared to fight a jungle war, against an enemy that was seldom in front of them in fox holes or bunkers, but sidled through hidden jungle trails and overcame massed troops when and where they least expected it."
Abstract One of the most important qualities of a leader in the military, especially during wartime, is to use good tactical strategy. This not only can be advantageous to win battles, if not the war, but also to lower casualty rates. This paper examines how throughout "Platoon Leader", James McDonough describes his use of tactical strategy and how sometimes it was good and successful and how at other times it was questioned and luckily so.
From the Paper "McDonough realized that as a leader, it was necessary to place himself in a proper position, both to oversee and to be seen as someone willing to go where he was sending his men. To go with the squads gave McDonough the ability to assess the terrain and evaluate the patrols, something he believed necessary for tactical advantage. When he finally met with the four sergeants, he told them that he would give them "their tactical orders", which "would follow the standard army five-paragraph field order, specifically addressing the situation, the mission, the concept of operations, the support that could be expected, and the command and control arrangements.""
