Media and American Withdrawal From Vietnam Essay

The introductory attack began spectacularly during celebrations of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and left global lungs breathless (Farber and Bailey 34-54). Widely seen as the turning point in the Vietnam War, the NLF and PAVN won an enormous psychological and propaganda-associated victory, which ultimately led to the loss of popular support for the War in the United States and the eventual withdrawal of American troops. Additionally, the events surrounding the Tet Offensive piloted American citizens to increased polarization. Attracting members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labor unions, and government institutions, the anti-war movement was swollen with aggrieved affiliates (Farber and Bailey 34-54). The observable pathos of the protesters delivered the distrust of a growing population to the White House doors; the budding doubt in governmental affairs was difficult to discard and impossible to ignore. Indisputably, the Tet Offensive of 1968 cleaved the fragile harmony of the public and birthed a political skepticism that continues to subsist in modern American minds.

The increasing number of troops and military efforts involved with Vietnam and the seemingly optimistic reports reported by the government were the primary factors that caused the Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive. The American government had become increasingly involved with the Vietnam war. From 1965 to 1967, over 400,000 soldiers were sent to help the South Vietnamese forces. This massive increase in the amount of soldiers was frustrating to the American people. Johnson’s approval rating fell to a mere 40%, half of what it had been in 1965.  (“Vietnam War (1959-1975)” ; Axelrod 1). When the American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, it was often heard that they were spit on, and

The Tet offensive was when the Viet Kong decided to attack on the week of Tet. Tet was similar to our new years and in the previous years neither side of the war had ever fought on that day. Suddenly Tet came and we (the United States) was being attacked. This played a huge role in society. Eventually this lead to Cronkite announcing that this war was not winnable, it also lead to LBJ announcing that he would not run again for president. Both of these were a wake up call to the United States basically letting them know that we are way further in on the war then we had expected. This also stated that we could not win the war, making more and more riots happen at home. No one wanted the United States at war anymore for they thought that they were there for no reason and we weren't going to win so why not come home? Tet Offensive also impacts the following topics.

The Tet Offensive was a major conflict and opinion towards our American troops and people. The impact of the Tet Offensive on public opinion in the United States was significant. They were lied too and we're told U.S, troops might be able to withdraw. Dozens of camps, military bases, cities and towns were attacked.

“The Vietnam War was one of the most publicized wars in all of American history” (ows.edb.utexas.edu). As a result the media played a very important role in the war. It had a very powerful effect on americans opinion on the subject, because this was the first time they got to see what was actually happening right on their living room tv’s.The media mostly covered the horrors of the war which made many americans turn against it and look down on the soldiers who fought in it.

After early 1968 it was evident that the United States would not soon or successfully conclude its involvement in Indochina. The size and breadth of the attack were stunning enough, but the images coming out of South Vietnam in the early days added to the shock and impact of the Tet Offensive. Television reports showed the fighting on the embassy grounds, chaos in the streets of Saigon, the assassination of an NLF prisoner by a South Vietnamese general on a Saigon street, and pitched battles in other cities such as Hue, while the Associated Press reported an American officer in the village of Ben Tre stating that, “we had to destroy it in order to save it.” As Kathleen Turner, author of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Dual War, writes, “With Tet…the fighting was suddenly, inescapably, terrifyingly close to the Saigon-based news teams. The proximity of the battle guaranteed extensive coverage by media institutions: it was easily accessible, and it was for many the first extended view of the enemy.” Walter Cronkite on the first reports of Tet asking, “What the hell is going? I thought we were winning the war!” Tet dominated the news coverage on television, newspapers, and magazines as people followed the fighting in Saigon, Hue, and Khe Sanh and saw the destruction and dislocation that was occurring throughout

The Tet Offensive and Counteroffensive caused horrible impacts on the war through its battles, and causing the deaths of U.S. and South Vietnamese forces, and discouraging future war efforts. The Tet Offensive was a plan forged by the Northern Vietnam forces to strike back and cripple the Saigon government, the government of South Vietnam, and destroy the hope of American Victory. The Northern Vietnamese distracted attention away from from multiple large cities that would be the basis of the attack and got the U.S. to send 50,000 troops to Khe Sanh, the city that many  Americans and South Vietnamese were expecting the attack to take place. However, on January 31, 1967, the Northern Vietnamese attacked 36 out of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, and five major cities (“Tet Brings The War Home 1,2). The Northern Vietnamese’s attack was an attack against, not only against many of South Vietnamese cities and provinces, but also the hopes of the American Government.

