Songs of Protest & Hope
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The Vietnam Conflict 1955-75 Songs of Protest & Hope The Vietnam Conflict 1955-75 Why all the fuss about Vietnam? 1! British Imperialism The British Colonial Empire in the 20th century French Control of Vietnam Dark blue = French colonies in the 1800s and 1900s 2! Vietnam and France 1857: French troops invade Vietnam 1883: All of Vietnam officially becomes a French colony in 1883. 1930: Ho Chi Minh forms the Indochinese Communist Party WW II: During WWII, Vietnam was occupied by Japanese forces. 1954: North and South Vietnamese joined forces, finally defeating the French in, establishing Vietnam as an independent state, divided in half at the 17th parallel (supposed to have free elections in 2 years.) The Vietnam Conflict 1955-75 • The Cold War (US vs. Communism) • North Vietnam communist in 1930 • Mainland China communist in 1949 • Cease-fire in Korean War in 1953 (North Korea communist) • Laos communist by 1954 • Cuba communist with Castro in 1959 • Berlin Wall built by communist East Germany in 1961 • Cuban missile crisis in 1962 Vietnam was the “line in the sand.” 3! US Military Advisors in Vietnam 1955: Eisenhower begins offering military and financial aid to South Vietnam, and secures Ngo Dinh Diem as the country’s president. 1959: Ho Chi Minh, supported by Russian and Chinese communists, declares a People’s War on the south to unite all of Vietnam. 1961-62: 3,200 to 11,300 US military advisors. 1963: JFK administration ousts Diem, but new military and civil governments cannot run the country, making it highly dependent on the US. (16,000 US military advisors now) 1964: On August 2, North Vietnamese patrol boats attack the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. On November 1, Viet Cong attack US airbase near Saigon. (23,000 US advisors now) Songs of Vietnam Era 1959-65 1959: Where Have All the Flowers Gone (Kingston Trio) 1963: Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan) 1964: The Times They Are A Changin’ (Bob Dylan) 1965: I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore (Phil Ochs) 4! Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1959 Where Have All the Flowers Gone? by Pete Seeger (recorded by The Kingston Trio) Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago? Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them, every one. When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? Where have all the young girls gone? (to young men…) Where have all the young men gone? (to soldiers…) Where have all the soldiers gone? (to graveyards…) Where have all the graveyards gone? (to flowers…) Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1962 Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan (recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary) How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? Yes'n' How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes'n' How many times must the cannonballs fly before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? Yes'n' How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? Yes'n' How many deaths will it take til he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind 5! Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1962 Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan (recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary) How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? Yes'n' How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes'n' How many times must the cannonballs fly before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? Yes'n' How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? Yes'n' How many deaths will it take til he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind US Longest Foreign Wars 6! US at War in Vietnam March 1965: President Johnson starts active US involvement with 3,500 US soldiers and 100 US fighter-bombers that descend on North Vietnam. Later that month, when the Viet Cong bomb the US embassy in Saigon, Johnson sends 20,000 more troops. May 1965: 125,000 US soldiers in Vietnam. Videotaped color television war footage begins to be broadcast in America on the 6PM news. (184,000 US troops by end of that year) 1966: US presence in Vietnam rises to 385,000 1967: By end of year, 485,000 US troops with over 16,000 dead. Martin Luther King begins to speak out against “our tragic, reckless adventure in Vietnam.” New York City (April 15, 1967) On this date, Manhattan was the site of the largest anti-war rally in US history, when 300,000 people gathered to protest President Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam conflict. 7! At the Pentagon (Oct 21, 1967) On that Saturday, 75,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to peacefully hear anti-war speeches. Afterward, 30,000 of them linked arms and marched to demonstrate outside the Pentagon, which is shown surrounded by armed MP guards. At the Pentagon (Oct 23, 1967) A bold demonstrator places pink carnations into the barrels of loaded rifles of the MP guards. Minutes later, a series of violent skirmishes erupts. 8! Songs of Vietnam Era 1965-67 1965: So Long Mom/The Folk Song Army (Tom Lehrer) I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore (Phil Ochs) Fixin-To-Die Rag (Country Joe Mac Donald) The Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire) Universal Soldier (Donovan) 1966: Turn! Turn! Turn! (The Byrds) Ballad of the Green Berets (Barry Sadler) 1967: For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield) Handsome Johnny (Richie Havens) Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1965 The Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire The eastern world, it is explodin’ Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’ You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’ You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’ And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’ But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction? Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today? If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave Take a look around you boy It’s bound to scare you boy 9! Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1965 Universal Soldier by Donovan He's five foot two and he's six feet four, he fights with missiles and with spears. He's all of thirty one, and he's only seventeen, He's been a soldier for 1000 years. He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew And he knows he shouldn't kill, and he knows he always will, Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you. And he's fighting for Canada, he's fighting for France, He's fighting for the USA And he's fighting for the Russians, and he's fighting for Japan And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way. But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau ? Without him Caesar would have stood alone. He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war, and without him all this killing can't go on. He's the universal soldier, and he really is to blame, his orders come from far away no more. They come from here and there, and you and me, And brothers, can't you see, this is not the way we'll put the end to war. Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1966 Turn! Turn! Turn! by Pete Seeger (recorded by The Byrds) To everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to reap. A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, a time to weep. To everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to build up, a time to break down. A time to dance, a time to mourn. A time to cast away stones. A time to gather stones together… A time of love, a time of hate. A time of war, a time of peace. A time you may embrace. A time to refrain from embracing… A time to gain, a time to lose.A time to rend, a time to sow. A time for love, a time for hate.A time for peace, I swear it's not too late. 10! Songs of the Vietnam Era - 1966 Ballad of the Green Berets by SSgt. Barry Sadler Fighting soldiers from the sky, fearless men who jump and die, Men who mean just what they say, the brave men of the Green Berets. Silver wings upon their chest, these are men, America's best, One hundred men, will test today but only three win the Green Beret.