In 1962, the United States became involved in the Vietnam War out of fear of the "domino theory." South Vietnam was threatened by communist North Vietnam, and if one southeast Asian country fell under the control of the communists, according to this theory, then others would fall like dominoes. The war between the north and south began in 1957. The U.S. became militarily involved in 1962. In 1965, American combat personnel were formally committed to the defense of South Vietnam. The war continued until 1973 for the United States, and until 1975 for the Vietnamese. The north won. The north used guerilla warfare, and the south used defoliation. In battle the U.S. lost 57,605 men, with 303,700 injured in battle. The U.S. spent $165 billion on the war. South Vietnam suffered 220,357 casualties, while North Vietnam suffered 499,000 deaths. In the following article, my father, Keith Hopkins, describes his experiences as a teenager growing up during the war.
Chris Hopkins
The war was between 1962 and 1973 so I was a teenager between the ages of 13 and 18. I really was not aware of what was going on until I was in high school, but I think I would have gone to Vietnam to support the government and to fight for my country. I did not really know anyone my age that got drafted because we were all too young. Well, they did have a draft lottery when I became 18 years old, but my number was 200 and something. Therefore, I was not drafted. However, right after the draft, Richard Nixon ended the war in 1973.
Certain students were excluded from the draft, along with people who had physical problems. I had some relatives who fought in Vietnam, but they were distant cousins. These people were mostly my older sister's age, but people my own age were too young for that war so we really did not talk about it very much.
People had mixed emotions toward the war. A lot of the older generation that had served in World War Two supported the government in its battles over in Vietnam. I do not think there was anybody in my community that was anti-war. I think that I basically supported the government but we were all confused as to why we were over there. However, if I had been drafted, I would have definitely gone. Now that I think about it, I had one friend who was involved in the war, but he was stationed over in Cambodia and was part of the covert operations there. When the war ended, people were glad, but there was not a sense of victory in our actions in Vietnam. It was different because people did not associate with the war as they had in previous wars, unless they had family members or friends who were serving in the war. I remember the parades that they had in Lebanon, Ohio for the veterans. The parades had good turnouts and the veterans received a warm welcome. But most people just did not associate with the Vietnam War.
Keith Hopkins
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