|
Soldiers coming home from Vietnam were
telling the country about the horrors of the war and they were
organizing to stop it. In April 1971, more than a thousand Vietnam
veterans gathered at the Capitol Building in Washington and threw back
the medals they had received in the war. [137]
By the end of the decade, the majority of the people were against the
war.
The anti-war movement, together with the struggles waged by African
Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and other oppressed peoples in the
U.S., and the women's liberation movement were opening people's eyes to
a whole system of injustice.
The growing opposition to the war played an important role in convincing
the government that it had to pull out of Vietnam.
"The weakest chink in our armor is American public opinion. Our people
won't stand firm in the face of heavy losses, and they can bring down
the government." (President Lyndon Johnson, 1968) [138]
As a result of the Vietnam War, a broad anti-militarist sentiment
developed among the American people, which was derisively called the
"Vietnam Syndrome" in official circles.
Don't talk about that dreadful disease!
Go to Next Page
|
