... against international law such as the Geneva contract. But before I continue with this point I must say that I understand that our soldiers were fighting a war, which can be gruesome and sometimes they would have to do unthinkable things to survive. But that alone does not justify why over 500,000 Vietnamese civilians ... including women and children were killed during our involvement in the war. One example of an incident that added greatly to these numbers was the My Lai massacre. When U.S soldiers had rounded up and murdered hundreds ... as a nation experienced the same hardships of...

• Word Count: 1714
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... who is on the wrong side of the law and who is not. The atom bomb, which was mentioned earlier as the "problem solver" of World War II, would prove to lead to a larger dilemma. Prior to the atomic bomb and later the hydrogen bomb, it was thought that any weapon could be ... ratification, both President Ford and Secretary-General Brezhnev agreed to stand by it, as well as the SALT I Treaty. The conventional wars of the Cold War were many, but without the use of nuclear arms. During 1950 the North Korean government sought to gain control of the divided South Korean peninsula and crossed .....

• Word Count: 2334
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... French and as Bao Dai's Minister for the Interior in the 1930's but quitted the colonial regime and went into voluntary exile before World War II. Fiercely independent, and both anti-colonial and anticommunist, he spurned offers for high administerial posts by both Ho Chi Minh and the ... to the cause of an independent non-communist Vietnam, he accepted Bao Dai's offer on condition he had full authority over the Army and civil administration. In 1955, Diem moved against the Hoa Hao sect and the Binh Xuyen, who maintained regional autonomy with private armies. The Binh ... Prime Minister ...

• Word Count: 3628
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... replies, "No, I haven't," the colonel says, "Huh!" and walks away. After coming to the realization that he has not experienced the war and therefore, has not earned the right to critique the conflict, Beckworth lowers his head and understands. By opening the movie with a moral confrontation ... the Vietnamese people. Cimino manipulated the stereotypical Vietnam veteran as the returned man who at best was troubled, confused, and disturbed from the war and at worst, unable to cease the killing. After escaping the inhumane tortures, the three friends escape back to American lines. Their .....

• Word Count: 3681
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... allude to Oliver Stone's Platoon, and the often overlooked Hamburger Hill. For me these films represent a justifiable range of different approaches to the war to explain their inclusion, and will be looked at as representations of Vietnam, and judged accordingly. It is important I stress that I am ... not exist on the same scale, the narrative is still constructed in terms of character conflicts showing differing moral positions concerning the war (Willard and Kurz respectively, although as Apocalypse Now goes on the viewpoints they individually represent become increasingly hard to deci...

• Word Count: 3466
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... French and as Bao Dai's Minister for the Interior in the 1930's but quitted the colonial regime and went into voluntary exile before World War II. Fiercely independent, and both anti-colonial and anticommunist, he spurned offers for high administerial posts by both Ho Chi Minh and the ... to the cause of an independent non-communist Vietnam, he accepted Bao Dai's offer on condition he had full authority over the Army and civil administration. In 1955, Diem moved against the Hoa Hao sect and the Binh Xuyen, who maintained regional autonomy with private armies. The Binh ... Prime Minister ...

• Word Count: 4606
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... began to emerge. Consequently, this ensured hostility and a huge loss of public support which ultimately led to political leaders announcing the gradual withdrawal from the war. Conscription, also known as national service, is a system of enrolment where it is compulsory for men and women to join the armed forces. The ... time duties. When this system was introduced, it attracted many opponents, but it was when the government increased the size of Australia's commitment to the war that made the use of conscripts necessary. This caused a significant rise in public opposition. Although man...

• Word Count: 766
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... quote from the commonwealth parliamentary debates on the 21st of April 1965, Menzies states "I subscribe to the Domino theorybecause I believe it obviousthat if war ends with some compromise that denies South Vietnam a real and well protected independence, Laos and Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia will be vulnerablehas ... 1965, it was made up of middle class woman that were aware politically aware or concerned about their sons and relatives fighting in the war and overseas conscription. Conscription was reintroduced in 1964, it was made a law that every male aged 20 ...

