An Army Nurse Remembers

______

NAME CLASS DATE

Grace Barolet O’Brien served as a nurse in an army hospital in Vietnam from January 1966 to August 1967. Like many others, she had to ignore her emotions in order to survive the constant stress under which she lived and worked.

As you read, try to visualizethe conditionsin the makeshiftmedicalunits set up in Vietnam.

went into the Quonset hut and felt overwhelmed of responsibility in caring for the patients. I even I seeing all those guys either on stretchers or the tually ended up working on the surgical floors all small metal beds. My first recollection was of old, the time, The overflow from ICU would come funky green fatigues that had mud all over them over to us, and I used to always think, “God, are and those brown gauze bandages that were all they going to be really hairy cases? Am I going to bloody. I remember feeling almost in shock. I didn’t be able to do a good enough job?” know what to do and said something like, “Well, I remember one lieutenant who had a bad what should we do?” I was told to help take vital belly wound. He really hurt an awful lot. It was signs. . . , Later, I was assigned to a young soldier very difficult for him to get out of bed. Once I got who was on a stretcher. He was unconscious, and very aggravated with him and told him that he I was supposed to take his blood pressure. They better get out of that bed or he was never going to told me he would probably die, and all I could get better. He was very angry with me. Days, or think of was, “What in the world am I taking his weeks later, whatever it was, he was up and blood pressure for?” I didn’t want to accept the walking around and doing well. His last evening fact he was going to die. That night I came back to on the ward, he asked me if he could walk me out our villa and cried, because it just overwhelmed to the bus that took us back to our quarters. I’ll me. Somehow I got through that first night. never forget him giving me a big hug and saying, If there were casualties coming in on the heli “I’m so glad you got mad at me and made me get copter and we were crowded, I’d either send a out of that bed. I’m really grateful, because I don’t runner up to ER to find out what was coming in, or think I would’ve ever gotten out of it.” one of the corpsmen would cover and I’d go myself. I really tried to spend time getting to know Sometimes the doctors came running down to the the guys and listening to them. I remember wards and would say to us, “Who can we move feeling that they had been hurt so much out in the out of here? We’ve got so many coming in—we field, I didn’t want to hurt them any more. I need to make room for them.’ We nurses would found myself saying things like, “Now, I don’t go around and say, “So-and-so is stabilized. I want to hurt you. so let me know if it hurts and think he can be air-evacked.” We had a great deal I’ll stop.” From A PIECE OFMYHEARTby Keith Walker. Copyright © 1985 by Keith Walker. Published by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. How have women in war been portrayed in popular media in television pro grams and movies such as G.I.Jane? Do you think this is an accurate picture of women in war?

2. The United States paid tribute to women who served by erecting a statue in their honor next to the Vietnam Memorial. How else might the government acknowledge women’s contributions to the war?

Chapter 31 Survey Edition Primary Source Activity • 37 Chapter 21 Modern American History Edition NAME CLASS DATE

(continued,) PRIMARY SOURCE ACTIVITY

LBJ Withdraws from the Race Increasing frustrations about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam created a turbulent C climate at home during a time of great social change. In 1968 LBJ announced a H decision he had thought about for a long time—not to seek reelection, in the A hopes that his decision would lead to peace at home and abroad. p T As you read this excerpt from President Johnson’s memoirs, think the E about assumptions R that may have led to LBJ’sdecision to withdraw from the presidential race.

hen I took the oath as President in January At thispoint, thereisjust onenear certainty W 1965 to begin my first full term in office, I about the ‘68elections.. . . LyndonJohnson,health felt that it would be my last, and this feeling grew permitting, willbetheDemocraticnomineefora stronger with every passing week in the White new termas President. House... Carl Rowan, in his February 17 column in the I have very strong feelings about work. When ChicagoDaily News, declared that the odds of my it is there to be done, I do it. And the work of the not running again “can’t be better than a million Presidency is demanding and unrelenting. It is to one.” Only a few months before, late in 1967, always there to be done. Of all the 1,886 nights I reporter Tom Wicker had written in TheNew York was President, there were not many when I got Times: to sleep before 1 or 2 AM., and there were few Isn’t it possiblethat Johnson will withdraw? mornings when I didn’t wake up by 6 or 6:30. It This wistfulpropositioncan bedemolishedwith became a question of how much the physical someconfidence,It is as likelythat LyndonJohnson constitution could take. I frankly did not believe willget out of the WhiteHouse and go backto Texas in 1968 that I could survive another four years of as it is that Dean Rusk will turn dove,DickNixon the long hours and unremitting tensions I had just willstop running, orf. Edgai’Hoover willretire. gone through. These were typical of virtually all the press These were considerations I had lived with speculations about my plans. A great misconcep from the beginning. Others had developed in the tion had been built up by the press that I was a course of events, On that last morning in March, man who was hungry for power, who would not as I moved toward one of the most significant conceivably give up power willingly. Those who hours of my life, several factors relating to the believed this estimate did not understand that state of the nation fed into the decisions I was power can lose its charm when a man has known preparing to announce. First, we faced the it as many years as I had. absolute necessity of an increase in taxes. I used the power of the Presidency proudly, Second, we faced the possibility of new riots and and I used every ounce of it I had. I used it to turmoil in the cities in the summer of 1968. We establish programs that gave thousands of young had experienced widespread disturbances the sters a head start in school, that enabled thou previous summer, many of them exploited, I sands of old folks to live in clean nursing homes, believe, by men who took advantage of distressed that brought justice to the Negro and hope to the people to advance their own political causes, poor, that forced the nation to face the growing There were strong indications that rioting might problems of pollution. In this exercise of power, I be repeated or increased. knew a satisfaction that only a limited number of I believed that because of the “informed guid men have ever known and that I could have had ance” the press had given the people, all the in no other way. Men, myself included, do not nation—except a dozen or so individuals—would lightly give up the opportunity to achieve so be shocked and surprised. On February 5, for much lasting good, but a man who uses power example, the U.S.Newsand WorldReport had effectively must also be a realist. He must under assured its readers: stand that by spending power he dissipates it.

