Effect on the United States
In the Vietnam War, 58,000 Americans were killed. One out of every ten Americans were either killed or injured in Vietnam. There are still more than 1,700 service members still missing in action (MIA) today. More than 2 in a half million Americans served in Vietnam, out of all of these people, one third of them were drafted. Not only men served in the war, there was 7484 women that served too. Eight of these women nurses were killed, one of them from direct combat, was hit by a mortar shell in a field hospital. Not everything happened in Vietnam though. In the United States, there were many protest against the war and also the draft. The war also lead to a lot of distrust with the government and what they were telling us, which caused a lot more problems.
Men that served in the war either volunteered or were drafted. Although only a third of the people were drafted, out of the 2 in a half million. The draft was also marked as unfair on the people who were picked. People who served in the war had a average age of 21 years old, compared to WW2, the age was 24. The average soldier saw 240 days of combat, compared to the WW2 average of 40 days a year. Vietnam soldiers also only had 5 days of leave for one year. Also, one out of ten soldiers were either killed or wounded
Many citizens back in the U.S thought the war was a pointless thing that only resulted in more dead soldiers every day, and was costing the U.S too much money. Many of the protesters were people who served in the war, but not all serves members were against the war. Many people truly did not see the point of fighting another country's war.
Vietnam was one of the first wars to be televised around the world. This effected the U.S by showing the people back home what was really going on in the war. This might not sound like a major problem, but it ended making the war look bad. From the beginning of the war, people were being told that there was progress happening, but, when the Tet offensive happened, and the cameras started rolling, people started to realize the the government wasn't saying the whole truth about what was going on.
Not all people in the United States were against the war. Many people remained patriotic and, if they didn't go and fight in the war, helped support it any way they could. Some people were not against it or for it, there were different groups made up, either protesting for or against the war. Along with the racial tensions of the time, people were separated whether they supported it or not.