and NOW... The History of the Vietnam War is Not Taught in School Because... It's "Too Controversial" - HOWEVER... Students may use the Internet to Learn American History...
In Fact! a Great Idea would be to write a Term Paper on the Subject and Not Only LEARN HISTORY but also TEACH HISTORY... That way we will not Make the Same Mistake Again!
In 1973 the US Military Stopped Drafting People to Fight Pointless Wars... I Graduated from High School in 1972 and I was Forced to Register for the Draft But WAS NOT CALLED TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY... and Since Then Americans Have Never Been Drafted... an Idiotic Idea That Failed... NOW They Depend on Horrible Economic Conditions to get People to VOLUNTEER as the Military is the Employer of Last Resort...
A Brief History of the Vietnam War. 58,000 Americans Died for Nothing... During the 1950s Americans went into a Mad Panic about Communists taking over the world.
We built thousands of Nuclear Missiles and fallout shelters. The US Congress had witch hunts (Joe McCarthy-HUAC) to expose "Commies" who worked in The Hollywood Movie business and blacklisted folksingers that were leading our young people astray with Labor Union Organizing songs. During the height of this hysteria Vice President Richard Nixon went on Television and explained "the Domino Principle" while pointing to a map of Asia. His theory was that one by one those countries over there would turn Commie and soon they would take over Mexico and threaten the American Way of Life. President Eisenhower and Kennedy sent advisors to help the South Vietnamese soldiers fight the North Vietnamese soldiers. Then President Johnson sent even More American Soldiers to fight the Viet Cong. Then President Nixon continued the War for another 5 years before eventually he decided to allow the South Vietnamese to fight their own war and we left. Quickly the South lost and thousands of Boat People fled South Vietnam because they thought they would be killed. As it turned out, The Domino Principle was false. Communism did not take over the world. The entire war was a waste of lives and money.
The main reason we ended the Vietnam War was the huge protest movement against the war. Lead by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin of the Yippies, The Students for a Democratic Society and The Weatherman staged immense protest marches expressing the desire of the American People to end the war. Eventually the US government got the message.
The main reason we ended the Vietnam War was the huge protest movement against the war. Lead by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin of the Yippies, The Students for a Democratic Society and The Weatherman staged immense protest marches expressing the desire of the American People to end the war. Eventually the US government got the message.
READ MORE:
AMERICA'S BOGUS WARS - Since 1945, The US Military Has Never Defended The Country, Not Even Once. Ever since Victory in Japan, All of Our Wars have been Marketing to Sell Weapons for the Military Industrial Complex.
One time there was a Need to Defend the Country and The Military Failed Completely. Civilians took down the Airplane in Pennsylvania on 9/11/2001.
Often The USA chooses sides in Someone Else's Civil War, Gets Real Excited about Fighting Communism (or whatEVER) and then We Get Bored, Retreat, Lose and the Total Effect is ZERO. For Example: Vietnam. After 10 years of fighting, we lost and then The Surrounding Countries DID NOT Fall like Dominos... Believe it or not, There was a "Domino Theory" proposed by Vice President Richard Nixon that Stated that, If we lost in Vietnam, the neighboring Countries would become Communist and then the Entire World would GO Commie and we will have Reds Ruling Mexico! And Attacking the USA! I'm not making this up... There were people that really believed this theory... and were willing to send other people's children to die because they were Fighting Communism. Danger Danger! If we don't beat the Reds in Vietnam they will come right up to our border... ABSURD! For those of you that have never heard of Dominos, it's a game with numbered tiles that you could stack in rows so that if you pushed one over, it would hit the next and that one would hit the next... and on and on and on... and they would all fall down. This was popular before Video Games.
However, Hughes Aircraft, Dow Chemical and other Defense Contractors MADE A FORTUNE... People that sell Bandages, need Bleeding Soldiers to use them up... and then they make a Sale Restocking the Military. Helicopters, Agent Orange, Napalm, Boots, Boats and Food were all wonderful businesses to be in... Soldier Have to Eat... We can sell more MRE if there is an active war than during peacetime... To Quote Country Joe McDonald: "Come on Wall Street Don't Move Slow, Why Man this War's a Go-Go. There is Plenty Good Money to be Made, Supplying the Army with the Tools of the Trade! Just hope and Pray when they Drop the Bomb, They drop it on the Viet Cong..." Defense Contractors kept the war going for a long as possible. Nixon's Campaign Promise was to End the War but he kept it going an extra FOUR Years. If you think about it, We could have Won that War in ONE DAY. A Hydrogen Bomb on Hanoi would have Ended The War. Totally. We knew HOW to WIN since we we Dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan. BUT, we selected to Lose.
One real effect of that war was: we got a LOT of immigrants. Vietnamese Boat People and Hmong... They came here by the Thousands... and then the Country of Vietnam became a Capitalist Manufacturing Country... Go Figure! They did not like being Commie after all. In general, the refugees were nice people and no one can imagine WHY we would go to war with them...