In the Oval Office the television cameras were peacein the balance every day, I do not believethat waiting. The TV broadcast was being supervised I should devotean hour or a day ofmy time to any by Deputy Press Secretary Robert H. Fleming, a personal partisan causes or to any duties other than C former television executive. I saw a look of shocked the awesomeduties of this office—thePresidency of H surprise on his face when he read the last portion your country. A p of the teleprompter tape. George Christian brought Accordingly, I shall not seek,and I will not T a small press pool to the door of the office to watch accept, the nomination ofmy party for another term E the proceedings. I thought to myself: “They’re in as your President. R for a surprise too.” My wife and daughters and But let men everywhereknow, however, that a 31 my son-in-law Pat sat to my right, off camera. The strong, a confident, and a vigilant America stands technicians made last-minute adjustments. ready tonight to seekan honorablepeace—and At 9:01 P.M., on a signal from the network stands ready tonight to defendan honored cause— director, I launched into the speech I had been whatever the price, whatever the burden, whatever preparing for so long. I described the enemy’s Tet the sacrifice that duty may require. offensive, what it had tried to do and what it had Thankyou for listening. failed to do. I announced our plans for strength Goodnight and God bless all ofyou. ening the South Vietnamese armed forces, which In forty-five minutes I had finished. It was had been expanded by the courageous response all over and I felt better. The weight of the day of the Vietnamese people to the attacks at Tet. and the weeks and the months had lifted. I had I said it was time to begin talking peace anew. done what I knew ought to be done. Now it was I was ready to take the first step to deescalate history and I could do no more. We walked from the war. the Oval Office back to the Executive Mansion. “Tonight,” I said, “I have ordered our aircraft Those who doubted me and disliked me, and our naval vessels to make no attacks on those who had fought my struggle to achieve North Vietnam, except in the area north of the justice for men and women who had for so long demilitarized zone, where the continuing enemy suffered injustice, might now be willing to adjust build-up directly threatens allied forward posi their rigid views and seek to fashion a workable tions and where the movements of their troops formula for peace in the streets. and supplies are clearly related to that threat.” Just before I drifted off to sleep that night, I voiced my hope that Hanoi would match I prayed that Hanoi had listened and would our restraint, so that we could halt even limited respond. The chance for peace, the opportunity bombing, and that both sides would sit down to stop death and destruction, the opening toward together soon to bargain for peace. Finally, I said: a new decade of hope—all these were enfolded With America’s SonsIfl the fields far away, with in the words I had spoken. There was nothing America‘sfuture under challengeright here at more I could do that day. All that I could do I home, with our hopes and the world’s hopes for had done. From THE VANTAGE POINT by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Copyright © 1971. Published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS

1. How do you think President Johnson viewed the press? The demonstra tions in the streets? 2. Identifying Central Issues What teasons did President Johnson give for deciding not to be a candidate for President? 3. Predicting Consequences What do you think the President hoped would happen, both at home and abroad, as a result of his announcement?

128 • Chapter 31 Primary Source Activity © Prentice-Hall,Inc. NAME CLASS DATE

On the Tragedy of Kent State

Four students at Kent State University were killed in May 1970, when National Guardsmen fired on a crowd protesting America’s recent invasion of Cambodia. The event triggered strong reactions from the American public, some taking the side of the students, and others supporting the guardsmen.

As you read the passages below, try to envision how each side perceived the other.

FOR THE STUDENTS

Parents ofJeffreyGlenn Miller, one offour Parents and neighbor ofAllison Krause, one of students killedat Kent State, Life magazine, four students killedat Kent State, Newsweek, May15, 1970 May18, 1970

I didn’t exactly agree with Jeff. I don’t believe I can’t blame 18-year-olds for not wanting to go to

in demonstrations. . . Jeff stood up for what he Cambodia and be killed. Look, I had a daughter believed and he didn’t believe in violence. He and now she is dead. did more with his little life than I or any of my May her death be on [Nixon’s] back. [My friends have. daughter] resented being called a bum because President Nixon wants people to believe Jeff she disagreed with someone else’s opinion. Is this turned to violence. That is not true. What kind of a crime? Is this a reason for killing her? Have we sympathy is this? When four kids are dead he come to such a state in this country that a young gave no comfort. Nixon acts as if the kids had it girl has to be shot because she disagrees deeply coming. But shooting into a crowd of students, with the actions of her government? that is violence. They say it could happen again You have no idea how this has brought the if the Guard is threatened, They consider stones whole thing about the war and campus dissent

threat enough to kill children. I think the violence home to this neighborhood. . . no idea at all. If comes from the government. someone like Allison is killed, my God.

The Louisville Courier-Journal, Kent State faculty, Newsweek, May 18, 1970 December16, 1973 We hold the guardsmen, acting under orders It doesn’t take too great a leap of the imagination, and under severe psychological pressures, less in fact, to wonder whether this man [an armed responsible for the massacre than are Governor undercover FBI and police photographer at the Rhodes [governor of Ohio] and Adjutant General scene of the shootings], a self-confessed “gun Del Corso, whose inflammatory statements nut,” might not have been among those working produced these pressures. in J. Edgar Hoover’s now-revealed 1968—71 cam paign to “expose, disrupt, and otherwise neutral ize” the New Left Movement in this country.

