Vietnam War Final

Directions: Do one of the following essay questions and submit your response on or before May 12-15, 2008. The exam may be e-mailed to me as an attachment or deposited in my university mail box in the Department of Social Sciences in 411 Plumb Hall. The exam should be no less than five pages in length and conform to the standards associated with a term paper or other formal written project.

1. Vietnam was one of the most divisive wars in American history. What is the legacy of Vietnam? What lessons, if any, can policymakers glean from the conflict? Even more important, should statesmen even consider Vietnam and the legacy of the war before embarking on foreign adventures in the future?

2. My Lai was the worst war crime committed in Vietnam by the U.S. Army. Did Lieutenant William Calley receive a fair trial? Why didn’t he and his men spend any time in prison? What happened in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai  and why did Calley and his men escape the bar of justice?

3. Much has been written about the American failure in Southeast Asia, but how did the war change North Vietnam? How were Vietnamese veterans treated? How did the Vietnamese Communist Party respond to the daunting task of rebuilding a unified nation following the war?

4. Most Americans focus their attention on the American period of the war; however, how did Richard Nixon’s expansion of the conflict cause continued havoc in the region? What price did the peoples in Laos and Cambodia eventually pay after the Americans disengaged?

5. Vietnam was the first televised war. Following the American defeat, many Americans would claim that the media lost the war. Was that true? How would you evaluate the media in Vietnam? What was the credibility gap and how did it exacerbated the tensions between the military and the fourth estate?

6. Conservatives, many of whom never served in Vietnam, have claimed that anti-war protestors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Do you agree? What role did the antiwar movement play, if any, in the American failure in Vietnam? Did they give aid and comfort to our nation's enemies?