The Vietnam War
Brought Conflict and Riots
By Judy Root
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and a major conflict of the Cold War. While the war was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, the north supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other countries in the Eastern Bloc, the south was supported by the US and anti-communist allies. This made the conflict a proxy war between the US and Soviet Union. Direct US military involvement lasted from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973.
The war exacted enormous human cost: estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million. Some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 US service members died. The US destroyed 20% of South Vietnam’s jungle and 20–50% of the mangrove forests, by spraying over 20 million U.S. gallons (75 million liters) of toxic herbicides, agent orange.
During the course of the war a large segment of Americans became opposed to U.S. involvement. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third believed the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops.
High-profile opposition to the war increasingly turned to mass protests. Riots broke out at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Reports of American military abuses, such as the My Lai Massacre, brought attention and support to the anti-war movement, some veterans joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The fatal shooting of 4 students at Kent State University in 1970 led to nationwide university protests. Anti-war protests declined after the Paris Peace Accords and the end of the draft in January 1973, and finally the withdrawal of American troops.
In the post-war era, Americans struggled to absorb the lessons of the military intervention. President Ronald Reagan coined the term “Vietnam Syndrome” to describe the reluctance of the American public and politicians to support military interventions abroad. US polling in 1978 revealed nearly 72% of Americans believed the war was “fundamentally wrong and immoral.”
The following interview appeared in the Gratiot County Herald March 24, 1966 with a local returning veteran, Ted Hegle.
An exploding land mine in Viet Nam less than two weeks before Ted Hegle of Ithaca was to return to the United States resulted in shrapnel injuries to his back and death to one of his companions.
“I was the least hurt,” stated Hegle upon his return home the past week. “Some of my buddies were not so fortunate, however. Of the eight men in the immediate vicinity of the explosion, one was killed and seven of us were injured.”
THE INCIDENT was one of several which were vivid in the mind of 22-year-old soldier who spent the last six months of his active Army career in South Viet Nam.
Hegle was with B Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, which was headquartered at Phouc Vinh, 50 miles north and a little east of Saigon. His unit surrounded an airstrip.
DURING these missions, there was usually some activity that reminded this Ithaca man that he was involved in a war.
“A Viet Cong concussion hand grenade put quite a dent in my ‘pot’ (helmet) on one mission. And, my assistant was lifted several feet into the air and knocked unconscious.”
Hegle reminisced on another occasion when during the night on a mission a member of his company was trampled by a 250-pound buck deer, requiring 12 stitches in the soldier’s chest. “You never knew what to expect next,” Hegle mused.
THE NEAR disastrous experience with the land mine came just 10 days before his completion of active duty.
“We were in company size, clearing Viet Cong soldiers in a rubber plantation, and checking the roads so U.S. convoys could proceed through,” Hegle remembers. “Eight men had walked over the land mine before it exploded. I was the fourth man ahead of the boy whose weight exploded it. When I realized that I was not too seriously wounded, although shrapnel had pierced my back, I hurried to assist the more critically wounded. I remained with the soldier who died of the injuries while he was being flown back to a hospital.”
Stitches from his back wounds were removed the day he cleared the company and began his flight back to the United States.
SOME OBSERVATIONS by this young man, who is the son of Mrs. Pauline Hegle of Ithaca and the late Clifford Hegle:
“My training prior to going to Viet Nam prepared me for what I was to encounter. Of course, one learns much from experience; and when you are fighting in a war, these experiences come early and you learn fast.”
“Demonstrations by certain groups back home against this country’s involvement in Viet Nam do considerable damage to the men’s morale. However, the many letters supporting your being there more than overcome the demoralizing effects of these other groups”
“I FOUND that news reporting of the war was fairly accurate and was reported within a few hours after the action.”
“The people of South Viet Nam for the most part, are friendly individuals, and show their appreciation of our presence in their country and our assistance in their cause.”
Hegle’s ambition for the future is to become a member of the Michigan State Police.