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Fall of saigon aftermath
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In the texts “ Saigon is gone” and “ Forgotten ship” the author was trying to convey the sense of trepidation that encompassed the nation and its people when Saigon fell. One piece of evidence to support this is in “Saigon is Gone” when Ha says “ People run and scream Communists!” (68) Nobody on the ship knows it’s the communists, but since they are fleeing from them and are terrified of them, they panic on instinct and assume the worst. A second supporting detail is in “Forgotten Ship” when Hugh Doyle states, “ I’m sure as you know by this time, Vietnam has surrendered and the mass panic- almost panic-stricken retreat has already taken place.” (Shapiro) This shows that even after the fact of North Vietnamese victory, Southern Vietnamese
refuse to let their lives be controlled by communists, so they have to make a plan as they go, not even knowing where they’re going. The final quote to support the overall feeling of panic is in “Forgotten Ship” when Shapiro states, “... U.S navy ships saved another 20 to 30,000 Vietnamese refugees. “ If this is broken down it shows that there were over 30,000 refugees fleeing in sheer desperation and terror. If not for panic and trepidation, why would such a proud people flee.
The United States of America always had a reputation of being the land of newcomers and immigrants. Principally, in the 16th and 17th century Puritans arrived in the New World (modern day eastern USA) to be able to practice their religion; Moreover , throughout the 19th century Irish and German immigrants left their homeland to seek job opportunities and resources in the United States. Furthermore, throughout the 20th century, immigrants arrived from other parts of the world such as Eastern Europe , Mexico, and etc. Logically, there's a pattern in the sociology of the United States. Why would foreigners come to the United States and leave their homeland?
I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called Vietnam-the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers- Tim O’Brien
“Here’s a little riddle for you. What's the difference between the army and the Cub Scouts? Cub Scouts don't have heavy artillery!” Adrian Cronauer tried to bring a kind of relief to the people of the war through his radio show. Cronauer was a United States Air Force sergeant and radio broadcaster who inspired the movie Good Morning, Vietnam. The Vietnam War, which was by far the longest war the United States has participated in, went on from 1945 until 1975. Even though the United States was involved with the war since the 50’s, by aiding France, they did not send troops until 1965. The Vietnam War began because North Vietnam wanted to combine both parts of Vietnam into one big country, but South Vietnam did not want this. The United States helped South Vietnam from keeping the countries separate and keeping communism out of their country. The war seemed like it would never end so a cease-fire was arranged in January 1973; although the war did not officially end until April 30, 1975. In this war, almost 60,000 Americans died and about 2 million Vietnamese died. The United States only got involved because they wanted to prevent communism from spreading throughout the rest of the world. Good Morning, Vietnam is not historically accurate because it did not portray Adrian Cronauer or the Vietnam War in the correct way.
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.
Source G: "The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath." American Voices. Glenview: Scott Foresman, 1995. 821-47. Print.
Robert S. McNamara's book, In Retrospect, tells the story of one man's journey throughout the trials and tribulations of what seems to be the United States utmost fatality; the Vietnam War. McNamara's personal encounters gives an inside perspective never before heard of, and exposes the truth behind the administration.
Most of the soldiers did not know what the overall purpose was of fighting the Vietnamese (Tessein). The young men “carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 21). The soldiers did not go to war for glory or honor, but simply to avoid the “blush of dishonor” (21). In fact, O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were to...
Even though Little Saigon provided Vietnamese American with economic benefit, political power, this landmark also witnessed many difficulties that Vietnamese experienced. Vietnamese American experienced many traumatic events prior to migration such as war, journey on boats, therefore many of them suffered posttraumatic stress disorder, stress, and depression. Significantly, Vietnamese refugees who went to the re-education camps sustained torture, humiliation, deprivation, brainwashing and several other punishments from Vietnamese Communist. Those refugees have higher rates of having mental disorder. Language barrier is another obstacle that...
Due to the volatile conditions of the Vietnam War, the protestors believed that they should not be involved in a war that they cared so little about. Public opinion heavily swayed during the war as only one senator dissented from the overwhelming opinion to fight the war (Amter 45). However, as President Johnson escalated the war and the Draft increased by 25% in 1968, those youths being conscripted were infuriated (Dougan 118). Not only this, the North Vietnamese began a ruthless offensive on American soldiers by merciless attacking our bases. This resulted in US victories, but also US casualties (Dougan 116). Also, the marines stationed at the bases began to use offensive attacks to deter Viet Cong assault against the wishes of General Taylor (Karnov 443). With these new less defensive strategy, Nixon announced plans to start operations in Cambodia, and to increase the bombings overall in Southeast Asia (Dougan 180). Some missions even began t...
Vietnam was a very mentally and physically strenuous war to fight. At any given point any soldier could snap. That is exactly what happen...
The Vietnam War was the longest and most expensive war in American History. The toll we paid wasn't just financial, it cost the people involved greatly, physically and mentally. This war caused great distress and sadness, as well as national confusion. Everyone had that one burning question being why? Why were we even there? The other question being why did America withdrawal from Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to answer these two burning questions, and perhaps add some clarity to the confusion American was experiencing.
The Vietnam War was a war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1st 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. This war was fought between the North Vietnamese Viet Cong and the government of South Vietnam. The criticism of the war in Vietnam started out as a reaction to President Johnson’s policy of fighting for a limited purpose and a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Criticism is valuable because it helps to correct communal procedures. That is a great advantage of exposed societies. But criticism works only if those in control have a sufficient intellect in order to recognize when a policy has gone wrong. The Vietnam War and its leaders is a "monument to the failure of that necessary wisdom" (Lewis). The supporters were known as “hawks.” As the President escalated the war effort, and became a hawk himself, his chief critics who disagreed with the war became known as “doves,” which included college students, faculty, and several other people who felt that the war was corrupt, was promoting no advantage for the US, and was increasing the number of casualties. But the Doves’ access to this goal is restricted: the war drags on. Many disaffected doves adapt to this situation by rebellion. They reject societal goals and means
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam. Sadly, this is not what happened. The Viet Cong (VC) had far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.
The American general response to the Vietnam War, as described previously within the main body of the essay, started out as being largely indifferent to the war (with many supporting it), and then, as time progressed and the war continued, public opinion swayed toward the anti-war viewpoint – in mid-1968, people who thought that the war was a mistake outnumbered those who believed it was not: “doves […] slightly outnumber hawks.”47 The reasons for this general opposition, and its incitement, are many — however, the most major and noteworthy reasons for this can be broken down into set categories: these include the nature of the war itself, the nature of the involvement in the war, use of certain military tactics, use of conscription policies,
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as