Why didn't many people support the Vietnam War?

Question

Beside the issue of the drafts.

Answer 1

they were being brainwashed by the same parties that has been brainwashing the present war . I support all the troops from all wars, including the Vietnam War. do not let the media and so called polls fool you, there are a lot more people that support than not. the media can destroy a individual, country , a war and honor of troops.

Answer 2

I don't think you will find that at the time the opposition was great among those that did not face the draft. Many people who opposed the draft want to just hang out and get high and create a welfare state so they could just mooch for ever.

I wonder how many people who are writing realize that south Vietnam was invaded by forces supported by the Russians, Chinese and all the eastern block nations. this was the same reason we went to Korea. What a shame we have so many who don't believe in fighting for those that can't defend themselves.

Answer 3

A lot of people did support the war, until the late 60's/early seventies. I vaguely remember Nixon's 72 slogan was withdawal with dignity, or something like that.

The riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as well as the Kent State incident brought awareness to the silent majority that the war was not as benign as it was portrayed in the media.

At that point, what originally was a student movement originating at University of Michigan with SDS and the Port Huron Statement (below), became a national student, then young people, then a majority of people movement to end the war.

Answer 4

For starters, if you see it in history books and on older monuments, it's referred to as the Vietnam Conflict. I'm not too sure when it was first labeled as a "war". If I remember correctly, I think that *that* probably came when it was over...

At first, if I recollect what I heard, they did support it in the beginning, but then the war went on and on and on and people got tired of it. Almost as if, why are we in this war? It seemed to be senseless to the people here on the homefront. (I was a wee lil' girl when it was going on.) I think it became a political thing. Maybe a few politicians disagreeing as to whether or not we should be over there and while they're fighting it out here, our boys were fighting it out over *there*.

What galls me, when I remember it, is seeing people spitting on the soldiers when they came back. They had no clue until they got back here, unless family and friends wrote to them about it, that they would be in for such animosity on their return.

Hate the war; love the soldiers...

We learned a lot from that war. How to better treat our vets and how to better treat our soldiers.

I dated a guy who served in the Vietnam war and it still makes him buckle. I'm glad I don't remember a lot from it...

As for remembering anything about it, it would have to be what I overheard after I was old enough to understand. I remember being afraid that it would come over to where my family and I were living at the time (Hawaii). We saw *so* much on television that they don't dare to show now. Thank God 'cos it was traumatizing for me as a child to see that on the news every night before going to bed.

Answer 5

Even before the large number of deaths occurred, people were against it. It seemed useless for us to be over there fighting and getting involved in a civil war. I'm not sure our reasons for being there except being worried that it would get out of control and North Vietnam would become too powerful.

Answer 6

Viet Nam was not a declared war. we were never actually told the point of the war. the war was a media circus; everyday on the news there were pix of what was going on. the media had no regard for the privacy of the families of soldiers who were killed.
I was 14 when i saw the first pix of the evening news, it traumatized me against war.
the whole war was pointless; there was no hope of a victory
i could go on and on, you would have had to have lived thru the nightmare of it to really know the horrors that were portrayed not only on tv but also to see the vets who came back with missing arms and legs and got absolutely nothing but grief when they got back.
by the way the draft was NOT the reason for unpopularity

Answer 7

The Vietnam war was unnecessary probably some Americans that went didn't even know what they were fighting for
Just like the iraq war it was stupid

Answer 8

Because it wasn't our war, it was the French trying to hold on to a colony. They dragged us in by using our fear of Communism because HoChiMihn had gone to the Communists for help to throw out the French when Pres. Wilson called him a toad and told him to get out of his sight. The French eventually gave up on holding on to it as a colony and went home, leaving us to fight on for several more years.
Hippies of the '60's were getting into the communism thing and rebellion and it was all just a big target to rebel against;.

Answer 9

it was an unjust war that served no purpose.

like iraq, the reason for the war in vietnam was a political talking point.

politicians can lead wars with political talking points when they lead troops into battle the way kings used to.

until that, lets keep wars for real reasons...

Answer 10

It was the first televised war, americans at home saw the horrors of war as opposed to just hearing about them.

"But revelations of the My Lai Massacre, in which U.S. forces went on a rampage and killed civilians, including women and children, provoked national and international outrage."