Conscription and Protest
This item was often burnt as a protest against conscription
Draft card
A boxer who famously refused to serve in Vietnam
Muhammad Ali
A search-and-destroy mission that involved numerous war crimes by US soldiers
My Lai Massacre
A geopolitical concept that suggests that changes in democracy or communism in one country can spread to neighbouring countries
Domino theory
A song about Australian experiences of the Vietnam War & the trauma suffered as a result.
("Can you tell me doctor, why I still can't get to sleep)
I Was Only 19 - Redgum
One reason why people were opposed to conscription
Racial tensions in US - did not want to fight for government
OR
Thought draft unfairly targeted working class
OR
Thought lack of choice in career was unfair
The leader of North Vietnam, remembered today as a national hero in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh
The alleged attack of a US naval ship by North Vietnamese forces; US justification for entering the war
Gulf of Tonkin incident
Armed resistance that used guerilla tactics against South Vietnamese & American armies
Viet Cong
A song despairing at the political situation of the mid-1960s, both in America and overseas
"The Eastern world, it is exploding / Violence flaring, bullets loading / You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'"
Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire
Form of peaceful mass protest that became very common in America and Australia
Moratorium
President of the United States that increased American military involvement in Vietnam
Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)
Event that marked the official end of the war, with a Communist victory
Fall of Saigon
A military conflict in which a third party directly or indirectly supports one army in an effort to influence the conflict’s outcome
Proxy war
A song protesting the unfairness of American conscription - specifically that richer people had more options of avoiding the 'draft'
"It ain't me, I ain't no senator's son"
Fortunate Son - CCR
Australian protest group led by mothers
Save Our Sons
President of United States that pursued 'Vietnamisation' and withdrew US troops
Richard Nixon
Tet Offensive
An economic system based on state or government control of the means of production
Communism
A song about an Australian war veteran who returns from Vietnam and is unable to settle into normal civilian life
"The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone"
Khe Sanh - Cold Chisel
University protest turned massacre, that was held in response to the bombing of Cambodia
Kent State shootings
The ineffective leader of South Vietnam, who was assassinated in 1963
The secret bombing of a neighbouring country to Vietnam, sanctioned by US President Richard Nixon
Bombing of Cambodia
An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production
Capitalism
A very famous American song about a Vietnam veteran's disillusionment with his country (often mistaken as a patriotic song)
"Sent me off to a foreign land / To go and kill the yellow man"
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen