Vietnam was a horrific battlefield of unrelenting gore and violence. Images from this war shocked the American public to their very core. This was due greatly to the fact that America had no precendence for this. Yes, America has fought bloody and trying wars but never before was a war shown with gruesome detail. Images of Vietnam were captured in color, on film, and then broadcast straight to the American people. In Chapter 12 of Streitmatter's text, the Vietnam War and the affects of the media on it and public opinion of it are discussed at length. But was the Vietnam War entirely impossible to win? Did media coverage leave US policy on Vietnam in such dire straits that the war could never have been one without media censorship? These are the kinds of questions that come to one's mind when discussing Vietnam.
In the 1950s, nothing was on the mind of Americans more than the threat of Communism. US policy was centered, mostly, around stopping the spread of Communism to countries around the world. In the early 50s President Truman sent aid to Vietnam in the hopes of keeping Communism at bay. However, by 1954 Ho Chi Mihn was running the Communist government of a North Vietnam in Hanoi. Support for South Vietnam continued even as administrations changed from Eisenhower to Kennedy to Johnson and eventually escalated from diplomatic support to outright military action. President Johnson encouraged Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution allowing him the ability to support any military decision taken against Vietnamese aggressors in the hopes of protecting US lives.
President Johnson began ordering military action by 1965. The number of soldiers in Vietnam was 175,000 that year with attacks and bombing runs being ordered frequently. However, being unfamiliar in this area, giving the Viet Cong home field advantage, and utterly unprepared for the way that the Viet Cong fought made casualties and deaths great for America. Over 58,000 American patriots would give their lives by the end of the Vietnam War. Before this though, in 1967, Johnson would again escalate and increase troop numbers to more than that of 500,000 to bolster efforts in the region.
As media began to evolve with the television entering the homes of Americans so too did the way that the news media brought its information to the general public. Television had the advantage of being far more gripping than print because of its natural ability to allow viewers to see with their eyes rather than their mind's eye. News media coverage of Vietnam generated more than 35 million viewers a night combined across the three major news outlets of CBS, NBC, and ABC. Even President Johnson recognized the powerful effect that this had on the nation and had a television for each network in the White House. Journalists during this time were free to do as the pleased in regards to the war, with the exception of a few things that weren't allowed reported before officially announced by Saigon. This freedom allowed journalists to report, unhindered, any and all news coming out of Vietnam. Reports such as Greg Harris and Jack Perkins were among many who reported daily on the brutality of the war. They'd talk with average soldiers who'd survived various battles or show remark at the destruction of entire villages.
(Soldier lighting a hootch with a lighter)
One of the first blows against the US war effort in Vietnam was that of an incident with a Zippo cigarette lighter. Journalist Morley Safer accompanied a group of GIs, at their request, on a raid of village. The soldiers entered the village in an orderly fashion and then one by one began to burn down every hut in the village with no more than handy lighters. They made an effort to tell civilians to leave the village and avoid the pyres but, without anyone speaking in Vietnamese to the locals, the effort was considerably little. When the report aired, Safer gave his narration not just with facts but with disdain for what he had witnessed. His words were clear to the American public and, in the eyes of the public, for CBS it was a shot against US policy, military, and against so many soldiers fighting and dying in Vietnam. The American people flooded CBS's phone lines with outrage and even President Johnson called the President of the network to voice his considerable anger at how he could have allowed American efforts to be shown in such a bad light.
At the end of January in 1968, one of the biggest blows against US military effort in Vietnam and public opinion of the war would take place. The Tet Offensive launched a series of coordinated attacks against soldiers, military bases, and US controlled areas. Even the Embassy in Saigon, said to be impenetrable by US military, was attacked and sustained deaths and casualties. Fighting would continue for more than a week after the Tet Offensive. Until this attack, the American people had been lead to believe that the war was an overwhelming success. The gruesome images the public had been enduring for years were the 'price of victory.' Now however, they were senseless deaths that had served no purpose other than to show America that President Johnson was incapable of winning this war.
The fighting that ensued after the Tet was shown for days. It captured the attention of everyone in the nation. With journalists everywhere there was no short of blood drenched action to be shown to the viewing public each night as they gathered around the television. CBS and NBC wasted no time at all and began airing specials on the Tet by day three of the violence. This gave the public an idea of the scope of the attack and how damaging it had been not only to the image of the war itself but their opinions of it. Though the Tet Offensive had a major impact on the image of the war it had in fact been a military failure for the Viet Cong. US forces quickly came back against their attackers by recouping their lossed and fighting off any remaining Viet Cong. Reporters such as Jeff Gralnick and Joseph Harsch conveyed to the American public that the Viet Cong were strong and unrelenting in their efforts against the US. This painted the war effort in a terrible color furthering opinion against it. Jack Fern, a field producer, insisted though that NBC air a special about how unsuccessful the Tet Offensive had been for the Viet Cong. NBC executives ignored this plea, content with the fact that it had already been considered a failure for America and that there was no point in trying to change public opinion on the matter.
