First Place Essay “Lessons Learned from the Vietnam War: Citizen Soldiers
By Cadet Kennedy Ushiroda President Theodore Roosevelt High School Army JROTC The Vietnam war is considered one of the deadliest and longest conflicts of the 20th century in United States history. The war, in effect, was fought within the context of containment of the spread of communism. The United States during this time was engaged in a larger, struggle against communism, otherwise known as the Cold War (against the Soviet Union and Communist China), which aimed to expand communism as a form of government. When the Vietnam war first began, the American public was generally in support. In fact, only two members of Congress voted against President Lyndon B. Johnson’s authority to wage war in Vietnam (Independence Hall Association). As demonstrated in the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, Johnson was able to use this authority and persuade Congress to send many more American troops to Vietnam in what would be a gradual escalation. However, as it became clear that hopes for achieving the war’s objective grew dimmer, and as soldiers were perishing, public support for the conflict would gradually become bleaker and bleaker. This essay will investigate the relationship the public had during the Vietnam War and the ultimate lessons that can be learned about the attitudes the citizenry should face towards the military in time of war. To begin, it is important to recognize the fact that the antiwar sentiment largely came from the Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s. This group, with principles founded by Tom Hayden, would become recognized as a staunch activist against the Vietnam War. To provide context to the public’s distrust of the U.S. government, it is imperative to consider that in the late 1960s, it was now possible for newscasts and troops to bring televised equipment to record a first-hand perspective of war. What would be recorded would shock most Americans at home. Such television footage and photos inner turmoil brought by the war through Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which would not be considered a would illustrate in homes across America, the death, drug use, and the unsightly side of war. These real and stark images would increase the negative ideas that would dwell in the minds of citizens as more US troops were sent to engage in the Vietnam War. The negative image of the war would be magnified by one of the more large-scale and escalating events, namely the Tet Offensive. In January of 1968, the Tet Offensive was launched by the forces of the North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong in which the United States played a major role in stopping it. Although it was seen as a major disaster for the communist party and a military win for the allies, at home in the U.S., it was a political failure and was felt as a devastating loss for the American public at home. This offensive would be the boiling point of the public’s distrust of government officials who proclaimed that the war would be over soon, but in actuality, the end was nowhere in sight. But more damaging still would be that many in our citizenry would stand in opposition the American soldier. Thus would begin a growing anti-military sentiment across the country. Unfortunately, when Vietnam soldiers came back home from putting their life on the line to defend their country’s values, the majority of public response was indifferent. The veterans returning home were initially shocked by the negative response from their countrymen many of whom expressed anguish about the war, and so most Veterans returned to a quiet and distrusting society. In contrast to the celebrations and parades that greeted the World War II veterans, the Vietnam War veterans had “common experiences of rejection . . . not explicit acts of hostility but quieter, sometimes more devastating forms of withdrawal, suspicion, and indifference." (Enclycopedia.com, 2022). It was these attitudes that made many Vietnam veterans feel ostracized in society, a feeling even more perpetuated by the ongoing inner turmoil brought by the war through Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which would not be considered a formal psychological condition until 1980 (Wyman, 2020). In addition, surviving veterans, unlike their World War II counterparts, were not adequately compensated for their efforts. The story of Peter Langenus, Commander of Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade from 1969-70, is illustrative (Ciampaglia, 2018). Captain Langenus led his troops into the thick jungle in operations that would last 30 days or more. However, upon returning home, he found that the Vietnam Veterans’ benefits were virtually “nonexistent.” Langenus would also show symptoms of malaria living in New York, but would be 11
