LESSONS LEARNED: The Impact of the Vietnam War Today and the War on Terrorism 1.) Avoid being hasty. After the Tet Offensive, many Americans who were not already against the war started feeling very differently. "'What the hell is going on?' [Walter Cronkite] cried out to nobody in particular, slapping a swatch of press association copy on the newsroom table. 'I thought we were winning the war!'" (Oberdorfer 176) Up until now, Americans believed that the Vietnam War would be short and rather easy for US troops. American troops were unprepared for the stealth and intensity with which the Vietcong consistently came at them, and so were often unable to respond effectively. Compare this to the present war in Iraq and War on Terrorism: most Americans today thought that the war would be extremely quick, easy and without many American casualties. The Tet Offensive, like the war in Iraq, showed the American public and the government that the enemy were not a mere fly that could be swatted away and that the Vietnam War was far from over. 2.) Loss of innocence. So many Americans who went to fight in Vietnam were just out of high school or college-aged. Some went because they were proud to serve their country in the military; some went because they were drafted; some went because they didn't know what else to do; others went because they were running away from some personal pain. Most had no military, to say nothing of battle, experience. Becoming soldiers meant a lot of returning soldiers not only lost their innocence or their youth—they lost themselves. Although the idea of being "shell-shocked" was at least a century old, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder remained undiagnosed and unrecognized. Many Vietnam Vets would find that the help they needed wasn't awaiting them at home. The Vietnam War was the first war that was televised. Any residual ideas that people had about war being glorious and honorable were quickly dispelled when they saw the actual war and battlefields on the TV’s news. Americans were largely ignorant of what war was like. The immediate sight of death and violence shocked people and helped fuel increasing outrage and anger. Technology today has returned a certain amount of distance and access to what war is like, no matter how frequently one watches TV. Advancements have also meant that our soldiers who return from our current wars will have plenty of treatment options both medically and psychologically, as well as the support of their friends and family—something else many Vietnam Vets did not find at their homecoming. 3.) Shameful disillusionment. One of the worst consequences of the Vietnam War, that may truly have been a lesson learned, was how returning American soldiers were treated at homecoming. Almost every returning soldier had known at least one year filled with inhumane violence, death and gore, in a strange land and country. No matter what home may have meant to them before they left, home became not just their goal but their main sustenance in getting you through their term(s) of service. Meanwhile, each year the war became more unpopular among Americans, and they viewed the soldiers as the perpetrators of a war that was mainly viewed as wrong. Returning soldiers met with horrific treatment from strangers, family, friends, neighbors...the people and country they had served. The horrors of war Americans found in Vietnam were often treated with drug abuse, escapism, rage or suicide instead of scientific and familial aid due to lack of knowledge of study on the psyche and the inability of friends and family to relate to the soldiers’ experiences. Among the Vietnam veterans who are involved with the museum, support for the war is almost a 50-50 split—but all have explicitly expressed their own strong support of the current wars’ troops and their gratification that the general public seems to have learned the importance of this now as well. This support is what the Vietnam veterans put before all political or personal feelings on the war, and hope Americans today and tomorrow continue to do so.		TEACHER PACKET CONTENTS Chronology of the Vietnam War Roll Call: Important Names and Events in the Vietnam War Teaching Aid: Compare and Contrast Lesson Plans and Activities Recommended Reading and Media Lessons Learned: The Impact of the Vietnam War Today and the War on Terrorism Map of Southeast Asia in the 1960s Bibliography