C I 0 0 Li ©

Chapter 31 Survey Edition Comparing Primary Sources • 53 Chapter 21 Modern American History Edition NAME CLASS DATE

L COMPARING PRIMARY SOURCES (continued,)

FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD stoned. They have chased a lot of oddly dressed Newsweek, 18, 1970 May students back and forth and have accomplished nothing except the indignity of having their own “I am satisfied that these troops felt that their tear gas thrown back at them. lives were in danger,” said General Canterbury, 55, who was in charge of the troops. “I felt I could WilliamA. Gordon,The Fourth of May: Killings have been killed out there, . . . Considering the size of the rocks and the proximity of those and Coverups at Kent State throwing them, lives were in danger .1 do think, however, that under normal conditions, [E]very decision was made at the last minute— an officer would give the order to fire.” which explains why “no plan for dispersing the “You can’t really help but kind of think students was formulated,” why the officers they’ve been asking for it and finally got it,” said seemed unfamiliar with the terrain and marched a motel clerk. their troops into a fence on the practice field, and “They didn’t go to Kent State to kill anyone,” why the troops did not bring enough tear gas cried the wife of one of the men who fired at the along. This lack of planning and direction is why students. “I know he’d rather have stayed home command authority broke down so quickly and and mowed the lawn. He told me so. He told me why the soldiers began taking matters into their they didn’t fire those shots to scare the students own hands. off. He told me they fired those shots because Even if the Guardsmen discussed the possi they knew the students were coming after them, bility of shooting students before they actually coming for their guns. People are calling my hus did so, an order to fire probably was not issued band a murderer; my husband is not a murderer. until something happened at the crest of Blanket He was afraid.” Hill. I suspect that what happened was a Guardsman with some authority—a sergeant, perhaps—simply passed a threshold of tolerance James Michener, Kent State: What Happened for the demonstration. Whether he felt fear, anger, and Why, 1971 or frustration—or more likely, a mixture of these emotions—I suspect he finally thought: “To hell They have been on duty for nearly a week, sleep with these kids. It’s time to teach [them] a lesson.” ing at odd times and in odd places. They have eaten irregularly and have been subjected to taunts and ridicule. They are bewildered by the behavior of college students and outraged by the vocabulary of coeds. It is hot. They have been

1. Identifying Assumptions How would you describe the guardsmen’s attitudes toward the antiwar demonstrators? 6 2. Identifying Central Issues What explanations are offered in these excerpts for the shootings at Kent State? I C) C

54 • Comparing Primary Sources Chapter 31 Survey Edition Chapter 21 Modern American History Edition

chin, over eye the and leg. in Okay. the sent They go.” to ones first the be we’ll

got wounded in an ambush. got I hit under the come, Cong the “If I said, So there. out laid just We

On Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, May I 1969, 19, prison. a up in locked convict a being than worse was

said, I

are “What we over here fighting for?” It inside. feel could I me. on it strain a was night

saying, “I wonder how his is to going family feel.” first The much. too was You know, here” over it

up on him and off took I can guys remember the year a do I could said, “How just I life my in been

was from New Jersey. just They packed everything ever as I’ve scared as was I and post] observation

guy that morning. His Joe name was Cocaham, he [forward OP on me sent they night first The

I can still see those guys I was to talking

one . . Mountain,

those jungle boots. I had behind nightmares them. Virgin Black the beneath zone] LZ [landing was an It

could see the guys’ feet

out. see I hanging could different. the way all just was but there, got I when it

all empty those supplies top of on the You them. nothing expect didn’t I Province. Tay Ninh in down

just they threw up them the on helicopter and put was which unit, your to out you ship they then

copter really just made me about think all it and country, get in first you you when gives Cay

green ponchos. The way put they them on the heli 1st the that there up school training little the

brought the guys back ponchos, up wrapped in those go through to week a for Khe An at up was

of death. fire After fights could you smell They it.

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fire

after fights

fire My fights. first taste

Vietnamese. for the hat red

such had deep-seated he why

you out there.

determine to try Division, cavalry

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rifleman

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experiences of his

account soldier’s one read

out chewed by the company

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rifle]

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histories oral of a book from excerpted is selection ing

Lucky

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support. public had little which Vietnam the I rounds. finally 4 7 ar, landed going started and out we

drc

into drafted

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jun

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us of the middle the jungle us was off. and I dropped

to going we’re the us rear.” out put They there in 1970)

