About the Vietnam War
What was the Vietnam War?:
The Vietnam War was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of vietnam under a communist government and the United States attempting to prevent the spread of communism.It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam The North Vietnamese army was supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies and the South Vietnamese army was supported by the United States, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies and the war is therefore considered a Cold War. Dates of the Vietnam War: 1959 -- April 30, 1975 |
Arrival in Vietnam:
The arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. From the time of the arrival of the first members of the Team in 1962 almost 60,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 521 died as a result of the war and over 3,000 were wounded. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War.
Conditions during the War:
To serve in Vietnam was to serve in a hot, humid tropical environment. To serve inside an armoured vehicle during the war was to compound the discomfort of a climate that was very foreign to most Australians. Alternating between an unpleasantly hot dry season and a wet season during which the relative humidity could approach 100 per cent, South Vietnam’s climate drained men of energy and demanded high levels of endurance. The dry season meant operating through a constant haze of dust that penetrated their clothing, permeated their pores and worked its way into their eyes and ears causing conjunctivitis and ear infections.
After the war:
For a long time after the war large numbers of Vietnam veterans felt that many in Australia blamed them, rather than politicians, for the war and the way it had been conducted. Images of the war, many still familiar, of children burned by napalm, of the dead of My Lai, of a South Vietnamese general summarily executing a member of the Viet Cong in the streets of Saigon, had an effect on public opinion and public understanding. Some veterans recall being abused as baby killers, rapists and murderers on their return. Even the RSL proved less than welcoming. Remarks by returned soldiers from earlier conflicts suggesting that Vietnam was not a real war hurt men seeking the comradeship and understanding of fellow veterans. By 1987 attitudes to the war had changed: Vietnam veterans were given a welcome home parade in Sydney. Some 25,000 veterans marched to the cheers of several hundred thousand onlookers. Five years later, in 1992, a National Memorial for the Vietnam War was unveiled on Canberra’s Anzac Parade.
The arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. From the time of the arrival of the first members of the Team in 1962 almost 60,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 521 died as a result of the war and over 3,000 were wounded. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War.
Conditions during the War:
To serve in Vietnam was to serve in a hot, humid tropical environment. To serve inside an armoured vehicle during the war was to compound the discomfort of a climate that was very foreign to most Australians. Alternating between an unpleasantly hot dry season and a wet season during which the relative humidity could approach 100 per cent, South Vietnam’s climate drained men of energy and demanded high levels of endurance. The dry season meant operating through a constant haze of dust that penetrated their clothing, permeated their pores and worked its way into their eyes and ears causing conjunctivitis and ear infections.
After the war:
For a long time after the war large numbers of Vietnam veterans felt that many in Australia blamed them, rather than politicians, for the war and the way it had been conducted. Images of the war, many still familiar, of children burned by napalm, of the dead of My Lai, of a South Vietnamese general summarily executing a member of the Viet Cong in the streets of Saigon, had an effect on public opinion and public understanding. Some veterans recall being abused as baby killers, rapists and murderers on their return. Even the RSL proved less than welcoming. Remarks by returned soldiers from earlier conflicts suggesting that Vietnam was not a real war hurt men seeking the comradeship and understanding of fellow veterans. By 1987 attitudes to the war had changed: Vietnam veterans were given a welcome home parade in Sydney. Some 25,000 veterans marched to the cheers of several hundred thousand onlookers. Five years later, in 1992, a National Memorial for the Vietnam War was unveiled on Canberra’s Anzac Parade.