Impact of the Vietnam War
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The Vietnam war made significant implications on the professionalism of the U.S. army. One of these implications is that it transformed how it honoured its members by using medals. Officers have for a long time utilized medals in appreciation and identification conducts that the troops were required to emulate. The medal of honour before Vietnam was the greatest award offered by the U.S. and it was specially offered to people who took the risk by going on the offensive to murder rival fighters. Nevertheless, during Vietnam, the medal method of rewarding and honour changed. Moreover, those that served were appreciated for defensive tactics that rescued the fellow troops of American instead of murdering communist fighters.
After the conclusion of the battle and in all conflicts, almost all Honor Medals have been awarded for acts that have taken home fellow liberal service members, instead of fighting to win a battle. This transition echoed shifts in America’s wider culture in the 1960s and 1970s – a move toward promoting personal independence and self-expression (Higgins, 2013). When a growing percentage of Americans accumulated an unparalleled amount of wealth in global history and unimaginable somewhere else in the world, it is believed that people at school and work required psychological fulfilment. One way of changing the military’s strategy was to relax its hold on order.
By allowing for expressions of protest, the military reacted to misconduct within its leadership. It connected the military with the mainstream global culture of individual speech through which its recruits and free agents came (Hogan, 2013). Civilians saw this new mentality in news pictures of service personnel in Vietnam wearing “Heart” or “Ambushed at Believability Gap” stickers. Also, in a conservative military, this appreciation of the person made the experience of each individual of the community appear increasingly precious, and the attempt to save those lives became even more commendable. For two main ways too, the communities of troops were a subject of concern.
First, the army substituted the tradition of delivering telegrams to families of deceased service personnel with appointments from calls from injury support officers who broke the news in person. Since then, this trend has continued in every battle. Second, prisoners of war were subjects of President Richard Nixon’s constant focus (Higgins, 2013). Nixon utilized POWs as weapons to criticize the war effort wrongly, in my opinion, as being inadequately involved with American soldiers. Reporters met with the wives and children of the inmates, first drawing more attention to the mental distress of the communities of service personnel.
Since the late years of Vietnam, the military’s insistence on particular service personnel has built a lasting legacy. American tolerance for the losses has deteriorated markedly since Vietnam. A percentage of Americans only switched toward the Vietnam War after the death toll in the U.S. reached 20,000. In Iraq, the opponent of the invasion took just 2,000 deaths for a majority of Republicans (Hogan, 2013). Now the U.S. is fighting wars in ways intended to limit fatalities and avoid capture of any troops. This injury prevention raises civilian casualties via the use of high-altitude bombs, drones, and highly armoured automobiles. This also inhibits contact between civilian and American forces, making it harder to gather support from residents in areas including Iraq and Afghanistan.
References
Higgins, A. L. (2013). Instruments of Righteousness: The Intersections of Black Power and Anti-Vietnam War Activism in the United States, 1964-1972.
Hogan, W. C. (2013). Many minds, one heart: SNCC’s dream for a new America. UNC Press Books.