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US IB English-The Things They Carried: Vietnam War

“Vietnam War.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war#event-/timeline/item/letter-from-ho-chi-minh-to-president-harry-truman.

Timeline

United States involvement in Vietnam in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of sending military advisers to help the South Vietnamese in their struggle against Communists in the North. But when it was reported that North Vietnam had fired on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, President Johnson responded by bombing North Vietnam and sending in ground troops in 1965. Within three years, more than a half million Americans were fighting in the jungles and cities of Southeast Asia. Communist supplies and troops were carried along two major trails (see map.)

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/photo/vietnam-war/

Political/Historical Context of the War

Experiencing the War

 
 

Women in the War

War Song Recordings

  • “DaNang Lullaby” 1965, song about “Operation Rolling Thunder,” sung by James P. “Bull” Durham, who served as a pilot during the Vietnam War
  • “Jolly Green” 1968, sung by James P. “Bull” Durham “Jolly Green Giant” was a nickname for the Sikorsky HH-3E helicopter, used extensively to insert and extract troops during the Vietnam War
  • “Tchepone” 1971, song about the bombing of Tchepone, Laos, during the Vietnam War sung by Chuck Rosenburg

Understanding the War

General Websites of Interest

 

Weapons of the War

Background Knowledge

Events Leading up to the War

Vietnam has always tried to be fiercely independent but was coveted by other nations.  The Chinese ruled until the tenth century and introduced their culture, while the people of Vietnam retained their language.  In the seventeenth century, French missionaries adapted the language to the Roman alphabet. In 1857, unable to annex Vietnam by diplomatic measures, the French attacked, and by 1883, they controlled the country.  Japan ruled during World War II, from 1940 to 1945.  After the war, the Vietnamese hoped for independence, but the French returned to “reclaim [their] inheritance.” At the same time, China, by then a communist country, attempted to move in.  Through the fifties, US military aid and assistance to non-communist South Vietnam increased. 

  • Chinese rule 111BC - 939AD
  • Independence 939-1857
  • French rule 1883-1940
  • Japanese rule 1940-1945
  • Indochina War 1946-1954
  • Vietnam War 1957-1975
  • Normalization of US/Vietnam relations 1995 

Their Stories

Vietnamese Soldiers' Experiences

"Interview with Nguyen Van Nghi, 1981"

A soldier in the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam tells his story. Video clip on the left; transcript on the right.

Vietnamese Civilians' Experiences

“Interview with Ho Thanh Dam, 1981”

Ho Thanh Dam describes the destruction of his village, Vinh Quang, by American bombs in 1967. Video clip on the left; transcript on the right.

“Interview with Le Thi Ton, 1981”

Le Thi Ton testifies about a brutal U.S. assault on her hamlet on January 31, 1967 in which all ten members of her family were killed. Video clip on the left; transcript on the right.

Nurses’ Stories

"A Frontline Nurse for the Vietcong"

An oral history from a former nurse with the National Liberation Front, also known as the Vietcong.

“Interview with Patricia Ann Carroll”

Carroll served as a member of the Army Nurse Corp in Vietnam. This transcript is long; skimming is okay. 

Vietnam War Images

Vietnam War images

Vietnam Political Cartoons

Herb Block

Jules Feiffer

Bill Mauldin

Pat Oliphant

Vaughn Shoemaker

Paul Szep

Edmund Valtman

Clifford H. (Baldy) Baldowski Editorial Cartoon Collection related to Vietnamese Conflict 1961-1975 Digital Library of Georgia

Selective Service System: Vietnam Lottery

A lottery drawing – the first since 1942 – was held on December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This event determined the order of call for induction during calendar year 1970; that is, for registrants born between January 1, 1944, and December 31, 1950. Re-institution of the lottery was a change from the “draft the oldest man first” method, which had been the determining method for deciding order of call.

There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range specified in Selective Service law.

With radio, film, and TV coverage, the capsules were drawn from the container, opened, and the dates inside posted in order. The first capsule – drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) of the House Armed Services Committee – contained the date September 14, so all men born on September 14 in any year between 1944 and 1950 were assigned lottery number 1. The drawing continued until all days of the year had been paired with sequence numbers.

Administrative processing number (APN) denotes the highest lottery numbers called for each table year. The APN (highest number) called for a physical was 215 for tables 1970 through 1976.

The last draft call was on December 7, 1972, and the authority to induct expired on June 30, 1973. The date of the last drawing for the lottery was on March 12, 1975. Registration with the Selective Service System was suspended on April 1, 1975, and registrant processing was suspended on January 27, 1976.

Registration was resumed in July 1980 for men born in 1960 and later, and is in effect to this present time. Men are required to register within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

Table
Date of Drawing
Applied to Year of Birth
APN
1970
December 1, 1969
1944-1950
195
1971
July 1, 1970
1951
125
1972
August 5, 1971
1952
95
1973
February 2, 1972
1953
95
1974
March 8, 1973
1954
95
1975
March 20, 1974
1955
95
1976
March 12, 1975
1956
95
https://www.sss.gov/history-and-records/vietnam-lotteries/
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