Vietnam War

Vietnam War

Humanities 211 – Spring 2013
Final Exam part 2
Question#4 – The War in Vietnam has been said to have had a lasting impact on American Society. Using an array of specific details from the sixties up to and including our era, argues either for or against the validity of this statement.
I believe that the war in Vietnam has had a lasting impact on American Society. It showed that the United States government was not infallible, that our military was not undefeatable, that some portions of our constitution would not be upheld properly by the government if it did not suit their purposes and that everyday people could effect change in government policy through protests. These changes have gone on to shape our lives in the decades since the Vietnam War.
The government was not infallible during the war – we got ourselves into a war that was very un-popular, intelligent young men of college age were drafted against their will and sent to fight in terrible conditions which lead to dissent, drug usage, violence against superiors and draft dodging. The Vietnam War started with the idea of the domino theory, that communism was going to spread across neighboring countries. Our government thought that we needed to stop the spread of communism so that it would not spread to our allies or nation. Many young men avoided the draft my attending college, this left a considerable amount of men in low socio-economic status and minorities serving in the war. After years of fighting and many casualties the soldiers began to lose hope, a good example of this is Hamburger hill where many soldiers lost their lives. The soldiers began to question their position in the war and fragging became popular. Soldiers even advertised a $10,000 bounty for anyone who killed the colonel who ordered the attack at Hamburger hill. The war ultimately became a failure and the North Vietnamese overran the South Vietnamese.
Despite having overwhelming military superiority and weaponry...

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