When did it occur?
- last for 10 years from 1962-1972
Who was involved?
- countries involved were America, Australia, France, south Vietnam and north Vietnam
What was Australias's involment
- Australian 60,000 personnel were involved
Protest Movements
- first protests were small and non-violent
- in the early year Australias involment in the war was not widely opposed,
- As Australias commitment grew, as conscripts began to make up a large percentage of those being deployed and killed
- the public increasingly came to believe that the war was being lost, oppostion grew
- early 1970's more than 200,000 people marched in the streets of major cities in protest
- final stages of the war public opion began to change in 1969 55% of australians favoured withdrawing the troops.
- during 1970 and 1971 huge protests called Vietnam Moratoriums (stop the war) saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to protest.
Call of conscription
- Australia's national service scheme was introduced in 1964
- during the early years of the war, when Australia's contribution was limited to member of the regular army the public was disinterested
- only when the commitment increased to include national servicemen, particulary after 1968 Tet Offensive, did wide spread opposition to australia's participation in teh war develop
- after 1968 both United States and Australia began to withraw troops from Vietnam, teh period of major protest.
Public Treatment of vets from the war and ongoing health problems
- they didnt have a warm welcome home
- arrived at the dead of night
- people blamed them for the war and the way it had been conducted
- many soldiers had been abused as baby killers , rapists and murders on their return
- by 1987 attitudes towards the vets had changed they were given a welcome home parade in Sydney, 25,000 vets marched to the cheers of several hundred thousand onlookers
- many stories of disturbed veterans suffering from post-tramatic stress disorder and continuing to suffer from their time in Vietnam
