Vietnam War Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes in the US’s history is partaking in the Vietnam War. With the use of new warfare and an unknown terrain, the US was vulnerable for the first time. The United States soldiers were seen as monsters, baby killers, and other horrible names, along with the fact that the government was lying to the citizens didn’t help their cause. Art during this era was very important especially for the soldiers, they were able to paint or draw their experience in Vietnam. During this war the United States was extremely unprepared. “[The] WWII victory gave us high confidence that would could beat a nationalist insurgency” (Plessis, Nick). They went in thinking that this would be a quick war and an easy victory, they were proven wrong quickly. “The Vietnam War was the longest war in American history and the most unpopular war in the 20th century” (History, Digital). People started to question why the United States was across the world fighting …show more content…
During the Tet Offensive (when the Vietcong soldiers attacked the US during the Tet holiday) people really got fired up about the anti-war movement. The Vietnam Veterans Against the war were soldiers (mostly crippled) who threw the medals away that they won during the war in protest of the war, this got people's attention (History.com Staff). They would call the soldiers risking their lives in Vietnam for an unnecessary war “baby killers” and “monsters” along with other harsh names. The Vietcong were hidden amongst villages, hidden in plain sight. The United States didn’t know the regular citizens from the enemy so in order to attempt to win they would have massive slaughters of towns, unfortunately it was a tactic that the United States government saw it was the only way to attempt to win the war. The Vietnam War is the first war the United State’s didn’t have a victory