media's role in the anti-vietnam war movement

The civilian understanding of war is based directly on the images in our newspapers, films, and newscasts. The media, and in particular the visual media, has played an integral role in the shaping of our society and collective understanding of the world around us. “Much of the ‘truth’ of the Vietnam War was produced by the correspondents, TV reporters and photographers, who numbered over 650 at the height of the war, and much of the form of that ‘truth’ was in the visual images” (Hamilton, 1986). In the Civil War there was Mathew Brady, with his evocative portraits, and stark scenes of the carnage of the battlefield. World War II had Joe Rosenthal and his iconic image of US troops planting the American flag on the summit of Mt. Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima, W. Eugene Smith and his striking images from the South Pacific, and Robert Capa’s images, which can only be described as real and sudden. The Korean War had David Douglas Duncan, whose images depicted the piercing eyes of men too accustomed to death (Leeson, 2005). It is no surprise then that the media would become the catalyst and driving force behind the protests, rallies, and resistance to the United State’s Vietnam War.
It is said that the media brought the Vietnam War into America’s living rooms, and “the Vietnam war gave clear evidence that at least for that war the political leaders were the last to take steps to end the war – ‘the people’ were far ahead.” (Zinn, 1980). It was the Journalists that gave the American People the evidence they needed to fuel their convictions.
Journalists exercised a great amount of freedom and power in the way they were able to collect information and craft stories about the war. Photographers in particular had a great amount of mobility when it came reporting from the frontlines, as well as the added advantage of a visual medium with which to communicate their findings. "No war was ever photographed the way Vietnam was, and no war will ever be photographed again the way Vietnam was photographed."(Buell, 2005) Said Hal Buell, former head of the Associated Press. Photographers operated independently of military groups, they traveled as they wished, for the most part covered anything they wanted, and as a result snapped some images that would stir an entire nation into unrest.
It is largely agreed that there are three defining images from the Vietnam war: Eddie Adams’ image of the execution of a suspected Viet Cong insurgent, Nick Ut’s photo of a nine-year-old girl running naked from a napalm attack, and Hubert Van Es’ photo of an American helicopter evacuating CIA agents during the fall of Saigon. “The Adams picture became one of the most reproduced images in history” (Pach, 1999). These three images together seem to outline the entire US conflict in Vietnam.
Eddie Adams’ execution photo was perhaps the spark that ignited the anti war movement in the late 1960’s. Adam’s is best known for one singular image, that of Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a suspected member of the Vietcong, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. This image is so simple, and yet also so powerful in the reactions of the three subjects in the photo. First there is the suspect: grimacing in the instant that a bullet enters his brain, the moment of death. Next, Loan, resolute and strikingly calm, “we see an ear, but Loan seems to lack a human face.” (Culbert, 1998) Third, the South Vietnamese soldier behind Loan winces in reaction to the abrupt gunshot. A man who is clearly overwhelmed by his situation and enraged by the number of his countrymen being killed executes a man suddenly, without trial. The photo and story behind it show the brutality of the American backed regime in South Vietnam. “No single event did more to undermine support in the United States for the war.” (Culbert, 1998) This image, after its publication, would be brandished by anti-war protestors across the globe because it symbolized the brutality of war, and the costs exacted on each individual. It is considered to be one of the catalysts of the anti-war movement in the United States.
Nick Ut’s photo of a group of children fleeing a South Vietnamese napalm attack is perhaps one of the most emotionally stimulating images of the Vietnam War. The depth of human emotion expressed by the children is profound, and the image of this girl running naked down the road is visually accosting. On her face a look of shear terror, her arms half raised and hands dangling limply at the wrists. “Her pose is a biblical allusion, resembling that of Jesus on the cross, and like Jesus, she is suffering for the actions of others.” (Dunlap, 2009) The boy in the foreground cries with his mouth gapping wide, you can almost hear his wails. A girl in the middle ground pulls what appears to be her little brother along with her as they run. A very young girl in the background looks back and almost seems lost. And finally, dark black smoke billows up in the far background, several structures appear to peek out of the smoke. Soldiers walk along the road as well, they seem unconcerned, one appears to be fiddling with something in his hands as he walks along, and they do nothing to help these children. This photo speaks to so many themes: the US’s lack of real help to the Vietnamese, the destruction and pain of war, and the brutality of the South Vietnamese government who dropped the napalm by mistake on this village. The themes are clear, and the photo, widely accessible. As a result it served to motivate many people within the movement, and chronicle the events and feelings of the time. With its depth of emotion, and powerful message, this photo was quickly picked up by the anti-war movement and used as further support for the injustice of the Vietnam War.
In the Anti-Vietnam War movement media, and in particular, visual media, played the role of fact finder, and support winner for the movement. The media was able to scrutinize every move made in the Vietnam war because of its seemingly limitless access to footage, and as a result the public was able to bear witness as well. The media was not so much a part of the nonviolent movement as it was a supplier of information. Through the increased attention on the war the anti-war movement gained more support. The media played the role that it always plays in nonviolent movements, that of informer, and advertiser.
If visual media, particularly Adams’ photo, had an important part in starting the anti-war movement, then it was print media that put the nails in the coffin for US involvement in Vietnam. Print media was important through out the movement. Pamphlets were dropped by airplane on Navy bases by Naval nurse, Lieutenant Susan Schnall (Zinn, 1980); essays provided an intellectual voice to the movement, and several books were also written in order to make the argument against the war. These were all important during the movement, however; perhaps the most important anti-Vietnam war document to ever be published was the news article containing the leaked memos of the US government, the “Pentagon Papers.” The New York Times was the first to publish the Pentagon Papers on June 13, 1971. It would print three articles on the subject until it was court ordered to desist, at which time other newspapers took up the story. The Pentagon Papers outlined the extensive network of lies, subterfuge and illegal activities undertaken by the US government in relation to South East Asia. They began with revealing how the “Gulf of Tonkin incident” which lead to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, effectively the declaration of war, was all a hoax. It outlined the elaborate scheme of setting up a puppet government in South Vietnam, and then orchestrating a coupe to overthrow it when it was unsuccessful. They contained the arguments for extending bombing sorties into Cambodia and Laos, Starvation campaigns against the Vietnamese involving the destruction of the countries stationarity. A major motif of the papers was the fear that the US government was losing support, or would not be able to garner enough support, from the American people. It was clear, even in these government memos, that the anti-war movement had deeply troubled the government. The Pentagon Papers were the final nail in the coffin. After the Supreme Court decision on June 30th, 1971 that affirmed the New York Times, and Washington Post’s first amendment right to publish the papers public opinion turned so against US. Involvement in Vietnam that it was only a matter of time, through protests and other nonviolent measures outlined above before the US government would withdraw from Vietnam.