to told get into

the I helicopters. thought, ‘Oh, Sanroli. Al

by It Fouqht Who

Soldiers I and to wonders myself They what for. they is

(1969— Vietnam

American Thirty-three

I these saw the next land helicopters morning

hi’ War Vietnam the

tain, and we were at the base. History of Oral An Had: in GI American

We Ei’eiythinq From the at top, the VC up all were and the down moun

Cong’] were. There was an American radio outpost African An

On that mountain the VC was where [Viet me back to Tay Ninh. That’s the farthest I got back to the rear. just patched me up. Then as the stitches got well, they cut ‘em out and sent me back to the unit. By that time my mind had just snapped. I’d write these letters home saying what to do with all of my stuff, like I was making out a will, Because I had a feeling that I wasn’t coming back. Th When I got near the deros, or whatever they At,i call it when you come back to the States, sometimes vi I wished I had died over there with my buddies. I said, “What’s back here” You know, my wife had Most of the guys in the rap group were infantry left. and Green Berets and Marines. The other day this I got married a couple of months before I got guy came in. He had lost his arm over there, he drafted, and they said they couldn’t catch up with had lost his leg over there. And we’re talking in the paperwork to keep me out of the draft. I was the meeting and he told me that he didn’t have overdue, I was I -A about a year and a half. I tried nothing against the Vietnamese. And I said, I just to go to school at that time—they was funny about looked at him, “Man, you’ve got to be . . you getting into schools—and I tried joining the National need help. You done lost your arm and your leg, Guard, but they was all booked up. I was working and you say you got nothing against these people?” When I got back for Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. When If I see a Vietnamese on the street, I cross and everything was I got back everything was changed. The way I feel walk on the other side, There are some on the west side, mostly downtown. Sometimes I go downtown changed. about life now . . . it’s just a bum trip. I have flash backs and people can’t understand me sometimes. I to a couple of bookstores or go get fishing equipment, sit by myself and I just think. You try to talk to and you can tell them by the way they look, you know. just a bummed-out trip. somebody about it, they think you’re out of your mind or you’re freaked out They want to put you Where we were it was jungle. Completely jun in a strait jacket or something like that. That’s why gle And the company commanders and all of them I go to these veterans rap groups that they have was like gung-ho-type guys. They were lifers, and now every Wednesday I just blow off the heat that I just couldn’t cope with the service and what they I have built up inside. stood for. About fifteen guys go to them, all different races. In basic training and in AlT [Advanced Infantry And we just sit there and say the way we feel. We Training], they was beating around the bush. They just get everything out of our minds. Like Congress made a joke out of everything, like “We’re going and the United States could spend billions and bil to get old Charlie Cong” and all that old stuff. Instead lions of dollars to bring Vietnamese over here now, of being down and serious, they used to beat around but they can’t even put up a system that’s federally the bush. We used to sit up in the bleachers and funded by the VA or somewhere to help these Viet they’d say, “This is how Charlie really works.” They nam veterans that’ve actually been having this ten- couldn’t tell me how Charlie really worked. You year relapse. I mean, you could just look at some had to get over there and experience for yourself how Charlie really worked. of them and just tell that they are . just gone.

me. And if there’s any you help, wish need I know I Vietnamese. it. those them, hate I why That’s

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ARVNs

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was the same. You find can’t no the in racism bush. soldiers, NVA the of be scared I’d recreation]. and

mostly in back rear. the the Out bush in everybody [rest R R from back & come would guys that from

him between me, and that. like nothing That was them get They’d drugs. taking were they that bad so

best a friends guy. was was There white no racism snapped had mind Their myself. man. addicts, drug were they

guys I in the bush, one the of you my know, grunts, there, guys over Some myself. by was I Mostly by was I Mostly

the in and 1960s) around. all was them the But for home. back get to that about doing thought

the of Panthers, Black a political black violent group And I home.” made finally it “I said, He foot. the

That about was the Huey time that [leader Newton through ankle, the through himself shot had He Pow.

a sign. power About or six different seven handshakes. Boom. gunshot. a heard I knew, I thing next The

a where lot whole to of go, used blacks they’d give

walking.

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bummed- a just a was It bayonett’ the KILL!” “To

san like and stuff a down there out hung I that.

for of spirit the is ‘What kill. was do to KILL!” u “law

the all out to used hang Gis AWOL mama- with told they all training, the on back Thinking

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thing

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mortar a

was thought . it .

the Vietnamese. helicopter Cobra this and on lights strobe our had

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the When Kong. Tan through went luggage Son We there. over way firing this all see could we and

from back I R, R four brought from suits Hong & mission search-and-destroy a on was We men. our

constantly us ripping came off. After stuff. Stealin’ I of thirty killed helicopter own Our lifer. a was He

we was over they for there and them fighting was killed. CO got our when That’s Grant. 12 overrun

