Viet Nam: Some help for a paper please

I'm writing a paper for a class i'm taking regarding the Viet Nam war. Topic of the paper is this: How has the popular culture of the United States been shaped as a consequence of Viet Nam? Also, what lessons have been drawn as a consequence of how the popular culture has been shaped, and to what purposes have they been applied?

I already have a few ideas and I'm not looking for a free roll here. Just some suggestions I can include in the paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[theweatherman]

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I'm writing a paper for a class i'm taking regarding the Viet Nam war. Topic of the paper is this: How has the popular culture of the United States been shaped as a consequence of Viet Nam? Also, what lessons have been drawn as a consequence of how the popular culture has been shaped, and to what purposes have they been applied?

I already have a few ideas and I'm not looking for a free roll here. Just some suggestions I can include in the paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Dude, if you need help thinking of major changes in pop culture brought about by the vietnam war you need remidial history classes. There is an entire generation basically shaped around the vietnam war, im sure they probably made a song or two about it.

Seriously: music, drugs, literature all of these have been greatly influenced by vietnam.

[BCPVP]

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I'm writing a paper for a class i'm taking regarding the Viet Nam war. Topic of the paper is this: How has the popular culture of the United States been shaped as a consequence of Viet Nam? Also, what lessons have been drawn as a consequence of how the popular culture has been shaped, and to what purposes have they been applied?

I already have a few ideas and I'm not looking for a free roll here. Just some suggestions I can include in the paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Dude, if you need help thinking of major changes in pop culture brought about by the vietnam war you need remidial history classes. There is an entire generation basically shaped around the vietnam war, im sure they probably made a song or two about it.

Seriously: music, drugs, literature all of these have been greatly influenced by vietnam.

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theweatherman's right on this one. You must suck at school if it takes you more than 5 seconds to find enough info for 10 papers about culture during Vietnam.

I know nothing about this Viet Nam War yous speak of. However i do have some opinions regarding the culturl implications of the Vietnam War. One key element involving pop culture and the vietnam war which is very relevant today is the effect the Vietnam war, specifically the anti war moveemnt, and its effect on pop culture. essentially, before vietnam/up untill the mid sixties, pop culture, movies music etc... was pro war. (generally speaking) A good example of this is the John Wayne movie Green Berets. (i think this is the title. This movie was filmed no later then 65, maybe earlier. it almost watches like a government propaganda film. a few years later, much of the music/movies coming out of hollywood etc... were anti war. In short, the Vietnam War made it hip to be anti war.

[evil_twin]

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I know nothing about this Viet Nam War yous speak of. However i do have some opinions regarding the culturl implications of the Vietnam War.

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It is quite legitimate to use the name Viet Nam and Vietnam interchangably, although in the west Vietnam has become by far the most common.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, or Vietnam (or Viet Nam), is a country in Southeast Asia. Situated in eastern Indochina, it borders countries such as China, Laos, Cambodia, as well as the South China Sea.

(Taken from Wiki.)

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I know nothing about this Viet Nam War yous speak of. However i do have some opinions regarding the culturl implications of the Vietnam War.

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Viet Nam is the proper spelling, though Vietnam is more widely used.

[Myrtle]

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I'm writing a paper for a class i'm taking regarding the Viet Nam war. Topic of the paper is this: How has the popular culture of the United States been shaped as a consequence of Viet Nam? Also, what lessons have been drawn as a consequence of how the popular culture has been shaped, and to what purposes have they been applied?

I already have a few ideas and I'm not looking for a free roll here. Just some suggestions I can include in the paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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For a start, Google and research the following words or phrases............

Agent Orange

“Fragging”

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Watergate

LSD

“Hippie”

Vietnam Veterans Against War

Spiro Agnew

My Lai

The Tet Offensive

Listen to a selection of songs/albums from the late 60’s/early 70’s of......Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, America, The Doors, The Rolling Stones.

Watch the movies.....The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Born of the 4th of July, Birdy, Full Metal Jacket, Go Tell the Spartans, Hamburger Hill.

To the OP, it is always important in a college class to give your teacher whatever he/she wants, to ensure you get the best grade (which is the only thing that matters). If your prof is a flag burning hippie then write about how brave young men and women dodged the draft to stick it to the evil empire. If your prof is a grizzled war vet then write about how the lefty pop media and culture stabbed its own nation in the back. If he's neutral then write about music. You get my drift?

Myrtle, I'm curious, in what ways do you think Agent Orange, Fragging, PTSS, or My Lai had anything to do with pop culture? Certainly important concepts of the war, but the pop culture implications I am completely missing here.

[Myrtle]

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To the OP, it is always important in a college class to give your teacher whatever he/she wants, to ensure you get the best grade (which is the only thing that matters). If your prof is a flag burning hippie then write about how brave young men and women dodged the draft to stick it to the evil empire. If your prof is a grizzled war vet then write about how the lefty pop media and culture stabbed its own nation in the back. If he's neutral then write about music. You get my drift?

Myrtle, I'm curious, in what ways do you think Agent Orange, Fragging, PTSS, or My Lai had anything to do with pop culture? Certainly important concepts of the war, but the pop culture implications I am completely missing here.

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Riddick,

The reason I included those terms was because of the impact that each of them had on the national psyche.

Agent Orange - For the real effect that it had on the people and countries where it was used, and the attempted cover-up and scandal surrounding its' use. For our governments refusal to address the documented health problems that it caused many of us that were exposed to it.

Fragging - An extreme act that demonstated the duality and insanity of the US combat soldier during the conflict.

PTSS - The effects of PTSS were widely known by their symptoms for many years prior to Vietnam, but it was only after Vietnam, when serious & significant studies were conducted, that the far reaching impact of PTSS was finally acknowledged.

My Lai - The My Lai massacre was a fulcrum of the turning point of American support for our administration's 'Vietnamization' policy. The actions of Calley and some of his troops were exposed to incredible scrutiny & publicity and further polarized US citizens surrounding the Vietnam war issue.

It's entirely possible that they mean more to me because of my closeness to them, but even in retrospect, I believe they did have an impact on most US citizens in a number of ways.

I'd like to suggest you include in your paper, the effects of professors, instructors, etc., who let their personal feelings/beliefs about the war affect their teaching. IMO, where we are today is, in no small measure, a result of that influence. Good and bad.