• Word Count: 914
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... by sending 30 military advisers to Vietnam, their arrival in South Vietnam between July and August 1962 was the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. The main reason for Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War was to bring to an end to communism. Communism, also known as the Red Menace is a political and economic theory in which a country's wealth and ... resources are owned by everyone. Australia and other Western countries feared communism as communists often gained power by force. After World War II most of Eastern Europe was communist and China was also communi...

• Word Count: 421
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... have to put our trust in "great and powerful friends" Vietnam had been a French colony since 1858, but when they were driven out during World War II, Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh, a nationalist group with communist ideals formed a government in Hanoi, situated in the northern region of Vietnam. The ... French were unwilling to relinquish their colony, and so they went to war with the Vietminh forces that were supported by communist China. When the French were crushed at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, they were forced ... presented the communists in the north with an ideal opportunity to seize co...

• Word Count: 1153
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Zealand to America and therefore when the US wanted a favour, New Zealand was expected to reciprocate and offer its support; case in point the Vietnam war. Another reason New Zealand felt obliged to assist the US in Vietnam was the ANZUS treaty. This agreement is identified as a "regional defensive pact in ... rely on the other two for reinforcement if need be. This treaty was a key factor in Prime Minister Keith Holyoake rationalising New Zealand's involvement in the war. He is quoted as saying, "if we are not prepared to play our part now, can we in good conscience expect our allies to...

• Word Count: 1380
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... rapid change. At the peak of the Cold War, the war in Vietnam was a catalyst to the strong emergence of counterculture. Those who joined the non-conformist movement often held liberal ideas and unique appearances. Also, the Civil Rights movement had finally gained momentum with the passage ... of many laws that integrated blacks into white society. In summary, the Vietnam War led to a new type of counterculture that sparked American youths' ... interest in politics and social justice while the Civil Rights movement was becoming successful in tearing down white supremacy; both being tur...

• Word Count: 642
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... unemployment relief systems, as well as special aid to schools, homes, libraries, and hospitals. On June 19, he demonstrated his fast progress in legislative matters through the passage of his Civil Rights bill outlawing racial discrimination in public accommodations and by employers and unions (Encarta 2001, "Johnson, Lyndon Baines".) In 1964, Johnson was finally elected to a full four-year term of ... , cultural, and economic exchange programs that had been started during the Kennedy Administration (Encarta 2001, "Johnson, Lyndon Baines".) Johnson encountered one of his biggest obstacl...

• Word Count: 1501
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of South Korea by North. At this time Kim Il Sung's made a national address in which he stated "The war which we are forced to wage is a just war for the unification and independence of the motherland and for freedom and democracy." The Americans took this act as a sign that ... misleading world opinion" America too keeps a watchful eye on North Korea, knowing that this communist country has nuclear capability. The Vietnam War commenced very differently from Korea, the Korean War originated internally when North attacked South, but Vietnam was started externally by the United States. "In...

• Word Count: 1037
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and Hollywood productions that have emerged about the topic. Much of the historiography of the conflict, as well as mainstream popular literature on the war, all share a disturbing omission "very few include any thoughtful reflection whatsoever on the role that American women served in Vietnam. There ... initial experience of arrival was over, women began to adjust to their situations and to adapt their professions to the unique circumstances that the war presented. Nurses, journalists, WACs, civilian workers like those in the Red Cross, and women entertainers, all had unique daily exper...

• Word Count: 2573
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... so easily conceived of as "post-Vietnam," Jameson's general pronouncement about "history" seems especially appropriate. There are many, no matter what their political persuasion, who say "we lost the war," a consensus recognition of frustrated national desire. The films about US intervention in Vietnam are structured around this confrontation between "desire" and "history." The difficulty, however, is that, as ... James William Gibson notes, "Unlike previous American experiences of war, there was no popular cultural archetype to account for successful Vietnamese resistance to foreign in...

