Vietnam from Start to Finish

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The Vietnam War was one for the record books.  It was not only the first televised was but also known as the least successful foreign was for America.  Home viewers were reminded daily of the carnage and blood shed over seas.  The fueled them to protest the war and support bringing the troops home.  During Truman's presidency America became involved in the was.  It wasn't until 1965 did America make an offensive attack on Vietnam. Much to our troops disadvantage the Vietnamese soldiers were more aware of their surroundings and ability to blend into the native vegetation; this practice is known as Guerilla Warfare.  NBC, ABC, and CBS, pulled in over 35 million viewers combined.  After the war, "voluntary guidelines" were put in place to clarify what things were off limits to reporters, and the media, until their official release.  Due to technological advances footage of the front line could be shot and sent home to be aired on the daily news.  This accessibility to the truths of the war made it very real to the people at home in front of their TV sets.  The transition to color images highlighted the gore, and more specifically blood, of the wounded. 

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Many correspondents didn't strive for footage of just any casualties, they focused on the blood shed of American soldiers.  One of the most controversial stories of the Vietnam war was the zippo lighter story.  Essentially U.S. soldiers were filmed walking into a village, half heartily attempting to warn the peasants to evacuate (in English even though they clearly don't know the language) and then proceeding to light each hut on fire using simply a zippo lighter.  The lackadaisical approach the soldiers took horrified the audiences.  It created such a stir that many people called CBS, president Johnson included, to express their dislike of the footage. In late January, 1968, North Vietnam coordinated an offensive attack, called "the Tet Offensive", on over 100 sites in South Vietnam simultaneously.  The fighting that came about because of it lasted for 10 days after the initial attack.  The Tet Offensive was the first "superbattle" to be televised.  The effects of TV on the war were momentous.  By constantly relaying what was going on overseas, both negative and positive, they allowed for the audience to be well educated on the subject and therefore decide whether or not they support the war.  Pessimism began to become the general tone of the American citizens towards the war. For example, all evidence proved that the attack by  North Vietnam (Tet offensive) had failed but the Americans had already made up their minds that it was a loss for them.  Another controversial image was that of a South Vietnamese General shoot an untried prisoner in cold blood. 

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 This shocked viewers because South Vietnam was supposed to be on our side.  The audience was disgusted.  People's opinion of the war began to shift towards negativity and there is no doubt TV had a hand in it.  The conclusion was drawn that the Vietnam War was not going to be a win for the United States.  Walter Cronkite, a CBS news anchor, was the forerunner of the idea that the war would be lost.  He believed that it was his duty to report the complete truth to his viewers, no matter how grim it looked.  Shortly after Cronkite aired his special on his projected outcome of the war, president Johnson announced that, not only was he not running for reelection, but he was also decreasing American involvement in the war.  Seemingly to kick America when down Lieutenant Calley (of the U.S. Army) lead the My Lai massacre, after which he was convicted of mass murder.  As the war forged on protests began to increase. 

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  TV helped progress the efforts of protesters by bringing them into the spotlight.  One well known, and tragic, protest took place at Kent State University during which the National Guard opened fired on the crowd ultimately killing 4 students.  Just as TV propelled the war, it also helped to bring it to an end.  All the horror stories and gruesome images helped inform the U.S. citizens, ultimately allowing them to decide to fight to bring the troops home.  The media's loyalty is to the people, allowing them to live a free and self governing life.  The role TV played in the Vietnam War did exactly that.