Why were there protests against America's involvement in Vietnam and how wer

Question:Big question. There have been many books written on this subject. You should try to find some of them for the details, but........

As one who experienced that time and the protests that took place, let me say that many of us believed that what we were doing in Vietnam was a betrayal of American ideals and values. We were supporting a corrupt and unpopular dictatorship in South Vietnam. We were preventing free and honest elections, because had they been open and honest, our perceived enemy, Ho Chi Minh, would have won. We were acting as colonial surrogates for the European imperial powers that had been there before us, and the US should not be involved in colonial/imperialist activities such as that. Finally, we were waging war on a people who had never injured us and who in many cases were not involved in the war effort against us, innocent villagers and farmers who just wanted to be left alone. There were many other issues; some people thought the whole war was just an excuse for military contractors to get rich. Many thought there was a racist element, that we were willing to inflict such suffering on the Vietnamese people because they are Asian, non-white. And many people just were opposed to the use of violence for any reason. That's just scratching the surface.

The protests took many forms. Public demonstrations and marches were probably the most common and visible, and many of these took place on college campuses, but the biggest one took place in Washington DC. Demonstrators also did things like taking over draft offices and destroying the records held there. Many young men of draft age burned their draft ID cards in protest. Many went to Canada to escape the draft. Some violent acts took place; a laboratory at the University of Wisconsin that was doing military research was blown up by a home-made bomb and an innocent person was killed. Some people even refused to pay their taxes because their tax money was being used for the war. And of course, some draft protestors, and other protestors, went to jail as part of their personal protests.

The worst part of it was when armed National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970. Four students were killed. I think that was the turning point in the protest movement and the time at which many people began to believe that our involvement in Vietnam was not worth tearing the country apart.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Big question. There have been many books written on this subject. You should try to find some of them for the details, but........

As one who experienced that time and the protests that took place, let me say that many of us believed that what we were doing in Vietnam was a betrayal of American ideals and values. We were supporting a corrupt and unpopular dictatorship in South Vietnam. We were preventing free and honest elections, because had they been open and honest, our perceived enemy, Ho Chi Minh, would have won. We were acting as colonial surrogates for the European imperial powers that had been there before us, and the US should not be involved in colonial/imperialist activities such as that. Finally, we were waging war on a people who had never injured us and who in many cases were not involved in the war effort against us, innocent villagers and farmers who just wanted to be left alone. There were many other issues; some people thought the whole war was just an excuse for military contractors to get rich. Many thought there was a racist element, that we were willing to inflict such suffering on the Vietnamese people because they are Asian, non-white. And many people just were opposed to the use of violence for any reason. That's just scratching the surface.

The protests took many forms. Public demonstrations and marches were probably the most common and visible, and many of these took place on college campuses, but the biggest one took place in Washington DC. Demonstrators also did things like taking over draft offices and destroying the records held there. Many young men of draft age burned their draft ID cards in protest. Many went to Canada to escape the draft. Some violent acts took place; a laboratory at the University of Wisconsin that was doing military research was blown up by a home-made bomb and an innocent person was killed. Some people even refused to pay their taxes because their tax money was being used for the war. And of course, some draft protestors, and other protestors, went to jail as part of their personal protests.

The worst part of it was when armed National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970. Four students were killed. I think that was the turning point in the protest movement and the time at which many people began to believe that our involvement in Vietnam was not worth tearing the country apart.

Students lead much of the protests. One form: they would burn their draft cards publically. They would also march through cities holding signs, then assemble somewhere and give anti-war speeches.
One protest method: students weren't drafted, so students simply remained students and kept their deferments. This didn't end the draft, but it change the demographics of who was drafted: the black and the poor and not the white and the well-educated.
Kent State was a memorable protest. Students were fired upon and some died.
Draftees might flee to other countries, such as Canada and Sweden, which openly accepted them and did not support the war.
The democratic convention of 68 was site of a significant protest.
Jane Fonda was perhaps the best known of those protesting. She traveled to N Vietnam and met with leaders. Others of her persuasion did the same. John Kerry, the recent candidate, testified before Congress.
The peace sign--circle with inverted Y--was either invented at this time or certainly got its widest use. People would put such signs in their house windows, bumper stickers on their cars, or wear such symbols as jewelry, such as necklaces, bracelets, lapel pins. The Iraqi war has revived the use of this symbol--but surprisingly little. (And I live in a very anti-Bush community.)

Some people thought (and some still do) that our involvement in Vietnam was wrong.
Some thought that there was no way to justify our involvement there since it wasn't a matter they thought we should be part of. Others believed that peace was the only option.

Protest took on a large number of forms. Some fled the country, some organized marches, some staged violent protests.
There were some that acted as "conscientious objectors" and refused to go into battle when they were drafted. Many of those ended up in jail.

Much of what was said above is true but it leaves out the biggest component. After about five years of the war wearing down the patience of the US public, returning veterans got into the protests, and in large numbers. It wasn't until people started seeing that returning soldiers agreed with the anti-war movement that the public itself started lifting up its sleepy distracted head and paying attention.

That is about the phase we're at now with our latest military blunder.

It is doubtful that young Americans have enough interest in this to protest the Iraq mistake, until they are drafted.

Which should begin shortly after McCain is anointed.

No peace without justice.

_____

and a big part of protesting your idiotic wars is not caring about thumbs down on answers.

Panama Joe, below has it exactly right. If I had a dollar for every twenty something who's told me he or she supports the war, but that they don't feel like they have to join the army, I could retire.

I say screw these young apathetic people. They are the root of the problem. The ultimate ME generation...

To put it simply, the war was between Northern Vietnam and Southern Vietnam. It had nothing directly to do with the United States. Troops were sent over there basically as the police of the world. Protesters felt we had no business being over there. And then lots of American men started being killed and it turned into a huge uproar. Like today, protesters supported the troops, they didn't support the war. The draft was very scary. Men were just randomly picked based on their birthday and saw it as a death sentence. Colleges became greatly involved in protests because it gave a younger generation a voice, and most men that were drafted were college age.

The first answer above gave great examples of protests.

There is a stubborn refusal to admit one obvious fact about public opinion on the Vietnam war:
The strongest supporters of US policy were the younger voters, those under 30s.

Another fact ignored, dismissed, denied:
In 1968, the year of TET, the heaviest, bloodiest fighting, even the Democratic convention, the public support for ending the war was a minority view, 24%.

The majority view was to increase US involvement and more aggressively pursue the fight.

http://www.seanet.com/~jimxc/Politics/Mi...

The protesters against the war were seen as being unhappy with America in general until Nixon ended the college deferments. Up until then, only poor, under-educated men were being taken for Vietnam. if you could be a college student, and stay a college student, you could avoid the draft until you were too old to be taken!

Once the sons of the middle class started going to war, the war pretty much ended. Nixon acknowledged that when he lost the middle class's support for the war, then he had to end it.

Today, if the children of the middle class were to be sent to Iraq, Bush's war would end in a week, and he'd be impeached.