However, many problems surfaced involving this new U.S. backed leader. First, he used most of the money sent from the U.S. to build up the military instead of directing it toward the economy. He also refused to break up the plantation lifestyle. The majority of the South Vietnamese were peasants working on these plantations of the rich few. Diem then began intimidating and suppressing any resistance to his government.
Many opposition groups to Diem’s government began to join together to form the National Liberation Front of the south. It’s army, the Viet Cong, began staging guerilla warfare against the South Vietnamese army backed by the U.S. The Viet Minh of the north then began supplying the Viet Cong by way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Meanwhile, Kennedy was elected at home. He began directing combat against all opposition groups in Vietnam, including Diem. As the U.S. military began to oppose Diem, his government became more and more oppressive to the Vietnamese people. For example, he passed the Catholic Moral Laws, which restricted certain Buddhist practices when Buddhism was the major religion in Vietnam. Many Buddhist monks set themselves on fire in protest of these laws, and news coverage was shown around the world. Many began criticizing U.S. support of Diem. A military coup, encouraged by the U.S., soon follows. Diem was killed.
Johnson, a new president in power, began to escalate an air war against Vietnam along with sending more ground troops. By 1968, 550,000 troops were in Vietnam. Conflicts between the South Vietnamese army and the U.S. army caused the two to split and fight the war separately. The U.S. army began having trouble distinguishing who the enemy actually was. The confusion eventually led to “search and destroy” tactics. This strategy involved destroying whole villages, crops, ammunition, etc. The intent of the combat was supposedly to improve South Vietnam, but in reality, it was only being destroyed. This created much animosity toward the U.S. military.
The success of the soldiers was inflated as it was relayed to the people at home. Because of the inflated numbers, many Americans supported the war. However, public opinion began to change during the Tet Offensive. The Offensive was a series of coordinated attacks from the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Their resolve was clear to the shocked American people. Many began to question America’s true intentions for the war. The My Lai Massacre also increased criticism of the war.
After Nixon entered office in 1968, he began utilizing a policy of “Vietnamization.” This plan proposed putting most of the ground combat responsibility in the hands of the Vietnamese armies while continuing support from the air. However, more ground troops were being sent to the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos. In reality, by extending the war to target supply lines, Nixon was not successful in decreasing the number of American troops involved in the war.
In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords officially ended U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Two years later, the civil war between north and south continued until the south eventually fell. Communism did not take every Asian country as the U.S. had predicted. This led many to believe the Domino Effect to be false and the whole war was pointless because of the false principle it was fighting for. Many saw it as just a civil war, not a noble fight between communism and capitalism.
These views are expressed in Francis Ford Coppola’s film, Gardens of Stone. In the film, the opposing views are expressed by two main characters. Rct. Jackie Willow displays pro Vietnam sentiments. He yearns to leave the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, hoping to become an officer and fight in Vietnam. Sgt. Clell Hazard on the other hand, criticizes the war. Sharing similar views on the war is his girlfriend, Samantha Davis. She is a journalist who participates in protests of the war.
Repeatedly, soldiers in the film frustratingly speak of the war saying that there is no enemy. They describe the war as being unlike any other; it’s everywhere. The rules are all different. However, none of these warnings convince Rct. Willow to stop aching for battle. Not even his new wife can convince him to stay.
Willow goes to Vietnam, and like so many others is killed in battle. After getting to know Willow’s lifestyle, his family, and friends; it is easy to see the film’s more persuasive stance on the war. It is easy to hear statistics on the death toll of the war, but it becomes very difficult to pardon the death of an individual who is known personally.