Vietnam War Counterculture

Improved Essays
The press being allowed to broadcast the Vietnam War, the mental state of soldiers and when they returned from the war had a big impact on how U.S. citizens viewed the Vietnam War. It had a role that changed the outcome of the war so that America would eventually lose. The broadcasts were one of the main causes of the antiwar counterculture that formed in the United States during this time. Every day it showed the horrors of war in almost every home, causing some of the American citizens at home to lose support for the war and even treat the soldiers badly. The Vietnam war was the first war to be televised and the majority of people at home were not prepared for what they were going to see when they turned on the news at night. For example, …show more content…
soldiers in service during the Vietnam War and most of them saw more combat than any other U.S. soldier. During The Vietnam War from 1964 to 1975, there were 9,087,000 active duty military personnel. This meant that the war affected many of the people on the homefront and kept their attention on the war and the media. Also, this meant there were a lot of soldiers returning from the war that had to deal with people who did not approve of the war. It was reported that on an average, soldiers in World War Two fought forty days in four years, while in Vietnam it was reported that soldiers fought for two hundred forty days in one year. Soldiers got burned out and worn down much faster because of all the fighting they had to deal with for more than half the year. They would come home and it was very common for some to not be able to adjust back to their old lives. Flashbacks of the bloody battles would pass through their minds, triggering violent and crazed panic attacks from time to time. This made soldiers look even worse in the eyes of the people, making them to lose more support for the …show more content…
For example, there were seventy five thousand soldiers that came back that were severely disabled. Images of the wounded returning from war would flash through the minds of other soldiers going to war. New recruits would fear it would happen to them, leading them to fear death extremely. Others almost hoped for death rather than having to get severely injured. In addition, over twenty three thousand were completely disabled. New soldiers usually feared the possibility of injuries and complete disability more than they feared death when going to fight. They didn 't want to have to rely on people to take care of them and they feared the possibility of being completely helpless. New recruits would see things like this, leading them to fear the war before they were even there to witness it on their

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