Source E is one of the most striking pictures of this war. Although photos can be posed it is doubtful that this was, as it shows children on fire running from a soldier who has a napalm weapon on his shoulder. Next to him is a photographer taking a picture. The impact of this picture on the public was enormous to see children involved in a war were horrific.
In source F an American journalist comments on how difficult it was to identify the enemy and he blames the use of napalm and high explosives on the devastation of South Vietnam by the Americans. There was a genuine feeling that the war was out of control and this was definitely communicated to the American public through newspaper reports and television reporting. The latter was in fact are of the differences in the war that the public became aware of the kind of fighting that was going on in Vietnam. Never before had it been possible to show in such graphic detail the atrocities of the war in such detail and so quickly.
Source G from the point of view of an American soldier likened the fighting by the American soldiers to Nazism where whole villages of woman and children were slaughtered. He believed that because of the gross and persuasive propaganda government had invented, soldiers honestly thought, ‘they were going to do something courageous on behalf of their country.’ It must have been a surprise to discover how far from the truth this was. Parents of soldiers and siblings also became aware of the terrible loss of life when there loved ones either did not come home or were physically or mentally injured. This would have added to the images on the nightly news of the war and gradually the American public would have been disenchanted.
Another aspect of the war relates to source H and the amount of money that was being spent rather than on improving domestic and social problems and Johnson had promised to ‘feed and shelter the homeless, provide more education and medical care.’ This cartoon published in ‘punch’ clearly indicates that Britain was critical of the war as indeed was Australia, which is reflected in source K
This is obvious from source J that shows students holding anti war demonstrations in 1970. By this time most young people in America wanted the war stopped and the troops withdrawn immediately. The fact that so many young people were dying for no apparent gain led to a militant student rebellion against the government and their involvement in Vietnam.
Source K shows the Australian’s public opinion on the war. In October 1970 50% said they wanted the armed forces to come back. It is probable this information would have been on television, the public would realise that other countries were hostile to this war and may well of changed their mind.
Source L is a black and white video clip, which shows the burning by U.S. troops of a hamlet in South Vietnam. The American public would have been appalled after watching this video clip and a number of people would have turned anti war. In this video clip American troops destroyed 150 homes because of the burst of fire by the Vietcong. It shows villages being set alight by use of the napalm weapon.
Source D has nothing to do with television whatsoever. It is a poster and does not show any effects that the media had in the Vietnam War, it is not relevant to the question, but it does show the problems of Guerrilla war.
Source E, on the other hand, is very relevant. The picture shows ‘the effect of U.S. bombing’. There are also cameramen behind her filming. This picture was used in nearly all anti war campaigns.
Sources F and G are not really relevant to the question either. They do explicitly re tell what happened in the war but neither mention television.
Source H, is a very good picture for minimal information about President Johnson and how he valued the war over his country but, again, not television influenced.
Source J is very beneficial when answering the question because of all the easily accessible pictures etc, it was extremely easy for protesters to find something. All anti war demonstrations were shown on television as well.
Source K is also to do with television because in history, the country always wanted their men still fighting but because all the Australian’s could see what was happening to their men and to the American soldiers, they were against the war.
Source L is incredibly helpful because all the views are to do with the fact that television had something to do with losing the war. They all agree that it did
In conclusion the sources suggest that television played a major part in the US defeat in Vietnam because it allowed people to see what was really happening in Vietnam. Images such as source E and other horrific pictures of wounded or dead people would have turned many Americans anti war. Television also allowed people to see that there was opposition to the war in their own country. Source J shows this in the form of a student protests and this kind of coverage would have prompted the American public to speak out against the war in Vietnam. Pressure from the public was a key reason why America withdrew their troops from Vietnam.
Word count: 949
