Social Injustice, Propoganda, and do-gooders

Men burning their orders to report to physical examinations
for the armed forces as a result of the draft.

In the Vietnam war a little over one third of the troops were there as a result of the draft-- the draft was a process of selecting soldiers of age to fight in the war.  Men between the ages of 18 and 25 were required to register for the draft.  Most of the men selected in the draft were from poor or working class families, a lot of the wealthier people were not selected which raised questions.  The troops were actually made up of twenty five percent poor, fifty percent working class, twenty percent middle class and very few upper class men.  Prominent people like Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney are believed to have avoided the draft, against regulation.  The draft took place mostly between 1955 and 1975.  The Government let these draft injustices occur which basically made it so that the war was being fought by the people that the country takes advantage of.  These social injustices in the draft angered American citizens and were acknowledged as wrong.

During the Vietnam War propaganda was used to convince men to become US soldiers and fight the war.  The government tried to promote the military through the media-- the media was their most powerful tool.  They used posters and other adds to appeal to everyone.  The government also put aside many race disputes for the war, the US was still struggling with racism during the early part of the war.  Blacks were welcomed into the war, not because the government wanted them but because they needed them and could use them as soldiers.  Over 50 billion posters and various pages were made and passed out during the Vietnam War.


After the war, Vietnam was left bearing the evidence of war.  One of the biggest things left behind reminding the Vietnamese people about the war are the land mines.  People step on the land mines all of the time, they are everywhere.  Thang Tran Xuan and Hung Tran Viet are some Vietnamese people trying to eradicate these unexploded ordnances.  They are trying to save lives and prevent un needed accidents that result in people being upset.  They train others how to disarm these bombs to prevent further grief from the war.  These people are everyday heroes, because they are saving lives and making steps forward to leave the war behind.