see never I’d as as of ‘cause them one live, I long to tiled Army] Vietnamese [North NVA The The way I was brought up, they’d say, “If you want tell her why. And I make up an excuse like “I’m something, work for it,” And that’s what I’m trying going to paint my mother’s house.” to do now When I came back to the States, they sent When I was drafted, I said, “I’ll go over to Viet me to fort Knox. I had several months to kill, so nam to help the people out. That’s what everybody they put me on the funeral detail, That was sickening, wants” But after I got there, I said, These sons of man. It was sickening for the U.S. Army to put on guns ARVNs are laying back in the rear while we’re a . . front like they did. It was a twenty-one-gun fighting the war” salute with blank ammo, a bugler and an honor guard, During the time I was there my marriage fell where you folded the coffin flag and gave it to the apart. It fell completely I got back and I could mother or the child, with the officer saying, “We feel it falling. I said, “I know I’m different I’m not really are sorry that your son died while defending the high-school chap that you knew” She was my his country.” You see, I was with these guys who high-school sweetheart. It wasn’t the same. I was never went to ‘Nam Just before the funeral they all the way different. I was short-tempered. Actually, used to sit back and drink beer and laugh, almost I was violent. I used to go to bars sometimes. I’d right before the burial, laugh and , , . then they’d take a drink and a guy would call me a boy and say something like this to the guy’s family, who I’d just try to light into him After I had fought for were going through all this grief a year and come back to the States, he’d call me One day we went to Pikesville, Kentucky The still a boy What more do I have to do? family said we was the best thing they could ever I can’t say now if I was one of the lucky ones. do for their son They invited us in for dinner They Sometimes Sometimes I I wish I could’ve just went ahead and was mostly Appalachian people. They invited us died with my friends I used to say, wish I could’ve “I’m only dream in, we ate, and that was it. But they just didn’t know ing. I’ll wake up one day I will wake . . up.” But I just . died I didn’t say anything to them. If I had to talk never woke up. with my friends. to them, I’d say, “Let bygones be bygones.” I have nightmares and sweats. I’ll be sweating Only thing I can say now 5: Have mercy on something fierce. My wife will say, “What’s wrong the younger generation. with you?” I’ll think of something else to say I’ve never talked about these dreams with my wife ‘cause she can’t understand it, you know. She’s been a civil REVIEWING THE READING ian all her life and how would she understand it? 1. What specific reasons did the soldier give The persons I can talk to is the rap group or another Vietnam soldier for his extreme hatred of the Vietnamese? How might his situation have contributed Like they’re having this air show down at the to a biased perspective? lakefront. Yesterday I heard this jet coming over. The way I heard it, it was just like dropping one 2. Why was the soldier sometimes scared of those bombs. It brought back another flashback, of his own men and that’s what I mean about going down there to 3. Using Your Historical Imagination. Why see one of those planes, because if I feel a flashback do you think the American government coming on, I don’t know what I might do. So l tell did so little to help Vietnam veterans my old lady, “No. You can go. I ain’t going.” I didn’t The President United Collective to peace Consonant measures America destinies determination but their of against aggression international present deliberately principles THINK Tonkin. any that The significant reports North How THE SEC. Resolved Whereas Whereas Whereas prevent their Americans desires contradictions Tonkin President did freedom the Vietnamese Nations 2. its in were freedom; this Congress in in THROUGH to determines, maintenance The of international Defense neighbors further expansion that with only © the those naval their Congress by repel and Gulf resolution the T0NKIN McDougal later peace; and Johnson United of the United and the the that Charter repeatedly own the attacks and units within Resolution any has aggression. approved believed Senate attacks Treaty, Communist in Constitution and these and President, assembled, of States Liftell to way: armed no justify accordance States HISTORY: of of had waters, those United take of are the territorial, international and the on peoples the Inc. Now, to the attacked misled regards the is part attack nations the was all justifications? Communist two House be United assisting United as regime States and resolution necessary use That of false, therefore, drafted of with GULF Commander United should Congress against the as have Analyzing military a Joined of 1964 United of involvement States deliberate the Nations vital in peace its and armed I United Representatives the thereby North as States regime be obligations Congress steps, on the Explain. many to with peoples be the States in is, or left and force August Issun its States it order and forces in therefore, political result naval Vietnam RESOLUTION and them in in including national created security Americans Chief, in naval of in Vietnam, peace of approves systematic to and the under of Southeast 7, vessels international of in Southeast gain of ambitions the 1964, to vessels reports Vietnam the has a the to prepared, in interest the serious the take the United work southeast support. collective came Charter been in in and United authorizing use Southeast campaign violation the Asia? lawfully all of Asia supports and War. out waging threat in of to unprovoked States necessary law, Gulf as that of armed Were believe to States to their Asia. defense the The the protect have of world to of and Asia area, of a the there own the of THE T0NKIN GULF RESOLUTION force, to assist any member [Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan] or protocol state [South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia] of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom. SEC. 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.

Source: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by John Galloway (Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970), pp. 167—168.

2 The Ainercans © McDougal Littell Inc. PEACE WITHoUT CONQUEST 1965

Lyndon B. Johnson - —

President Johnson delivered this speech at Johns Hopkins University on April 7, 1965. That spring, the United States began a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam, and by July, Johnson had ordered an additional 184,000 United States troops into South Vietnam to fight the Communist rebels there—the Vietcong. Though small numbers of American troops had been in South Vietnam for the previous decade, this drastic escalation signaled the “Americanization” of the Vietnam conflict. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: DistingulshingFactfromOpinion Was the escalation of military involvement in Southeast Asia the best course for the United States? Explain.

Last week 17 nations sent their views to some two dozen countries having an interest in southeast Asia. We are Joining those 17 countries and stating our American policy tonight which we believe will contribute toward peace in this area of the world. I have come here to review once again with my own people the views of the American Government. Tonight Americans and Asians are dying for a world where each people may choose its own path to change. This is the principle for which our ancestors fought in the valleys of Pennsylvania. It is the principle for which our sons fight tonight in the Jungles of Viet-Nam. Viet-Nam is far away from this quiet campus. We have no territory there, nor do we seek any. The war is dirty and brutal and difficult. And some 400 young men, born into an America that is bursting with opportunity and promise, have ended their lives on Viet-Nam’s steaming soil. Why must we take this painful road? Why must this Nation hazard its ease, and its interest, and its power for the sake of a people so far away? We fight because we must fight if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. And only in such a world will our own freedom be finally secure. This kind of world will never be built by bombs or bullets. Yet the infirmities of man are such that force must often precede reason, and the waste of war, the works of peace. We wish that this were not so. But we must deal with the world as it is, if it is ever to be as we wish.

1 TheAmericans© McDougalLittellInc. FROM PEACE WITHOUT CONQUEST

THE NATURE OF THE CONFLICT

The world as it is in Asia is not a serene or peaceful place. The first reality is that North Viet-Nam has attacked the independent nation of South Viet-Nam. Its object is total conquest. Of course, some of the people of South Viet-Nam are participating in attack on their own government. But trained men and supplies, orders and arms, flow in a constant stream from north to south. This support is the heartbeat of the war. And it is a war of unparalleled brutality. Simple farmers are the targets of assassination and kidnapping. Women and children are strangled in the night because their men are loyal to their government. And helpless villages are ravaged by sneak attacks, Large-scale raids are conducted on towns, and terror strikes in the heart of cities. The confused nature of this conflict cannot mask the fact that it is the new face of an old enemy. Over this war—and all Asia—is another reality: the deepening shadow of Communist China. The rulers in Hanoi are urged on by Peking. This is a regime which has destroyed freedom in Tibet, which has attacked India, and has been condemned by the United Nations for aggression in Korea. It is a nation which is helping the forces of violence in almost every continent, The contest in Viet Nam is part of a wider pattern of aggressive purposes.

