Vietnam Essay Research Paper Believing that communist — страница 3

prisoners. United States ground troops left Vietnam by the end of March 1973. Fighting continued, however, as the North and the South accused each other of truce violations. A second cease-fire was signed in June, but the battles continued through 1974. South Vietnam fell to communist rule on April 30, 1975 when the South surrendered and enemy troops entered Saigon. President Ford formally ended the war on January 1975. There were over 58,000 Americans killed in Vietnam and 3 times the amount of bombs dropped in World War II. The United States During the War Anti-War Protests in the U.S During the many years that the U.S. was at war with North Vietnam, there were many people that didn’t agree with the directions the country took. Some people disagreed with the whole Vietnam war

and wanted the U.S. involvement to end. Others complained about social prejudices. Drafts and Draft Resistance Movements At the time of escalation, the normal size of the army was insufficient to meet the demands of certain generals, presidents, and politicians. Therefore a draft was established to find eligible men to participate in the fighting. Much draft resistance was given by a group of people known as hippies. These people burned their draft cards, and participated in non-violent protests which often involved police. Police sometimes resorted to extreme use of force and in its worst cases the national guard was called in for backup. Kent State University had its shares of riots where the ultimate result was the killing of a few students (1969). 1968 was the turning point

year for much of American opinion of Vietnam. The American people caught a small glimpse of the real war in Vietnam and decided they didn’t want to be involved. Assassinations Malcolm X, a pioneer of black rights and equality, was shot and killed on February 21, 1965, while speaking at an OAAU rally in Harlem. Martin Luther King combined his civil-rights campaigns with a strong stand against the Vietnam War. He believed that the money and effort spent on war could be used to combat poverty and discrimination. On April 4, he was assassinated by a sniper, James Earl Ray. As President John F. Kennedy took office, cold-war tensions between Communist and Western nations increased. Communist forces pushed into Laos and threatened South Vietnam. The new president pledged strong

efforts to halt the spread of Communism. Kennedy was assassinated arriving from the Dallas airport on the morning of November 22, 1963 formally by Lee Harvey Oswald (although there are many conspiracy theories). In 1968 Robert F. Kennedy campaigned for the presidency in opposition to the Vietnam War. On June 5, during a victory celebration following the California primary, he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, an Arab immigrant. Ngo Dinh Diem was also assassinated 3 weeks prior to John F. Kennedy’s death on November 1, 1963.