“Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America--not on the battlefields of Vietnam.” -Marshall McLuhan, 1975

“How I Learned to Sweep” (By Julia Alvarez) What was she watching? Describe the floor. Who was speaking on tv and about what topic? What do the terms “dragonflies” and “beautiful green gardens” mean? What prompted her to sweep harder? What does “dust” in the poem represent? What made things clean again? How does the poem reflect the media’s effect on America’s perception of the war? Can viewing of actual combat on television affect one’s attitude about war? Explain.

Oct 6, 1966

Walter Cronkite reporting on Tet Offensive, 1968

1968 (Eddie Adams) General Nguyen Loan, chief of Vietnamese national police shooting a Vietcong captive

1963: Buddhist Monks Protesting the conflict occurring in Vietnam

Oct 1967

Arlington, VA…outside the Pentagon

May 3, 1971—The Nixon administration ordered the arrest of nearly 13,000 anti-war protesters calling themselves the Mayday Tribe who had begun four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on the first. They aimed to shut down the nation's capital by disrupting morning rush-hour traffic and other forms of nonviolent direct action, skirmishing with metropolitan police and Federal troops throughout large areas of the capital. The slogan of the Mayday tribe: "If the government won't stop the [Vietnam] war, we'll stop the government

Kent State Shootings

Kent State Facts 1. Nixon had announced widening of Vietnam War previous day

2. Students on campus gathered to protest 3. National Guard was called in to control crowds

4. National Guard opened fire on students

Students running as/after shots fired

5. 4 students were killed, 9 injured

4 killed, 9 injured (1 paralyzed)

Jackson State Shootings May 14-15, 1970 A group of student protesters were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve. This happened 10 days after the Kent State shootings.

New York University

Political and Social Effect Vietnam War: Political and Social Effect

1. Distrust of politicians/military 1973

2. Anti-war/violence movement

3. Counterculture: youths who valued spontaneity and individuality (“hippies”)

4. Returning soldier dislike Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Personnel returning to US (Feb. 15, 1968)

5. Freedom of “choice”—drugs/sexual revolution 1960

6. New fashion styles PEASANT SKIRTS GO-GO BOOTS HIP HUGGERS TIE DYE

7. Music: Woodstock 1969