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The Vietnam War
Study all the sources and then answer all the
questions.
SOURCE A
91%
of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served…74% said they would
serve again even knowing the outcome…There is no difference in drug
usage between Vietnam Veterans and non veterans of the same age
group…97% were discharged under honourable conditions; the same
percentage of honourable discharges as ten years prior to Vietnam…85%
of Vietnam Veterans made a successful transition to civilian life…
Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age
group by more than 18 percent… Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be
in prison - only 1/2 of one percent of Vietnam Veterans has been jailed
for crimes. 87% of the American people hold Vietnam Vets in high esteem.
Veterans
Administration study
SOURCE
B
An American antiwar
poster.
SOURCE C
Some 700 000
veterans, women as well as men, have suffered psychological effects: it
has been shown that they are far more likely than the rest of the
population to experience panic attacks, depression, drug addiction and to
be divorced or unemployed.
Shirley Judges – from a British book
published in 1994
SOURCE
D
Isolated
atrocities committed by American soldiers produced torrents of outrage
from antiwar critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so
common that they received hardly any attention at all. The United States
sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam
made attacks on civilians a centrepiece of its strategy. Americans who
deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists
who did so received commendations. From 1957 to 1973, the National
Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 South Vietnamese and abducted another
58,499. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on
anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel,
social workers, and schoolteachers.
Richard
Nixon
SOURCE
E
A
photograph of the My Lai Massacre
Study the sources carefully. You may use any of the sources to help you
answer the questions, in addition to those sources you are told to use. In
answering the questions you should use your knowledge of the topic to help
you interpret and evaluate the sources.
Study Sources A and C.
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How far do these two sources disagree about Vietnam
War veterans? [6]
Study Source B.
-
Do you
believe the claims made in Source B? [6]
Study Source D.
-
How useful is this source to the
historian interested in understanding why the USA left Vietnam? [8]
Study
Sources D and E.
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Does Source E
prove that Source D is wrong? [8]
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