WHY ARE WE IN VIET-NAM? Why are these realities our concern? Why are we in South Viet-Nam? We are there because we have a promise to keep. Since 1954 every American President has offered support to the people of South Viet-Nam. We have helped to build, and we have helped to defend. Thus, over many years, we have made a national pledge to help South Viet-Nam defend its independence. And I intend to keep that promise. To dishonor that pledge, to abandon this small and brave nation to its enemies, and to the terror that must follow, would be an unforgivable wrong. We are also there to strengthen world order. Around the globe, from Berlin to Thailand, are people whose well-being rests, in part, on the belief that they can count on us if they are attacked. To leave Viet-Nam to its fate would shake the confidence of all these people in the value of an American commitment and in the value of America’s word. The result would be increased unrest and instability, and even wider war. We are also there because there are great stakes in the balance. Let no one think for a moment that retreat from Viet-Nam would bring an end to conflict. The battle would be renewed in one country and then another. The central lesson of our time is that the appetite of aggression is never satisfied. To withdraw from one battlefield means only to prepare for the next. We must say in southeast Asia—as we did in Europe—in the words of the Bible: “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.”

2 The Americans © McDou gal Littell Inc. FROM PEACE WITHOUT CONQUEST

There are those who say that all our effort there will be futile—that China’s power is such that it is bound to dominate all southeast Asia. But there is no end to that argument until all of the nations of Asia are swallowed up. There are those who wonder why we have a responsibility there, Well, we have it there for the same reason that we have a responsibility for the defense of Europe. World War II was fought in both Europe and Asia, and when it ended we found ourselves with continued responsibility for the defense of freedom.

OUR OBJECTIVE IN VIET-NAM

Our objective is the independence of South Viet-Nam, and its freedom from attack, We want nothing for ourselves—only that the people of South Viet-Nam be allowed to guide their own country in their own way. We will do everything necessary to reach that objective. And we will do only what is absolutely necessary. In recent months attacks on South Viet-Nam were stepped up. Thus, it became necessary for us to increase our response and to make attacks by air. This is not a change of purpose. It is a change in what we believe that purpose requires. We do this in order to slow down aggression. We do this to increase the confidence of the brave people of South Viet-Nam who have bravely borne this brutal battle for so many years with so many casualties. And we do this to convince the leaders of North Viet-Nam—and all who seek to share their conquest—of a very simple fact: We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw, either openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement. We know that air attacks alone will not accomplish all of these purposes. But it is our best and prayerful judgment that they are a necessary part of the surest road to peace. We hope that peace will come swiftly. But that is in the hands of others besides ourselves. And we must be prepared for a long continued conflict, It will require patience as well as bravery, the will to endure as well as the will to resist. I wish it were possible to convince others with words of what we now find it necessary to say with guns and planes: Armed hostility is futile. Our resources are equal to any challenge. Because we fight for values and we fight for principles, rather than territory or colonies, our patience and our determination are unending. Once this is clear, then it should also be clear that the only path for reasonable men is the path of peaceful settlement. Such peace demands an independent South Viet-Nam—securely guaranteed and able to shape its own relationships to all others—free from outside interference—tied to no alliance—a military base for no other country.

3 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. FROMPEACEWITHOUTCoNQUEsT

These are the essentials of any final settlement. We will never be second in the search for such a peaceful settlement in Viet Nam.

THE DREAM OF WORLD ORDER This will be a disorderly planet for a long time. In Asia, as elsewhere, the forces of the modem world are shaking old ways and uprooting ancient civilizations. There will be turbulence and struggle and even violence. Great social change—as we see in our own country now—does not always come without conflict. We must also expect that nations will on occasion be in dispute with us. It may be because we are rich, or powerful; or because we have made some mistakes; or because they honestly fear our intentions. However, no nation need ever fear that we desire their land, or to impose our will, or to dictate their institutions. But we will always oppose the effort of one nation to conquer another nation. We will do this because our own security is at stake. But there is more to it than that. For our generation has a dream. It is a very old dream. But we have the power and now we have the opportunity to make that dream come true. For centuries nations have struggled among each other. But we dream of a world where disputes are settled by law and reason. And we will try to make it so. For most of history men have hated and killed one another in battle. But we dream of an end to war. And we will try to make it so. For all existence most men have lived In poverty, threatened by hunger. But we dream of a world where all are fed and charged with hope. And we will help to make it so. The ordinary men and women of North Viet-Nam and South Viet-Nam—of China and India—of Russia and America—are brave people. They are filled with the same proportions of hate and fear, of love and hope. Most of them want the same things for themselves and their families. Most of them do not want their sons to ever die in battle, or to see their homes, or the homes of others, destroyed. Well, this can be their world yet. Man now has the knowledge—always before denied—to make this planet serve the real needs of the people who live on it. I know this will not be easy. I know how difficult it is for reason to guide passion, and love to master hate. The complexities of this world do not bow easily to pure and consistent answers. But the simple truths are there Just the same. We must all try to follow them as best we can.

4 The Americans C McDougalLittell Inc. FROMPEACEWmiovr CoNQuEST

CONCLUSION We often say how Impressive power is. But I do not find it impressive at all. The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure. They are necessary symbols. They protect what we cherish. But they are witness to human folly. A dam built across a great river is Impressive. In the countryside where I was born, and where I live, I have seen the night Illuminated, and the kitchens warmed, and the homes heated, where once the cheerless night and the ceaseless cold held sway. And all this happened because electricity came to our area along the humming wires of the REA. Electrification of the countryside—yes, that, too, Is impressive. A rich harvest in a hungry land is impressive. The sight of healthy children in a classroom is impressive. These—not mighty arms—are the achievements which the American Nation believes to be impressive.... This generation of the world must choose: destroy or build, kill or aid, hate or understand. We can do all these things on a scale never dreamed of before. Well, we will choose life. In so doing we will prevail over the enemies within man, and over the natural enemies of all mankind. To Dr. Eisenhower and Mr. Garland, and this great institution, Johns Hopkins, I thank you for this opportunity to convey my thoughts to you and to the American people. Good night.

