The US public opinion was mixed at the time. People with a strong sense of Patriotism, rich people and people from a high class, supported the war, others hated and despised it. Some people believed, the bombing had a hidden reason….
As time passed further, the weaknesses of the US tactic of using large-scale bombing to achieve its objectives became clearer, the US had to be careful not to use too much force as this might tip the USSR or the Peoples Republic of China, into war to support the North Vietnamese. So at the start the bombing was carefully controlled- no bombing of major cities, no bombing of airfields, and certainly no bombing anywhere near the border with China.
Reinforcing that; the US did not anticipate the determination and resilience of the people of North Vietnam. Despite between 50,000 and 200,000 civilian deaths from the bombing, morale remained high. After every bombing mission, thousands of people volunteered to repair the damage. North Vietnam refused to surrender. (“never give in” tactics used).
Both the US government officials knew that South Vietnam would not survive, if the Viet Cong were allowed to roam, they needed to be terminated. In response to this, the US developed a tactic called “Search And Destroy”. US forces tackled the Viet Cong this way much more efficiently. The aim was to search for and find the Viet Cong fighters and then flush them out. This was difficult because the Viet Cong were Guerrilla fighters. They did not come out in the open to fight giant battles, they looked similar to the local South Vietnamese, they hid in jungle and hardly attacked in daylight. They had plenty of supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The US responded to the Viet Cong tactics by introducing new technology, weapons and a whole new bread of bombs. The US dominated the air in North Vietnam, the Viet Cong could shoot them with weapons on the ground, but they did not have the air superiority, nor the planes to tackle the US forces directly. The US developed sophisticated methods to defend South Vietnam using the huge air advantage.
Once the enemy was located, they could be attacked from the air with bombs, machine guns, and missiles. The US dominant power in the air, was probable what Vietnam feared the most.
One of the new bombs developed was the “Cluster Bomb” These were a very effective way of killing large number of enemy troops.
They were dropped from an aircraft and explode metres above ground level, the mother-bomb would then release 600 smaller bomb-lets. As these hit the ground, they shot out thousands of pieces of metal, killing and injuring over a wide surface area. Later these bombs were developed further and came to carry fibre glass fragments. After an explosion, these fragments could be inhaled and infect the lungs as well as cut into skin. It was later revealed that fibreglass was not easily detectable under X-Ray scans.
Another newly developed bomb was called Napalm (gasoline mixed with a paste of chemicals to form jelly. When ignited, the jelly structure means the burning gasoline sticks to substances(like skin), increasing the damage done by this weapon). When Napalm bombs hit the ground and exploded the released flaming petroleum jelly. This was like a burning hot showing. The Jelly would stick to anything and burn it. Things like: Homes, forests, and many human lives. During the Vietnam conflict, over 400,000 tons of napalm was dropped by the US air force onto suspected enemy targets. It was also sprayed from US military riverboats.
The new technology of the US went even further and designed deadly chemicals called, “Defoliants” US planes were also used to drop chemicals to destroy plants. The Viet Cong were being supplied from the North, the US and ARVN had great difficulty finding out exactly where the Ho Chi Minh Trail was. The US decided that the forest camouflage had to get destroyed as soon as possible, so the US and ARVN could locate the tunnel system, and block the supplies, therefore stopping the things getting in, starving them into defeat.
The US military needed an alternative way to beat Guerrilla warfare used by the Viet Cong. The soldiers were ordered to undergo ‘Search and Destroy’ missions. This meant that they storm into one area or a village and clear it. They then left and moved onto another area or village. Combat troops were often sent via helicopter, even while mulitple
During the Vietnam war, the USA, was struggling to defeat North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The war was causing a lot of trouble at “home” in the USA. Many people thought that the USA were winning war, and that their soldiers always treat the home troops and the South Vietnamese residents with respect, and deal with the opposition as quickly and efficiently as possible; These people were very wrong.
Representations one and two signify the divide clearly, and symbolise how the USA treated its own people within the United States, never mind those at Vietnam. Patriots supported the war, and wanted the troops to stay in Vietnam. Others however, did not appreciate the USA’s presence in Vietnam, and many allied western countries despised the invasion into Cambodia. This attitude in the USA slowly gained popularity and soon enough the anti-protests reached their peak during 1968, consisted of 100’s of rallies, including 400,000 students and many young people.
The anti-war movement was linked with the civil rights movement; this caused many African Americans (“Black”), led by Martin Luther King Jr. to join the anti-war protest, these protests were not to made to attack the American people, but and attack on system in which they live in.
Conscription in the United States (also called compulsory military service, conscription or the draft) has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer military force, thus, there is no mandatory conscription. These means those whom lived in the USA all throughout and during the Vietnam War were forced to join the war against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. More on this “draft” will be incorporated into the next few paragraphs.
Representations one, shows John Filo’s Pulitzer prize winning photo of a student at Kent state university who has been shot dead (Jeffery Miller), by a national guardsman, beside him is a kneeling female, 14 years of age (Mary Ann Vecchio), grieving about his death. This picture is significant because the corpse does not look like a soldier; he looks like a civilian, even at a first glance and the harmless impression. The newspaper contains many ironically, harsh words, like: “DEATH,” ‘Tragedy,’ ‘attack,’ ‘shot,’ ‘killed.’
Representation one, shows many historical facts. The killing happened because the students were protesting against the widening of the Vietnam War and against President Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia, many people criticized the expansion of the war, especially when Nixon had promised ‘peace with honor’, not more war. The newspaper tells us what words Nixon used to describe the students; “Campus Bums” and the ‘luckiest people in the world.’
Representation two symbolizes how the civil rights movement, for African Americans, and the Vietnam War are linked. “Black” people during the war were a minority in the USA, similar to the minority of university students. The USA had many black soldiers in the front lines. They believed they were fighting against a war, which was not just. A similarity between representations one and two is that the pictured people are against the government and the system in which the government deems best for the US citizens.
However, there are many differences between representations one and two. The people pictured in one are seen as lucky (mostly for being able to evade the draft with a good reason-Education), and have a future because of their further education. 600,000 young men evaded the draft; 200,000 were convicted of draft offences. 300,000 who applied for CO were denied. Most of these people being African Americans and minority groups and working class/lower class residents of the USA. This is why representation one shows higher-class people at a campus, but, black people in the Battlefield.
Part B:
Representations one, two and three differ to a certain extent, they all give off a message and a meaning, they collectively symbolize what is going on, (historical context), in and out of the USA (i.e. Vietnam).
Representation one shows the level of tolerance that the US had at that time. In order to kill university students you must have had a zero tolerance policy/view on ‘fair’ and ‘righteous’ protests. This representation very clearly mirrors the minorities’ reaction to the war; which is strongly against the war.