• Word Count: 2039
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the public, reasoning that "if it appeared that the "smart" people were opposing intervention, then others might conclude that dissent was not unpatriotic." Small describes the next years of the war as a "coming apart," declaring that 1967 was "the worst year of Johnson's presidency," in part because of the large number of riots that year and a shifting in conventional ... media, and Congress. Because of the polling data, the historical facts, and the interviews with the presidential confidants, Melvin Small makes a compelling argument for the power of the anti-war movement. Johnson, Ni...

• Word Count: 1024
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel; which in turn would lead to the creation of the National liberation front against the corrupt Diem regime, inevitably catalysing the 2nd Indochina war into play. In March 1954, Giap began a siege of the French base at Dien Bien Phu, killing 2200 and imprisoning 6500, forcing French forces to surrender. The higher Vietnamese ... Viet Minh would not come easily, nor would it come cheap, as French Commander, Henri Navarre, states; "it struck me immediately that there was no possibility of winning the war in Indochina". This humiliating defeat t...

• Word Count: 1037
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... effect on his own identity, as well as on American identity in general. His writings often blur the lines between what actually happened during the War and what our imaginations have created to help us understand it. His first work, If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973), is his most ... stories often communicate a more accurate notion of the truth than even experience can, which makes them compelling whether or not the reader experienced the War first-hand. The Nuclear Age (1986) is an imaginative and broad-reaching account of anxieties which have seized our world in the latter half ... cle...

• Word Count: 781
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Minh and The Viet Minh's nationalistic ways and determination to overthrow the French and gain Vietnam's independence. At the end of the Second World War, France lied in ruins and Vietnam was left with no governmental occupation after the surrender of the Japanese. This was known as the August ... to seek assistance from Russia and China. These two countries responded by providing them aid and guerrilla tactics that they would use on the French. "War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states...

• Word Count: 1088
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... home country, separated from their extended family and friends, and evacuated to a foreign country where they have no commonality, Vietnamese refugees faced the worst after the end of Vietnam War in 1975. Although they are caught between two different cultures and expectations, Vietnamese refugees and immigrants successfully adapted and integrated into America with their infinite perseverance and diligence. Vietnamese ... community that has lost its homeland including its capital, Saigon, Little Saigon represents memory, hope and a symbol of the lost capital and homeland. Indeed, the en...

• Word Count: 2794
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... result was approximately 3,000 pages of narrative and more than 4,000 pages of appended documents--about 2.5 million words. Forty-seven volumes cover U.S. involvement in Indochina from World War II through May 1968, the month the peace talks began in Paris. Among other things, the Pentagon Papers document the activities of sabotage and terror warfare against North Vietnam ... clandestine operations through a section of the Joint Chiefs organization called the Office of Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities. A second major segment of the Johnson administration's...

• Word Count: 1565
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... but this is different uses several different techniques to influence the reader. Mr Mann is adamant that this almost inevitable war with Iraq is not the same as Vietnam. After having protested against the Vietnam war, the writer says that Vietnam was different and that it is ridiculous to make out Saddam Hussein as another Ho Chi ... " and the use of the word "Hitler" really affects the readers sense of security and in relating Saddam to Hitler can influence the readers opinion on whether war with Iraq is the right thing to do. In comparison to Mr Mann's article, Cynthia O"Keefe's use of...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... must maintain close contact with the French Communist Party." (www.h-net.msu.edu~/diplo/Ho.htm). William Duiker, Minh's biographer, a man who served in Saigon's US embassy during the Vietnam War and who interviewed Minh's colleagues, succinctly summarizes Ho's description of the party's aims in the Brief Rules of the Party: "The Communist Party of Vietnam has been organized to lead ... ...

• Word Count: 1580
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate