What It Was: Vietnam

Last time we looked at what the 60's could have been, but now we have to face the sober reality of what America went through in the era shrouded by the dark cloud of Vietnam. America was in the midst of the Cold War when the next biggest domino in America's crosshairs happened to be Vietnam. With LBJ and Nixon at the helm America began exporting democracy to the jungles of southeast Asia. The war would become a bloody battle of attrition which would take the lives of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of southeast Asians after you take into account the wide spread destruction in areas outside of Vietnam such as Laos.

                                              HAMBURGER HILL IMDB
One of my favorite movies which attempts to illustrate what life was like in Vietnam during this time is Hamburger Hill. One of the most remarkable features of this movie is that is attempts to delivers a rather ambiguous message that is less altered by political opinion than some of the other famous movies about the era. However, with its peak into Vietnam it sheds some light on racial relations and some of the prevailing attitudes of the time. There is also a scene that takes place on a muddy hill which gives the movie its namesake that portrays the futility of the war as the soldiers continuously try to climb the muddy hill just to slide back down once they gain any ground.

Though this may have seemed like another battle to keep the domino's from falling, this time American Empire had made a grave mistake, they were mistaking a people whom wanted to fight for their independence for a Russian communist ally and potential enemy. Ho Chi Minh wrote during the Vietnamese declaration of independence in 1945, "We hold truths that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...Viet Nam has the right to be free and independent and, in fact, has become free and independent. The people of Viet Nam decide to mobilise all their spiritual and material forces and to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their right of Liberty and Independence."(1)
This should have been enough to make America understand that this would be a different war than those fought in the past, that this conflict was not about communism, but about a people fighting for their freedom after years of repression, much like America had once done in 1776. However, this particular quote has ominous meaning for two additional reasons during this period in American history, 1) America was forcing democracy into a nation that neither wanted nor needed it and 2) was ignoring those same 'unalienable' rights to their own people domestically. 

I think the Vietnam era was so grim not only because of the unnecessary war that was raging in Asia, but because of the massive backlash and demonstrations(both violent and non) that were taking place at home in regards to the draft, students, civil rights and treatment of veterans(and particularly the efforts that were going towards stifling these movements).  It would seem that the American century which followed in the wake of World War II dominance was coming to an end and Vietnam was the catalyst for change at home. Perhaps though the war could never be classified as good, it can be classified as helpful since it allowed Americans to question what their government was doing, and gave the people of the United States a chance to reevaluate their lives at home. The years during and in the wake of Vietnam would bring about the height of the civil rights movement and pave the way for sexual revolution. 

1) 325 - Griffith, R., & Baker, P. (2007). Major problems in american history since 1945: Documents and essays. (3rd ed.). Boston: Wadsworth.