Rare Photos Of The Vietnam War Most Of Us Have Never Seen
The Vietnam War originated as a struggle for independence from French colonial rule but spiraled into a bloody conflict that would span many years as the United States became involved.
It was also noteworthy for the level of access granted to journalists and photographers, who were able to relay candid, often shocking, details to the rest of the world — a significant factor in the war’s unpopularity. Let’s look back at some of the remarkable photographs captured during the Vietnam War.
War correspondents had boots on the ground.
Groundbreaking journalists such as Australian war correspondent Kate Webb, seen above, helped document the Vietnam War from many angles.
Webb was so determined to cover the war that her work actually saw her captured by North Vietnamese troops and held captive for several weeks. She was believed to be dead — her obituary was even published — but survived her ordeal and was eventually released.
The U.S. became involved because of Domino Theory.
There are numerous factors that contributed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but chief among them was the Domino Theory: The idea that if one country fell to communism, then others would follow.
At first, involvement was limited to military advisors sent by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to aid their South Vietnamese counterparts. However, under the presidency of John F. Kennedy and later Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. involvement escalated significantly.
It became a political boondoggle.
Senator Edward Kennedy can be seen here visiting a field hospital in South Vietnam. By this point in the conflict, U.S. forces were heavily involved in the fighting.
Stateside, support for U.S. involvement in the war started to wane, with many Americans seeing no point in sending U.S. citizens to die in a far-away conflict.
It coincided with a major social movement.
The hippie movement can’t be attributed to Vietnam protests, nor can Vietnam protests be attributed to hippies, but it’s safe to say that the political climate in the mid to late 1960s was changing rapidly.
Students, intellectuals, civil rights leaders, and veterans of prior conflicts criticized the war and the draft, which disproportionately affected the working class.
It wreaked havoc on the Vietnamese populace.
Vietnamese civilians were often left with little more than their belongings — and sometimes less — after battles that took place in their neighborhoods.
In some cases, such as the infamous My Lai Massacre, U.S. troops even targeted civilians. My Lai was initially covered up, but when it was finally exposed in 1969, it further fuelled anti-war sentiment.
The draft was unpopular.
World War II, which had taken place scarcely 20 years earlier, also featured a draft. But military service in World War II was widely accepted by the U.S. public, whereas Vietnam was never particularly popular.
The draft lottery, introduced in 1969, attempted to make the system fairer, but the draft remained controversial. Americans protested by burning draft cards, seeking conscientious objector status, or even fleeing to Canada.
The Viet Cong was a constant threat.
Viet Cong guerillas were able to inflict heavy losses on U.S. troops, despite the balance of military might falling squarely on the U.S. side.
Because the Viet Cong was so familiar with their surroundings and were known to employ women and children, U.S. and South Vietnamese troops were vigilant. Here, South Vietnamese troops are seen arresting people believed to be working for the Viet Cong.
Chemical warfare was utilized.
The advent of modern chemicals, including chemical defoliants like Agent Orange, meant that the U.S. had new options to face the enemy.
Between 1962 and 1971, millions of gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed over Vietnam, which led to devastating environmental and health consequences. Both Vietnamese civilians and American veterans suffered long-term health effects.
Other countries also played a role.
With the capitalist United States supporting South Vietnam, North Vietnam was in turn supported by communist allies in the Soviet Union and China.
The Soviets provided the North Vietnamese with weapons, aircraft and technical expertise, while China supplied manpower and logistical support. Tensions between China and Russia often meant that their aid was uncoordinated and out of sync.
Richard Nixon introduced “Vietnamization.”
Vietnamization was, in effect, a strategy to gradually withdraw U.S. troops from the unpopular conflict while saving face.
The theory was set into motion, with U.S. troops decreasing and increased responsibility falling on South Vietnamese forces. However, this tilted the balance in favor of North Vietnam, and Nixon responded by expanding the war into Cambodia and Laos.
The expansion of the conflict led to instability.
Nixon’s strategy of winding down hostilities in Vietnam while expanding them in Cambodia and Laos was an attempt to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines, but it yielded mixed results.
The 1970 Cambodian Campaign failed to destroy Viet Cong bases and led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, while efforts in Laos also failed to have much effect.
The U.S. government was deceptive.
It wasn’t until the once-classified Pentagon Papers were released in 1971 that ordinary Americans had a full scope of the conflict.
The explosive document revealed that multiple presidential administrations had misled the public about both the war’s public image and the degree of U.S. involvement. They also showed that policymakers privately believed the war was unwinnable, yet insisted otherwise in public.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973.
The Accords were signed in Paris in January of 1973 and officially ended direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam while also mandating a ceasefire and the withdrawal of American troops.
Despite what appeared to be a promising agreement, the fragile peace soon collapsed and the ceasefire fell apart. Without U.S. support, South Vietnamese troops were overwhelmed by North Vietnamese advances.
Saigon fell in 1975.
The final major flashpoint of the war was the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, which marked the end of the war.
Thousands of South Vietnamese citizens and American personnel were left in a desperate scramble to flee the fallen city.
Life became even more difficult in South Vietnam.
After the Fall of Saigon and full U.S. withdrawal, South Vietnamese citizens faced harsh retribution in many cases. Thousands were sent to re-education camps to endure forced labor and indoctrination.
Those with the means to do so fled the country entirely, often in overcrowded and dangerous boats. These “boat people” became a humanitarian issue for countries in the West.
U.S. veterans dealt with after-effects.
Many American veterans returned home from the conflict with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which had been referred to by different terms, including shell-shock, in prior wars.
In many cases, veterans received little recognition or support for fighting in an unpopular war. This in turn led to unemployment and substance abuse for those who weren’t able to reintegrate into society.
The war had a lingering impact on American politics.
An unpopular war meant unpopular presidents, and both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were widely seen as villains at best and war criminals at worst by a war-weary American public.
Congress passed the War Powers Act of 1973 as a response, which limited presidential authority in military conflicts, and the knock-on effects reshaped American foreign policy.
Vietnam eventually reunified.
The long road to reunification included many hardships for citizens of both North and South Vietnam as they struggled to rebuild their war-torn home.
In the 1980s, economic reforms like Doi Moi helped Vietnam transition to a more market-oriented system. This spurred economic growth and helped the country recover.
It marked a first for the United States.
The Vietnam War had once been seen as winnable for the United States, but this hope quickly collapsed — even as more and more U.S. forces poured into the country.
In the end, Vietnam was the first major conflict in which the U.S. failed to achieve its objectives. This was a major hit to both U.S. morale and the country’s standing on the world stage.
There hasn’t been a U.S. military draft since.
Because of the major societal impact of Vietnam, and the embarrassing way that it ended, U.S. policymakers adopted a different strategy moving forward.
While there have been U.S. military conflicts since Vietnam, they’ve been approached with greater caution as successive presidents have been reluctant to get into more prolonged conflicts. Vietnam also marked the last time to date that the United States has imposed a military draft on its citizens.
