By the 1960s, the United States was deep in the Cold War with the communist Soviet Union. During this time period the two superpowers were racing to expand their political ideologies of capitalism and communism across the globe. The United States felt it was their obligation to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia with Truman's policy of containment. In 1965, the United States sent troops to South Vietnam to actively fight against communism. In order to support this deployment, a military draft was enacted. The draft angered many college students. Students observed that they were legally old enough to fight and die, but were not permitted to vote or drink alcohol. Others argued that the North Vietnamese were fighting a war to rid themselves of American and European aggressors. Many innocent Vietnamese were caught in the crossfire. Overall, the Vietnam War created tension within the American public.
"If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam." –Martin Luther King Jr., 1967 |
"Why defend a society that cannot even allow its citizens to honor the very people who keep it free?" –U.S. Marine "The President says that we are defending freedom in Vietnam. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of the Vietnamese." –Paul Potter, April 17,1965, March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam |