23. Post war america

Why was it so unpopular domestically and internationally?

• Vietnam war lasted almost twenty years. At first, the war in Vietnam was presented to the people of America as war for democracy, war needed to be done to help French allies in Indochina. Everybody believed the war will be swift and short lived - but the opposite turned out to be the truth.

• As the war took longer and longer time, even though the administrations were changing, American people stopped to understand the reasons of the war; and frankly, they are unclear. It looks like one of the crucial reasons for war in the later years were pride and fear of embarrassment: U.S. government didn’t want the world to watch, how is American superpower defeated by poor Vietnam commie peasants. Meanwhile American people had to send their sons to war - and watch them return crippled or in caskets.

• The rest of the world didn’t fully understand Vietnam war either. For them it was the showcase of United States government usurping the role of the world cop. The images of crying, scared Vietnamese children, being afraid, they will be burned by napalm like their parents and relatives, made also their negative impact both in America and in the rest of the world.

William Laws Calley

• March 1968

• he is an American war criminal and a former US Army officer

• he was convicted by court-martial (military court) of murdering 22 unarmed Vietnamese civilians My Lai Massacre

• this happened during Vietnam War

• he was released to house arrest under orders by President Richard Nixon (three days after his conviction)

• a new trial was ordered by the 5th Circuit Federal court (Georgia)

• Supreme Court denied certiorari (a court process to seek judicial review of decision of a lower court)

• his initial conviction faced widespread public opposition

• Calley was singled out as the sole officer convinced to the massacre

WHAT WERE NAPALM AND AGENT ORANGE

• Napalm the aluminum salt or soap of a mixture of naphthenic and acids, used to thicken gasoline for use as an incendiary in flamethrowers and fire bombs.Napalm is an enormously destructive weapon. It's very sticky and can adhere to the skin even after ignition, causing terrible burns. Because napalm burns so hot, slight contact with the substance can result in second-degree burns, eventually causing scars called keloids.

• Agent Orange Agent Orange was a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed from 1962 to 1971 during the Vietnam War to remove the leaves of trees and other dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover. The name “Agent Orange” came from the orange identifying stripe used on the 55-gallon drums in which it was stored. The diseases now on the VA's Agent Orange list are ischemic heart disease, lung and trachea cancers, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Parkinson's Disease, type 2 diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, AL amyloidosis, chronic B-cell leukemia, chloracne, early-onset peripheral ... It causes changes in gene expression!