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965, Book 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1966), pp. 394—399.

5 TheAmericans C McDougal Littell Inc. ON THE KENT STATE TRAGEDY A REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION ON CAMPUS UNREST 1970

On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia and the need to expand the military draft as part of the escalating war in Vietnam. Student antiwar protesters responded by staging massive demonstrations, shutting down campuses across the nation. At Kent State University on May 4, members of the National Guard shot into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four, The president established a committee to investigate the protests sweeping college campuses. The committee submitted the following account of the Kent State events. THINK THROUGH HISTORY: Analyzinglssues What does this account reveal about the issues of political dissent and government use of force?

Blanket Hill is a grassy knoll in the center of the campus of Kent State University, named by students who use it as a place to sun themselves in the day and to romance at night. From here, shortly after noon on a sunny spring day, a detachment of Ohio National Guardsmen, armed with World War IL-vintage army rifles, fired a volley of at least 61 shots killing four college students and wounding nine, All of the young people who were shot that day were students in good standing at Kent State University. The National Guardsmen were there under orders from both civilian and military authorities, Duty at Kent State had not been pleasant: they had been cursed and stoned, and some feared physical injury. Stones were thrown, then bullets fired. The events at Kent State over the long May weekend were tragic. They need not and should not have occurred, The Commission has drawn on the lessons learned from Kent State in making its report. This special report is made to give an explicit context to the recommendations made there. The Commission staff spent several weeks studying reports of other investigations of the May 1970 events at Kent State, including 8,000 pages of reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Three weeks were spent in Ohio interviewing hundreds of witnesses, including students, faculty, university administrators, law enforcement personnel, National Guardsmen, townspeople, and others in possession of relevant information. Special efforts

1 The Americans © McDougal Littell Inc. ON THEKEETSTAm TR.4c8DY were made to gather contemporaneous photographic and audio evidence from all available sources. The Commission was able to study motion picture films and tape recordings of parts of the events and hundreds of photographs taken by persons present at the scene. The Commission held hearings at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, on August 19, 20, and 21, 1970....

MONDAY, MAY 4 As they lined up opposite students on the Commons shortly before noon, the three National Guard units involved in the Kent State shooting had had an average of three hours of sleep the night before. Company C of the First Battalion, 145th Infantry Regiment, went off duty at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning. At 5:30 a.m., the company commander, Capt. James R. Snyder, received orders to return to patrol on city streets near Kent State. At 6:00 a.m., Troop G of the Second Squadron, 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment, relieved Company A of the First Battalion, 145th Infantry, which had been on duty all night. Company A then had to move their bivouac area, however, and the company commander, Capt. John E. Martin, said none got to bed before 9:00 a.m. At about 11:30 a.m., they were roused to return to duty on the campus. Troop G had gone off duty at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, according to the troop commander, Capt. Raymond J. Srp. But they had just lined up for their first hot meal of the day when they were sent back to duty on campus. They served until between midnight and 1:00 a.m. Monday and then were awakened between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m. to prepare to relieve Company A.... The movements of the crowd in the last minute or two before the firing are the subject of considerable dispute. General Canterbury, in a statement to a Commission investigator on August 25, gave this description: As the troop formation reached the area of the Pagoda near Taylor Hall, the mob located on the right flank in front of Taylor Hall and in the Prentice Hall parking lot charged our right flank, throwing rocks, yelling obscenities and threats, “Kill the pigs,” “Stick the pigs.” The attitude of the crowd at this point was menacing and vicious. The troops were being hit by rocks. I saw Major Jones hit in the stomach by a large brick, a guardsman to the right and rear of my position was hit by a large rock and fell to the ground. During this movement, practically all of the guardsmen were hit by missiles of various kinds. Guardsmen on the right flank were in serious danger of bodily harm and death as the mob continued to charge. I felt that, in view of the extreme danger to the troops at this point, that they were justified in firing.

2 The Americans C McDougal Littell Inc.

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the

were

his

Kent

killed

passed

their

yards, wounded

the

wounded

250

claim

wounded 13

STATE

firing,

killed

fired

Commission

men

Many

by spine,

front,

two

that

killed

seconds.

types

under

wounded.

wounded

State

and

yards,

Many

Sound

back

fellow

the

Sgt. in

by a

TRAGEDY

out

were

five

wounded

were

bullet

the

possibly

the

seven

suffered

and

left

ran.

have

Dennis of

University....

shot

from

right

shots

command

indicated

wounded

left tracks

guardsmen

shot

“not

wounds

wounded,

The

the

upper

the

Blanket

that

In increasingly

heard

shot

that

from

through

ankle.

hyperventilation

the

left

abdomen

right

from

the

in time

bruises

panic

determined

passed

paralyzed

indicate

chest.

the

parking

Breckenridge,

the

side

signal

something

right they

that

Hill

wrist.

the

saw

buttock.

