After returning to the United States, many veterans continued to support American military involvement in Vietnam. Even though they had not accomplished all of the U.S. goals, they still felt proud of their service to their country. They believed that they had done their duty and fought bravely for a good cause.
How are Vietnam veterans treated?
Unlike the hero status given to the returning soldiers form World War II, the soldiers that served in Vietnam were portrayed as baby killers, psychos, drug addicts and war mongers. … Movies and television shows began depicting returning soldiers as deranged monsters even before the war ended.
What was life like for soldiers in the Vietnam War?
About 75% of the 2.5 million soldiers fighting in Vietnam worked in support roles as clerks far away from the front lines. These men had access to all the luxuries of home, including getting to sleep in a bed, eating hot meals, drinking at bars, and shopping at a well-stocked commissary.
Did veterans protest the Vietnam War?
For a week in April 1971, Vietnam veterans camped on the Mall near the Capitol to protest the Vietnam War. … Veterans attended hearings by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and protested at Arlington National Cemetery, the Supreme Court, and the Pentagon.
How did American soldiers treat the Vietnamese?
In reality, however, U.S. soldiers, who found themselves fighting in an inhospitable environment thousands of miles from home to protect people who often resented their presence and aided their enemies, came to regard the Vietnamese as backward, cowardly people and the government of South Vietnam as hopelessly …
Why did the US fail in Vietnam?
Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder: The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their
Did any American soldiers stay in Vietnam after the war?
More than 40 years after the end of the Vietnam war, dozens of ageing former American soldiers have gone back to the country to live. … Others have gone back in the hope of atoning for wrongs they believe were committed during the war.
Why did Vietnam veterans protest the war?
The veterans set up camp in defiance of recent court rulings declaring it illegal to sleep on the Mall. The protest was organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War and named after Operation Dewey Canyon I and II, military invasions of Laos in 1969 and 1971.
Why did Vietnam veterans protest?
Over 30,000 Vietnam Veterans were protesting the war while it was still going on. They knew better than anyone else the horrors of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, health problems caused by agent orange and other chemicals.
What responsibility does the US have to Vietnam due to Agent Orange?
Our government has a moral and legal obligation, under international law, to compensate the people of Vietnam for the devastating impact of Agent Orange, and to assist in alleviating its effects.
What did Viet Cong call American soldiers?
American soldiers referred to the Viet Cong as Victor Charlie or V-C. “Victor” and “Charlie” are both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet. “Charlie” referred to communist forces in general, both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
What percentage of Vietnam veterans actually saw combat?
Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack. 7,484 women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam.
What dangers did American soldiers face in Vietnam?
Disillusionment with the war was coupled with psychological trauma. Most US soldiers who had spent time ‘in country’ had seen fellow servicemen, sometimes their friends, killed or disfigured by sniper fire, mines or booby traps.
Could the United States have won in Vietnam?
In an utterly banal sense, the United States could have won the Vietnam War by invading the North, seizing its urban centers, putting the whole of the country under the control of the Saigon government and waging a destructive counterinsurgency campaign for an unspecified number of years.
What really started the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War had its origins in the broader Indochina wars of the 1940s and ’50s, when nationalist groups such as Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh, inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism, fought the colonial rule first of Japan and then of France.
Did the US ever lose a war?
Before World War II, the United States won nearly all the major wars that it fought. And since World War II, the United States has barely won any major wars. … And since Korea, we have had Vietnam—America’s most infamous defeat—and Iraq, another major failure.
