What was Vietnam like during the war?

At times, Vietnam resembled “a hated, dreary struggle” that dragged on and on with no end in sight. Since large-scale warfare was rare, soldiers could go for weeks without encountering enemy forces, but far from being a respite, the quiet only heightened the tension.

Did citizens support the Vietnam War?

Despite the growing antiwar movement, a silent majority of Americans still supported the Vietnam effort. Many admitted that involvement was a mistake, but military defeat was unthinkable. When Richard Nixon was inaugurated in January 1969, the nation was bitterly divided over what course of action to follow next.

How bad was the Vietnam War?

More than two decades of violent conflict had inflicted a devastating toll on Vietnam’s population: After years of warfare, an estimated 2 million Vietnamese were killed, while 3 million were wounded and another 12 million became refugees.

What is the truth about the Vietnam War?

Vietnam is currently among the fastest-growing economies of Asia. The truth about the war is always found in the hearts and minds of those who endured it. The ‘American War’ for the Vietnamese is still a haunting reminder from the past.

Was the Vietnam War just another American War?

For these people, this war is not the Vietnam War: they call it the ‘American War’. There is a whole generation of people with vivid memories of days and nights of war. For a large number of Vietnamese, the war was just another USA campaign, to serve its own interest.

What was the American War like for Vietnam’s Generation?

For members of Nguyen’s generation, the American War was one violent interlude amid several decades of fear and conflict, falling between a fight for independence from the French beginning in the 1940s and a month-long border war with China in 1979. Vu Van Vinh, now 66, was five years old when the French left their former colony in Vietnam in 1954.

What was life like in the south during the Vietnam War?

In the South, by contrast, people had access to international news on the radio and popular ballads mourned the sadness of war—perhaps reflecting more ambivalent attitudes there. Nor was there any North Vietnamese equivalent to the organized and highly visible anti-war movement in the United States.