Need history help with a reply about a discussion in Vietnam Conflict and Its Effects

Need history help with a reply about a discussion in Vietnam Conflict and Its Effects

Can you reply to each of the articles with comments at least 1-2 paragraphs each:

1.)The role of Americans involved in the Vietnam “Conflict” riled up college students back in the states to form protests against a war in Vietnam. They also took advantage of staging protests to push forward the injustices of American civil rights. During this time Congress removed the ability to utilize the military draft and made the military an all exclusive volunteer force. Congress also saw it fit to change the voting age to 18. As the war, carried on longer than anticipated Americans lost interest in supporting the effort; to them there was no valid purpose for being in Vietnam anymore.

  The economy was heavily damaged during the Vietnam War. President Johnson would not raise taxes to pay for the war; by not raising the taxes he sent the states through a series of inflation to the value of the dollar. The government mishandled economic policies causing factories that normally provided for consumer items to focus on military goods instead. The value of the dollar was very low as money was going out to support the war efforts and none was coming back in. President Nixon and the citizens of America realized that the war could not be won. Nixon began what he referred to as “Vietnamization,” this was an all-out effort to turn over control to the Republic of Vietnam.

  As soldiers return home from Vietnam, they came back with physical and psychological disabilities. Society was not ready to deal with the problems these veterans came home with. Most citizens would turn their backs on the veterans. It was difficult to find a job that gave these veterans a purpose. For many they were told they weren’t qualified or lacked any skill at all to obtain a job. Some veterans turned to alcohol and drugs to deal with the trauma they experienced and the lack of a welcome home. Veterans weren’t the only ones to suffer from being ousted by society, Vietnam refugees also were subject to harsh treatment and had difficult times being accepted by society and finding jobs as well. This was not a popular war. 

2.)

During the beginning of the Vietnam War, many believed that the war was being fought to bring justice to the Vietnamese people of the south. Lyndon Johnson expressed the importance of the war to his people and essentially lied to them, making them believe that they would be able to refrain from losing their independence. Many American began to recognize the faults of the war, creating worldwide protests. In 1965, the US began bombing North Vietnam…which led to the creation of protests. Many peace activists came together, both people in and out of college, and protesting the war and were involved in anti-war marches. The Students for s Democratic Society (SDS) was formed after the Tet Offensive, which “was a series of attacks by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces, on the scores of cities, towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam, [1]. By displaying the war on television, Americans were able to witness the awful acts of the war, the non-invincibility of the war and witnessing the deaths of thousands of people.

Economically, the US spent billions of dollars in aiding the war with weaponry, supplies, food and other sorts of materials. Lyndon was more worried about funding the war, rather than ‘help’ the people who were not in war. Companies began to industrialize items needed for the war, taking away from the necessities of the Americans outside of war, such as Medicare and food stamps. Many were outraged at the fact that the government was incapable of maintaining the economic policies since their main focus was spending money on and for the military. This military and domestic spending caused inflation.

When the American Soldiers came home from war, most of them suffered from 
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). As they tried to go on with ‘normal lives’, looking for ‘normal jobs’, they were basically unable to go on with the ideas of a ‘normal’ life. The sound of a car trunk shutting or the drop of a glass cup would trigger fear in them, reminding them of gun shots, bombs, and other sorts of things they experienced at war. They were never able to go on with a ‘normal life’. Over 58,000 American soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War.