Vietnam War Effects

Every country has a history that defines them; that gives them a name and what they will be remembered by. America fought hard during World War II with Russia as their ally and at the end of the war, the Allies reigned victorious. This would then lead the once two allied nations into a political war, a war with no bullets, but with different beliefs. One belief being capitalism while the other would be communism. This war would be known as the Cold War. The Cold War would cause many problems through out the 20th century including one of the most problematic wars that people still question the justification behind it today, the Vietnam War. Even though America wanted to stop communism and stop the domino effect from happening, the Vietnam War …show more content…
This started with the amount of people dying in Vietnam. From 1955 to 1968, 36,152 soldiers died in Vietnam. (1) The amount of people dying at this rate lead to America starting the draft in 1969. The draft was a system, just like the lottery, to determine who would be sent to Vietnam. “Most of U.S. soldiers drafted during the Vietnam War were men from poor and working-class families.” (2) Everyone during the draft had draft cards that had their number on it to determine whether they were going to Vietnam. There were a few ways of getting out of the draft which were criminal actions but some of them worked. People that avoided the draft were called draft dodgers. Some of the ways the draft dodgers avoided the draft included going to a different country (most likely Canada) or burning their draft card. One legal way of avoiding the draft was by going to college. But those who ended up going to Vietnam would mostly likely face the same fate of the many people who also went to Vietnam, …show more content…
Even though we were in war with Vietnam, Vietnam still suffered. From killing citizens and children, burning villages and bombing cities, to landmines and water poisoning, America set out to literally destroy Vietnam to win. Killing is not easy, especially when you do not know the enemy from a regular civilian, or an enemy to a child. Anyone could have been an enemy or the opposite. These were the struggles that the soldiers went through during the war. “Children as young as 13 and 14 were involved in the armed struggle, learning guerrilla warfare tactics and killing both American and South Vietnamese soldiers.” (6) American soldiers did not know who friend or foe were. The violence did not stop at the killing, it continued with burning villages down. Soldiers would light villages on fire with a simple zippo lighter. Most villages were made from bamboo and straw collected from around the jungle like terrain. A notable village that America infiltrated and slaughtered was My Lai, in March 1968. America went in with guns firing to realize it was just a bunch of unarmed men, women and children. America soldiers continued to poison wells and light the entire village on fire. (7) Burning villages did not stop America from going all out. If you want the job done, do it right and that is exactly what America did. In a last attempt to win the war America decided to bomb Vietnam. This was called the Christmas bombing or code name

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