What were the consequences of Vietnam War for civilians in the years following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam?

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Kirsty Singleton 11MG                                                                                     Assignment 1 Question 2

What were the consequences of Vietnam War for civilians in the years

following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam?

Once it was realised by the American's that the Vietnam War was a lost cause, they began the long and arduous task of negotiating a peace deal that, above all, would satisfy the American public.  These talks began in the January of 1969, and were not concluded, or at least did not take effect until, the 28th of January 1973.  The cease fire should have begun much earlier, in October 1972, but the current president of America, Richard Nixon, was not entirely happy with the proposed deal (which had been agreed in Paris by representatives from the U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the NLF)which stated that in order for the war to come to an end there would have to be a complete U.S. withdrawal, which would in turn be rewarded with a cease fire and release of all U.S. war hostages, who were currently being kept in Hanoi.  The deal also included that both of the current South and North Vietnamese governments would remain in charge until new elections could be set up to unify the whole country.  However, there was one part of the deal decided in Paris that Nixon did not agree with, and that was that North Vietnamese troops would be allowed to stay stationed in South Vietnam.  

  Nixon tried to alter this part of the deal by pushing the troops back into North Vietnam, via a particularly radical approach.  This approach involved heavy bombing for more than eleven days, adding to the already 6.2 million tonnes of combs that had already been dropped on Vietnam.  In just these eleven days, 100,000 bombs were dropped onto just two cities, Hanoi and Haiphong.  It has been said that it was the most intense air raid in history.  Unfortunately for Nixon, he still did not get his own way, as the North Vietnamese refused to back down to his bully boy tactics, and in January Nixon agreed with the deal that had been proposed three months earlier, in October, still no better off than he had been back then.  Nixon was not criticised by the American public however, as they were under the impression that Nixon's rash eleven day bombing stint was what had struck the deal itself, and not that group of representatives who had met three months earlier in Paris.

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  In March 1973, with the last American combat troops gone, it was time for America to prepare for the effects of the Vietnam War truly hitting home.  To the public, it meant no more deaths, their brothers, sons, fathers, uncles and friends were finally returning home but there was the downside too.  Almost 57,000 American troops were dead, their parents, family and friends all had to cope with that.  153,000 were injured, maimed either by the devastating booby traps laid by the Vietcong, or the effects of the chemical agents used during the war such as Napalm.  These ...

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