.45

right

students

stricken,”

left

open

the

side,

the

fire

the

and

through

they

received

mouth.

and

heavy

knee. caliber

and

that

back

left

the

left

lot

was

thigh shooting

from

fire,

and

abrasions

shoot.

officer

that

began

lower

small

the

front

rear

behind

dove

barrage

given,

and

the

four

pistols,

her

the

and

were

firing

the

The

FBI,

side

leg.

of left

The

casualties,

away was

stone-throwing

to Jacket.

yards.

sculpture,

farther

middle

and

beyond

threat shows

not when

fingers

small

prohibited

not

students Jeffrey

mouth

The

mouth. and

behind

the

behind

1:10

“murderers.”

was

Russell, Wrentmore

Kahler

Canfora,

The

At William Jeffrey

run

Allison

Sandra

Then

Americans

Many

the

shown

been

slope

hit

the

they

scene

p.m.

the

fragments

for

him

closest

Commons

finger

away

resuscitation

while

Miller

parked

metal

the

gathered

the

moment

thought

identified

was

rose

the

range

metal

the

Glenn

dispersal

guardsmen.

class

east

cover

Lee

which

apparently

class

near

was

taking

retreating

noon

who

crowd

Guard.

Krause,

from

McDougai

moment

football

prone.

standing

was Schroeder,

casualties—Lewis,

sculpture, Some

Scheuer,

and

lay

when

one

range,

cars

Lake

sculpture,

behind

his

Miller,

said

was

rally

Taylor

the

part

by on

which

the

in Taylor

around

saw

order

grew

concrete

right

and

tried

the

Hall

the

guardsmen

perforated

Litteil up 19,

hit

any

practice

when shooting

Music

pell-mell

students

20,

cars

Sandra

20,

had

heard

firing,

attempted

Prentice making

Blanket

Victory

Hall,

angry.

by pavement

hand.

they

any

was

19,

also the

the

Hall.

available

and

those

rolled

Inc.

freshman,

give

the

been

and

Junior,

and

harassment

northwest Junior, Commons.

given

ricochet,

could

threw

field.

the

where

Memorial

Prentice

sophomore,

most

Cleary

Lee

His

began,

disorder

They

firing

bleeding,

who

obscene first

cinder

were

Bell

Hill

down

Grace,

Hall

Speech

chanting

firing

KSsTFSTAiE

photographs

Scheuer,

actions

and

have

back

was

had

four

shortly

bullet. aid.

was

from

screamed

began.

flatten

parking

was

firing

believed

Lewis

6 was

Hall

the

block

corner

made

begin,

and

Building

access

Gymnasium.

gestures

presented

present

the

fallen.

One

among

were

standing

antiwar

the

nine

incline,

are

was

standing

tear

the

parking

blanks.

one

Grace

Cleary—were

was

before

themselves

fright.

TmIGEDY

first

were

obscene

lot

vainly

rally

not

turned,

Guard....

and

road,

wounded,

wounded

gas

dropped

the

standing

the

when

have

and

reaction

known.

ROTC

was having

slogans

found

the

any

on some

canister

the

noon.

When

lot

far guardsmen

group

attempted

football

blood

sought

said

gestures

and

the

been

fatalities.

the

near

immediate

when

she

crowd

away

students

called

students

attended

cadet.

After

other between

the

all Commons,

was

earlier,

was

the

streaming

the

them,

cover

most

was

from field,

within

shooting

students

the

with

wounded.

pavement.

her

ground

mouth-to-

with struck.

pockets

her the

side

was

A Knots

the

walking

were

Guard

physical

had

but was

photograph

way

scrambled

the

all Taylor behind

beyond

guardsmen

death,

his

hit.

the

Commons

but from

the

started

gathered of shock.

stopped

the

She

and

far middle to

little

while

other

Hall

trees.

her

has

his is ON THE KENT STATE TRAGEDY

Stamps, tear gassed on the Commons, had just left Prentice Hall after washing tear gas off his face, He was wounded in Prentice Hall parking lot as he tried to run away from the firing. Mackenzie, the casualty most distant from the Guard, said he heard the firing begin and had turned to run when he was hit. The entire length of Prentice Hall parking lot and the east slope of Blanket Hill lay between him and the Guard. After the shooting, students ran to Taylor, Prentice, and Dunbar Halls to telephone for ambulances. Others ran down to the Commons screaming for ambulances. Several minutes passed before the ambulances came. Students linked their arms and formed rings around the bodies to keep them from further injury. Some students wept. Others wandered around dazed. The shooting on Blanket Hill was done principally by members of Troop G and Company A. Company C, except for two members who went down to the football field and returned to Blanket Hill with the main body of troops, remained at the northern end of Taylor Hall where they had been dispatched by General Canterbury. The C Company members at that position, which is at the opposite end of Taylor Hall from Blanket Hill, did not fire their weapons. After the firing, the C Company commander, Capt. Snyder, took seven men down to the Prentice Hall parking lot to render first aid. He looked at two young men who had fallen, probably Miller and Schroeder, but concluded both were dead. While the detachment was in the vicinity of the body of Jeffrey Miller, enraged students began to scream at them. The guardsmen responded by throwing a tear gas pellet at the student group. Capt. Snyder withdrew his unit to its original position and then back across the Commons, leaving the casualties where they had fallen. Many students subsequently believed that no guardsmen made any effort to render first aid after the shootings and added this to their catalogue of charges against the troops. The scene after the shooting was tense, and there was a possibility of further trouble. After an ambulance removed Miller’s body, a demonstrator who had carried a black flag during the confrontation dipped the flag into the pooi of Miller’s blood and waved it at nearby students in an apparent attempt to inflame them further. Canterbury withdrew his troops to the Commons almost immediately. He ordered a weapons check to determine how many guardsmen fired how many rounds. He also ordered that no more rounds be fired except at a specified target and upon an officer’s order. After the casualties were removed, students began to gather again on the hills overlooking the Commons. The largest concentrations, varying from 200 to 300, congregated on the slope below Johnson Hall at one corner of the Commons. Many of them would later have trouble describing their emotions,

Source: The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest (New York: Arno Press, 1970), pp. 233—278.