Another damning moment for the Vietnam War was the televised execution of a man. Howard Tuckner and his cameramen caught on film the execution of an enemy combatant by Vietnamese military leader General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The prisoner was bound and blind folded. He was taken to the General by two soldiers after failed interrogations. The General dismissed the soldiers and then proceeded to pull out a pistol and aim it the man's head. The General pulled the trigger subsequently eviscerating the inside of the man's skull. The entire horrific incident captured on film. Tuckner contacted NBC headquarters as soon as possible with the details of the event. The most compelling of which was that NBC was the only network with actual footage of the execution taking place in gore laden brilliance.
Robert Northshield aired the footage on the Huntley-Brinkley Report censoring nothing but the very end of the film where blood is seen gushing out, deeming this too intense an image for the the viewing public. The film itself, however, still shocked America. It depicted someone supported so strongly by the US executing a man, like an animal, without so much as a trial. This brutality and violation of natural human rights disgusted the American public and went against central values held by America as a nation and as an example to the world. Journalists such as Don Oberdorfer and Edwin Newman echoed the cries of the people that the war was senseless, violent, wrong, and with no victory in sight that they were becoming entirely unable to support it any longer.
Certain public figures have the ability to sway public or general opinion of cities, states, or entire nations. These are the figures that the people turn to for guidance and information so that they can live their lives confidently and without fear. These are not just political and religious figures however. They can be reporters like that of the renowned Walter Cronkite who helped to guide America through some of the most troubling times of our history. Cronkite was a powerful force for public opinion. Every night he would report to public the day's news with the kind of care and professionalism that is so rare to find and yet so necessary to a journalist. After the Tet Offensive Cronkite found it difficult to hold back his own opinion.
Much like every other American, Cronkite was shocked by the Tet. We had been lead to believe that victory for the war was within our grasp but now not only had we been lied to but victory seemed further away than ever if not out of reach all together. Cronkite's reports from Vietnam were watched by the nation with great intensity. Cronkite remarked that not only had the Tet been a failing on both sides but that the war seemed as though it was an outright stalemate. For the nation this was as if the war had been officially declared as a loss and resounding waste. Even President Johnson took Cronkite's words as a harsh truth and not long afterwards followed by declaring that he would decrease efforts in Vietnam and that he would not run for another term in office.
This open the flood gates for the news media. Vietnam was no longer just painted in the red of blood and gore it was now painted in a gray of doubt. Reports on Vietnam began to become increasingly about how the war was pointless, wrong, and that US policy should cease and desist efforts in Vietnam. The American public took a firm and negative stance against the Vietnam War from then on. Other reports began to show the people that the war was started not for the sake of what's right but solely for political gain. The Pentagone Papers was a scandal the government didn't want on top of all the trouble already being endured with Vietnam. Although, the Supreme Court even supported the news media in these efforts to show the truth to the public refusing to allow censorship claiming that it did not endanger American security.
Until this point, Americans had taken a strong stance against war protesters and for a long time they had been viewed as anti-patriotic, anti-establishment, America hating rabble rousers. Now though, the public began to sympathize with war protesters and even agree with them. The news media began to reflect this change as well. Coverage of protesters and rallies against the war were looked at in an entirely different view. Backed by public opinion these rallies were now, somehow, legitimate to the public. Even Cronkite himself changed his opinion of these protests. In 1969, reporting on the Anti-War Moratorium he used words of sympathy, support, and encouragement to these Americans that were, in the only way they knew how, trying to get the US to end the war.
Many factors contributed to the failure and end of the Vietnam War. Some of these were inherent while others were the result of outside sources. The news media's uncensored and unrelenting coverage of the sheer brutality of Vietnam certainly hurt the American efforts in the war. However, while the news media was well within their rights to bring this information straight into the homes of every American they did so irresponsibly. Many people aren't able to handle that sort of information and many more don't realize this until after they've already witnessed it. War by definition requires the acceptance of many neccessary evils many of which an average American is either unaware of or would rather be unaware. This however, often causes the glossing over of too many core values and moral guidelines that were supposed to uphold. Therefore, while the media might have destroyed any chance of a prolonged victory in the Vietnam War they did so to protect the sanctity of American values.
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