The Tet Offensive received its name from the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the American public and further holiday called Tet (Tet Offensive n.p.).The series of surprise attacks that the North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces launched to attack many of South Vietnam cities and U.S. Embassy in Saigon is known today as the Tet Offensive. The Tet Offensive played a role in the Vietnam War and was considered to many Americans, soldiers, and even the President as a turning point in the war. The United States and South Vietnam forces were allies and managed to hold off the surprise communist attacks. The Tet Offensive led into The Battle of Hue, a lengthy battle that shocked and dismayed the American public and further eroded support for the war effort (Tet Offensive n.p.). The Tet Offensive lead to many difficulties throughout the Vietnam War. It was a victory to North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces, leaving damage to much of South Vietnam.

Vietnam War is a war that mainly differentiates from any other war in the history of the modern warfare due to the fact that the first time in history the media was able to act without restrictions and had the opportunity to film and record the war from the frontline of the combat zone. Besides the political and military decisions taken at the wartime, media had a impact on changing destiny of the war. In this essay, in order to show the impact of the media on the war, I will try to examine some of the key events of the Vietnam War, such as the Tet-Offensive, and My Lai Massacre. Were there any misconceptions presented by the media about the war? Was media responsible of the US loss in Vietnam? Is the power of media exaggerated at the time of the war? Throughout the essay, these questions will try to be answered in the contexts of specific events.

Preceding Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination was North Vietnam’s Tet Offensive against the United States which “signified the beginning of the end of U.S involvement in the Vietnam War” (CNN). Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, “was a holiday during which the North and South had previously observed an informal truce” (CNN). However, on January 31st, 1968, a “coordinated attack by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese targeted 36 major cities and towns in South Vietnam” (CNN). Despite the heavy casualties, “North Vietnam achieved a strategic victory with the Tet Offensive, as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War and the beginning of the slow, painful American withdrawal from the region” (“Tet Offensive”). This attack was a crucial turning point in the war because the ambush resulted in Americans withdrawing their support of the war. Before the offensive, the U.S.

The similarities that can be drawn if we were to compare America’s exit from Vietnam and our current withdrawal from Afghanistan will be: Resources, Politics and Public Opinion, and Role of the Press, Purpose of War and Military Campaigns, and lastly, Effective Counterinsurgency, and Vietnamization. Like Vietnam, the American involvement in Afghanistan became a long-term phenomenon transcending several presidential administrations. However, the Vietnamese conflict left a specific, some might say unique, military, political, and social legacy. Americans positioned themselves to withdraw from Vietnam and the ultimate result of this exit strategy, because American did not expect such a difficult war in the beginning, the initial exit strategy did not allow for anything short of victory. After Richard Nixon won the 1968 presidential election, he announced a new strategy, which he termed “Vietnamization” or more loosely interpreted as “peace with honor.” The two wars bare similarities in terms of America’s exit from Vietnam and our current withdrawal from Afghanistan in the following ways:

During the Vietnam War, Americans were greatly influenced by the extensive media coverage of the war. Before the 1960’s and the intensification of the war, public news coverage of military action was constrained heavily by the government and was directed by Government policy. The Vietnam War uniquely altered the perception of war in the eyes of American citizens by bringing the war into their homes. The Vietnam War was the first U.S uncensored war resulting in the release of graphic images and unaltered accounts of horrific events that helped to change public opinion of the war like nothing it had ever been. This depiction by the media led to a separation between the United States government and the press; much of what was reported flouted

Such coverage, along with the vivid images that emerge on T.V. led to a serious rise in anti-war protest that was merely strengthened by the events of 1968. The Tet Offensive of 1968 marked the greatest conflict in beliefs of the United Stated government and the media. In January, North Vietnamese troops attacked the North cities of South Vietnam and the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The media and the television, however, portrayed the attack as a brutal defeat for the U.S, totally altering the outcome of the war at the very moment when government officials were publicly stating that victory in Vietnam was "just around the corner" (Wyatt 167)[8]. The media covered all the events that immediately followed the Tet Offensive and the American public began wondering whether this war could be won. Don Oberdorfer a Washington reporter said that “there’s no doubt Tet was one of the biggest events in contemporary American history, within two months the, American body politically turned around on the war. And they were significantly

Then, on January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army, supported by the Vietcong, launched the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks on cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. Militarily, American forces repelled the attacks and retook the cities initially occupied by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. However, television portrayed the attack as an appalling defeat for the United States. In addition, the Tet Offensive made the brutality of the war very visible to Americans as the viewing public watched graphic footage of a prisoner being shot through the head by a South Vietnamese general.

t first my paper was going to be around what happen to the Vietnam people after the Vietnam war and their struggles to migrate to other countries. This seemed to be a very interesting topic to cover to know where are they now and how they feel about the war. Located a woman in her late 40s from Vietnam, her family has migrated to American when she was just 5 years old. This topic seemed to be very sensitive for her to talk about, I brought to much pain to talk about her parents that didn't survive the Vietnam war. After this failed attempt to interview a Vietnamese migrant, I wondered how the press was reporting out to the world of what was really happening in Vietnam.