Conflict Surrounding “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” The song “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” is mostly associated with the Vietnam War, however, its lyrics make no reference to any specific war. The Vietnam War began in 1954 when communist North Vietnam, backed by China and the Soviet Union, with their allies in South Vietnam called the Viet Cong wanted to unite their country under a single communist rule. The Southern Vietnamese that were not a part of the Viet Cong, on the other hand, wanted to preserve their government, so they allied with the United States and other anti-communist allies. The United States did not get very involved in the war until 1961 when the military decided to bring in a large number of troops. The United States and Southern Vietnam were ill prepared for the guerrilla fighting techniques of the Viet Cong. The United States military had a difficult time distinguishing the Viet Cong from normal civilians. The war continued on in Vietnam for the United States until 1973 when South Vietnam fell to the North in April 1975. Thousands of the
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The music did not escalate the crisis because the crisis was more or less over when the song was released, however, it did voice the opinions of many people about the war. The song became very popular because so many people were able to relate to it after the Vietnam War. Thousands of people lost a family member: a husband, a son, father, or a fiancé and learned from a letter or military personnel what had become of their loved one. Hundreds of thousands of people had their loved one return, but they were never the same. It was almost as bad as losing them all together because of the PTSD, loss of limbs, or mental changes that their loved one had to face after returning to American soil. Many soldiers can be taken out of the war, but that does not stop the wars raging on inside their
The music did not escalate the crisis because the crisis was more or less over when the song was released, however, it did voice the opinions of many people about the war. The song became very popular because so many people were able to relate to it after the Vietnam War. Thousands of people lost a family member: a husband, a son, father, or a fiancé and learned from a letter or military personnel what had become of their loved one. Hundreds of thousands of people had their loved one return, but they were never the same. It was almost as bad as losing them all together because of the PTSD, loss of limbs, or mental changes that their loved one had to face after returning to American soil. Many soldiers can be taken out of the war, but that does not stop the wars raging on inside their