Vietnam War

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January 9, 1962 – The first batch of Rainbow Herbicides arrives in Vietnam

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Give the US Army some credit: their solution to the fact that they were ill-trained for fighting in jungles was a simple one. They’d simply get rid of the jungle. While there was some earlier testing of herbicides in 1961, it wasn’t until 1962 that large scale deployment of the Rainbow Herbicides – Agents Pink, White, Purple, Green, Blue and (most infamously) Orange – began. Over the course of ten years, until 1971, nearly 20 million gallons of assorted herbicides would be used.

The policy was largely a failure at its stated goal, but it did do wonders for the bottom lines of various military contractors and led to a boom in birth defects among the children of soldiers and civilians exposed to it on both sides in the years to follow the war.

UC-123B Ranch Hand spraying 1962.jpg
By USAF – Scan from Dana Bell, Air War over Vietnam, Volume IV. Arms and Armour Press, London, Harrisburg (PA), 1984, ISBN 0853686351, p. 11, cites U.S. Air Force as source., Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Orange Crush — R.E.M.

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August 5, 1964 — The first Anti-Vietnam War protest in Australia

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It started off small – although by 1964 standards, 2000 people gathered outside the American Consulate in Prahran, Victoria probably seemed like a lot more. There’d been anti-war and anti-nuclear protests before now, but this was the first one that was specifically about the Vietnam War. Mounted in response to U.S. aerial attacks on North Vietnam in the wake of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, it called less for an end to the war than for a re-convening of the Geneva Conference.

In the years that followed, the Vietnam War would become less and less popular with the Australian public. The numbers at protests would grow, especially after the introduction of conscription in November of that year. And more than eight years later, a newly elected government would announce the withdrawal of the last Australian troops in Vietnam.

As mentioned in:

Long Run — Redgum

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January 2, 1968 -– Battle is joined at Khe Sanh

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On the evening of January 2, six men were captured outside the fences of the US Marine base at Khe Sanh, in the Quang Tri province of Vietnam, apparently performing reconnaissance for a planned North Vietnamese attack.

A defector carried information about the attacks to the US forces on January 20, and the attacks themselves began the following day. The US and allied forces quickly joined battle, but were surrounded and besieged. For the next two months, the siege went on, until American forces broke through and relieved the base in March.

The American forces recorded a total of 730 soldiers killed in action, with a further 2,642 wounded and 7 more missing in action. Casualties on the North Vietnamese side are estimated as between 10,000 and 15,000.

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March 25, 1969 — John and Yoko stage their first Bed-In

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After getting married on March 20, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono proceeded to have possibly the strangest honeymoon ever.

From their room in the Amsterdam Hilton (room 902, the Presidential Suite), they held a series of press conferences each day from March 25 to March 31. Between 9am and 9pm each day, they invited the press into their room, where the couple discussed peace (especially in regards to Vietnam) while sitting in their bed. The wall above them was decorated with signs reading “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace”.

It’s unclear exactly what effect, if any, this all had on the outcome of the Vietnam War. If nothing else, Lennon’s astute use of his celebrity to get his message out certainly helped to raise the issue’s profile, although it’s arguable he was preaching almost entirely to the converted – by 1969, pretty much everyone already had an opinion about Vietnam…

John Lennon en zijn echtgenote Yoko Ono op huwelijksreis in Amsterdam. John Lenn, Bestanddeelnr 922-2302.jpg
By Eric Koch / Anefo – <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external free” href=”http://proxy.handle.net/10648/ab63599e-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84″>http://proxy.handle.net/10648/ab63599e-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84</a>, CC0, Link

As mentioned in:

The Ballad of John and Yoko — The Beatles

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September 2, 1969 — Hồ Chí Minh dies

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The first President of Vietnam, who died on the 24th anniversary of his accession to that role, Ho Chi Minh is best known in the west as the leader of North Vietnam during the early parts of the Vietnam War. In particular, he was responsible for the move away from traditional military engagements towards the guerilla tactics that eventually (as he predicted) wore the US down.

Ho Chi Minh was 79 years old when he died, and had lived through French, Japanese and then French occupation again in his life. He was a staunch communist, abandoning his birth name of Nguyễn Sinh Cung in token of his ideals, and a firm believer in an independent Vietnam.

After his death, his body was embalmed, and has been on display in a mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi ever since, even though his will requested that he be cremated.

Ho Chi Minh 1946.jpg
By Unknown –
This file has been extracted from another file: Ho Chi Minh 1946 and signature.jpg
, Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Done Too Soon — Neil Diamond

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November 12, 1971 — The story of the My Lai Massacre goes public

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The facts of the matter are distressingly simple: United States Army troops, under the immediate command of 2nd Lieutenant William Calley, entered the village of Son My in Vietnam on March 16, 1968. They killed an unknown number of people in that village, generally estimated to be between 100 and 400. Some of them were assaulted or raped before their deaths; almost all of them were non-combatants.

The army covered it up. An investigative committe headed by one Colin Powell whitewashed the incident, and so it might have remained, had not some of the men in the unit (and others who knew them), made great efforts to bring it to the attention of the American government and media. Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh began investigating the story nearly a year after the events of the massacre, and eventually formed a fairly full picture of it, largely from conversations with Calley. The story was published in 33 newspapers on November 12, 1969. It was immediately controversial, and strongly increased opposition to the war in America. Hersh won a Pullitzer in 1970 for his efforts; Calley was convicted of murder in 1971 for his. He was the only person convicted of any crimes in relation to the massacre.

Lists of names and ages of victims.
By Adam Jones Adam63 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

As mentioned in:

The Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley — Terry Nelson

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August 22, 1972 — Jane Fonda visits North Vietnam

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Jane Fonda, daughter of Henry Fonda, and a well-respected actress in her own right, was also a prominent anti-war activist during the Vietnam War. She went further than most others did, though. She visited Hanoi, meeting with North Vietnamese officials and American prisoners of war. On August 22, 1972, she made a broadcast of her impressions from her visit, and was photographed wearing an NVA uniform.

These facts are undeniable. Pretty much everything else regarding her visit is a matter of considerable controversy. A persistent rumour states that she handed notes passed to her by POWs to the NVA, leading to the torture of those prisoners. However, the prisoners actually named in this rumour (circulated as an email), have denied that she did this – and made it clear that they are no fans of her actions, either.

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November 13, 1982 — The Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC is dedicated

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A three-part memorial located in Washington DC, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial consists of three parts.

The largest is the Memorial Wall, on which the names of more than 50,000 men and woman who died or went missing in action are listed chronologically in order of death, from 1955 to 1975. The other two are a sculpture called The Three Soldiers and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

The memorial was opened in 1982, and represented an important milestone in America’s long healing process after the chaos and death of the Vietnam War. It remains a popular tourist attraction today.

Names of Vietnam Veterans.jpg
By Hu Totya – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

As mentioned in:

Civil War — Guns and Roses