The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was the longest military conflict in U.S. history.The hostilities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia claimed the livesof more than 58,000 Americans. Another 304,000 were wounded. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the NationalLiberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army.

Vietnam on Television

Vietnam was the first war to be played out on television. Michael Arlen called it the first “living room war”. During its time, the Vietnam War was the biggest news story, with the news room in Saigon being the third largest maintained by the networks. This television war had a huge impact on the way the public viewed the war, the people and the politics that surround war. The “horror of war” was brought to us every night with a current body count followed by pictures of the day’s battles. This war opened a new chapter in the books of photo-journalism as a way to sway public opinion.