Vietnam War

           The Vietnam War was Americas longest war. The war started in the early 1950s when when the French colony vietnam split into the southern democracy driven part and the communist state in the north. In 1964, North Viatnemese patrol boats fired on U.S. destroyers. This prompted the U.S. to retaliate destroying 25 bots and an oil depot. America was not ready for the Viet-Cong guerilla style of fighting. United states lost more than 58,000 citizens, while vietnam casualties are un known it was estimated to be in the range of 1 to 3 million.
          Along with being the longest war of American history, it was also the first televised war. This however, was detrimental to support in America over the war. By the height of the war, ABC, CBS, and NBC were all airing broadcasts showing war highlights nightly. These networks had a combined audience of 35 million per night. though these broadcasts were favorable to U.S. policy they showed the overall horrors of war in general.
           The networks broadcast images of  US soldiers charging into villages, burning down homes, and blasting away at viatnemese citizens. Daily, reports of dead viatnemese and images showing their burned and bloody lifeless bodies aired. The most sought after footage however was that of wounded American GIs with blood flowing out of their veins. These bloody scenes often featured dramatic close ups with flames and blood. These images proved that America was not winning the war. NBC news vice president said " This is not Viatnemese war, but an American war fought in Asia"


      
      Photo Credit: Eddie Adams
          The soldiers of vietnam were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to take the lives of the U.S. soldiers. This made it virtually impossible to defeat them. To remedy this, soldiers would go through villages and just destroy everything. These actions made it hard for people of morals to agree with whatb was going on overseas. The last draw however was when a South Vietnamese General was caught on film shooting a prisoner in the head, execution style. This was the worlds first televised death. Robert Northshield, executive producer of NBC Huntley -Brinkley Report aired the film. he later acknowledged, "It was the strongest stuff American viewers had ever seen".
          Viewers were horrified. More than a thousand of them called NBC to complain about the distasteful footage. They were mad that it aired during a time when children could see it. The film had a huge impact on the attitudes of the American public. A Washington Post Vietnam reporter named Don Oberdorfer said the scene "seemedto confirm the suspicion that this is a wrong war". Television changed public opinion.
          Walter Cronkite, was the man responsible for ending the war. Walter was an Anchor for CBS, and also the most watched in the counrty. Cronkite decided he owed it to the people who watched him every night, what was going on in Vietnam. Afte rseeing first hand  what was going on, Cronkite said "The only way out of the war is to negotiate-not as victors but as defenders of democracy". Rather than continuing the sacrifice of human lives, he said American officials should treaty and leave Vietnam . After hearing this, the President Lyndon Johnson said" If I lost Cronkite, Ive lost the war." Opinion polls proved this. It was 1 of the most dramatic shifts of public opinion in history.
          Television images were a major force in turning Americans against the war. The depiction of the inhumanity of the soldies repelled viewers. These images made people willing to say that they had been supporting a hideous war for too long. Television brought the worst aspects of the war into the living room of America. It did its job well. TV news let Americans know exactly what their soldiers were doing half way around the world. With this info, they chose not to continue.