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Often The USA chooses sides in Someone Else's Civil War, Gets Real Excited about Fighting Communism (or whatEVER) and then We Get Bored, Retreat, Lose and the Total Effect is ZERO. For Example: Vietnam. After 10 years of fighting, we lost and then The Surrounding Countries DID NOT Fall like Dominos... Believe it or not, There was a "Domino Theory" proposed by Vice President Richard Nixon that Stated that, If we lost in Vietnam, the neighboring Countries would become Communist and then the Entire World would GO Commie and we will have Reds Ruling Mexico! And Attacking the USA! I'm not making this up... There were people that really believed this theory... and were willing to send other people's children to die because they were Fighting Communism. Danger Danger! If we don't beat the Reds in Vietnam they will come right up to our border... ABSURD! For those of you that have never heard of Dominos, it's a game with numbered tiles that you could stack in rows so that if you pushed one over, it would hit the next and that one would hit the next... and on and on and on... and they would all fall down. This was popular before Video Games.
However, Hughes Aircraft, Dow Chemical and other Defense Contractors MADE A FORTUNE... People that sell Bandages, need Bleeding Soldiers to use them up... and then they make a Sale Restocking the Military. Helicopters, Agent Orange, Napalm, Boots, Boats and Food were all wonderful businesses to be in... Soldier Have to Eat... We can sell more MRE if there is an active war than during peacetime... To Quote Country Joe McDonald: "Come on Wall Street Don't Move Slow, Why Man this War's a Go-Go. There is Plenty Good Money to be Made, Supplying the Army with the Tools of the Trade! Just hope and Pray when they Drop the Bomb, They drop it on the Viet Cong..." Defense Contractors kept the war going for a long as possible. Nixon's Campaign Promise was to End the War but he kept it going an extra FOUR Years. If you think about it, We could have Won that War in ONE DAY. A Hydrogen Bomb on Hanoi would have Ended The War. Totally. We knew HOW to WIN since we we Dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan. BUT, we selected to Lose.
One real effect of that war was: we got a LOT of immigrants. Vietnamese Boat People and Hmong... They came here by the Thousands... and then the Country of Vietnam became a Capitalist Manufacturing Country... Go Figure! They did not like being Commie after all. In general, the refugees were nice people and no one can imagine WHY we would go to war with them...
READ MORE:
Berkeley History Mural on Amoeba Music Store Telegraph Ave - People's Park, Free Speech Movement, Anti-War Riots - PLUS! Everything I Remember about Visiting Berkeley... Gregory Vanderlaan
Berkeley History Mural on Amoeba Music Store Telegraph Ave |
I remember Going to Anti Vietnam War Protest Marches... Including a Candle Light Parade Down Main Street Los Gatos With My Parents... I'm Glad that They Raised Me to Be in Favor of Good and Opposed to Evil... READ MORE:
I Protested Against the War in Vietnam... If MORE People had Protested Earlier, Many American Soldiers Would be Alive Today... LEARN FROM HISTORY
and I protested against Johnson, Nixon and BOTH of the Bushes... Trump did not Killed Masses of Americans IN WAR... Just Destroyed the Environment... Wrecked the Economy... and Appointed an Evil Supreme Court Justice... those things kill slowly over decades. [Rereading this post a couple of years later we have had 402,000 Dead Americans from Trump's Coronavirus - SO FAR - 1/21/2021]
In response to a Facebook Post That Said:
"I was taught to support the president of the U.S. no matter what. I’ve been stuck with some crappy ones and some good ones but I would never protest them or spew hatred."
I Said: "Actually, Protesting Ended the Vietnam War, Ended the Draft and Caused Peace for 15 Years... So, March in the Streets! IT WORKS!" READ MORE:
The Reason I Teach American History on the Internet Is... I hope to AWAKEN People. For Decades I Have expressed My Opinion in Public and the Majority of People Said "You're Wrong, Greg!" and then Ten Years Later the Majority CHANGED THEIR MINDS and They Say "You're Right, Greg!" I Hope to Speed Up the Process of Global Awakening... READ MORE:
Remember: REFUSE TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE US MILITARY. Why Die For Corporate Profit? I Interviewed Hundreds of Veterans and They ALL Said It Was A Mistake...
I worked at the Welfare Office in Humboldt County, California and Talked to Thousands of Homeless People applying for Food Stamps, Medi-Cal and General Relief...
I Met Many HOMELESS VETERANS...
It Was Really Eye Opening To Hear Their Tragic Stories...
However... They All Agreed that The US Military Was a Bad Career Choice... PTSD is Very Real and Very Difficult to Help...
For One Thing, Many PTSD Soldiers Refuse any Help
FROM THE MILITARY... Too Many Lies Have Made Veterans Very Suspicious of Anything Told to Them By The Military Industrial Complex... Totally Justified Paranoia...
READ MORE:
It Seems Unbelievable Now BUT... There Were People That Thought The Vietnam War was a Great Idea.
REALLY... I'm Not Making This UP!
They Were Like, TOTALLY AFRAID of COMMIES! It seems Ridiculous Now but... In Fact... The CIA's MKULTRA Brainwashing Experiments Were Successful... Millions of Americans "Drank The Kool Aid" and DID WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO DO!
Chart of US Military Deaths - Source: DOD - WE WOKE UP AND STOPPED DYING FOR CORPORATE PROFIT READ MORE: https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2020/06/it-seems-unbelievable-now-but-there.html |
Reflection of a Boat Change Your Frame of Reference... |
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