Blacks And Vietnam War

Blacks and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War was one of the wars fought during the cold war era. This war was fought between the U.S.A and Vietnamese army, Vietnamese being supported by the Soviet Union and other communist allies. The war as initially fought by small units in the form of guerilla war against the non-communist forces in the region. At times it became more conventional warfare in which large units were committed to attacking the non-communist forces.
U.S.A and the South Vietnam fought the communist forces and the reason for U.S forces to intervene in Vietnam was to encounter the growth of communistic approach of Soviets Union. This was ultimately the outcome of the containment policy formulated by the U.S to stop the expansion of Soviets which took its toll after the Second World War.
The black involvement was immense during the Vietnam war with highest proportion of blacks serving in the war. Blacks made up 12 % of the population and during the high stages of the war from 1965-69, the total percentage of blacks was really high, they made almost 12.6 % of soldiers present in the Vietnam war representing the U.S.A. Majority of them being in infantry forces and facing huge lot of combat fatalities. They did face discrimination during the war as well, unequal treatment and delayed racial progress in the U.S led to riots during the war in military bases and ships. The issue was taking its toll back in the country as well.
Though the blacks have served the countries armed forces during almost every war fought in the U.S including world war one and two they faced serious discrimination with in the ranks of the forces rather than from the enemy. The alleged misuse of blacks in the war and the civil rights movement on the rise in the U.S which included riots as well was not properly handled and as stated by Martin Luther the Vietnam conflict as racist—"a white man's war, a black man's fight." This was because of the fact that blacks were in greater proportion and were greatly undermined in the efforts they put through during the war.
Non-violent movement was also being carried out with the blacks not getting their rights, the basic right to vote as a citizen for instance was being denied to them. Hence the mismanagement of and non-acceptable behavior with blacks during the war worsened the issue. Movements leaded by Martin Luther King Jr. being non-violent as compared to that of Malcolm X which consisted of more riots, also movements in different regions took its toll with the two leaders being more prominent, with Malcolm X being one of the first African American leaders to oppose the Vietnam War.
Statements put forward by student non-violent coordinating committee asked that “blacks should not fight war for white men freedom until all men in Mississippi are free. Amid the early years of the war, understudies selected in school could acquire delays from military administration. Numerous center and privileged whites were likewise ready to satisfy military commitments by joining the Army Reserve or the National Guard. This led to greater number of black men being recruited than white with the proportional difference 64% consisted of black and just 31 % consisted white men who qualified for the forces. They were recruited through the program called project 100,000 which focused on recruiting poor and uneducated blacks to enlist in the armed forces by lowering the overall conditions for recruitment.
Martin Luther took a strong stance against the war as well, with many other black leaders to follow. He strongly opposed the administrations involvement in the South East Asia also stating the importance of not neglecting the world issues and being solely focused at domestic racial issues. Stating this at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) he did face criticism but eventually SCLC conferred to it as well.
Types of abuses black troops faced were different in aspect for instance majority of the black troops were routinely given the most dangerous combat assignments. Discussing, the fact that black’s soldiers suffered a lot of causalities 20% which eventually did decrease to 11% to 13% after this.
After the assassination of Martin Luther riots were on the rise back in U.S and black troops serving in the war starting having about the fact that whether they serving a national interest or the interest of the whites, with blacks on the front line. The black troops recruited through the program called project 100,000 faced some serious concerns. They weren’t given proper promotions even though much larger part of the force was black yet only 2% of the officers were black.
Unfair military justice system exploited the black as well, where the black troops were given harsher punishments than the white counterpart who committed similar crimes done during their services. Black not being compensated at all with white soldiers being released at times resulting in military detention facility being filled with majority of black troops.
For many Black soldiers light dawned under fire. In his book Giant Steps, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar describes what happened to his friend Munti:
"My man Munti, who had lived in my building, went to Vietnam all gung-ho. He was a point-man on patrol in the jungle and loving it. Then one day his squad walked right into a horseshoe, a classic Viet Cong ambush where they let you move forward until you're almost encircled and then open fire from 270 degrees. Most of the guys in his unit were hit, and Munti got a flesh wound, some shrapnel in the mouth. They were pinned down, some guys dying, when the VC stopped shooting and yelled to them, in English, "Why are you fighting us, soul brothers?" As quickly as the ambush had begun it dispersed. Munti went wild after that. His political awareness had been magnified a thousand times; his life had been spared. From then on Munti decided he just wasn't going to fight anymore." One famous quote popular among the black troops was “ no Vietnamese ever called me nigger”
The Black Panther Party issued calls to Black to "Either quit the Army, now, or begin decimating it from within." And numerous blacks from the mistreated nationalities thought the time was ideal for vicious upset. One survey found that 76 percent of Black troopers backed Black Panther pioneer Eldridge Cleaver and were truly managing the topic of the furnished topple of the U.S. government. Also more than couples were making some solid arrangements for these actions to be carried out showing how brutal after affects the treatment of blacks eventually could have cost the state.

It can evidently be seen the exploitation of blacks did affect the civil right movement back home with the leaders strengthening their causes. Even after the assassination of Martin Luther the movement didn’t stop. Racial discrimination in the U.S.A was present but the racial discrimination during the war, black troops being maltreatment; not being given fair treatment was surprising to see. It became more than evident that there was the need for blacks to fight for their right. When white men not putting in enough effort to find a common ground while serving together in a war was really troublesome.
Despite all this it did not stop blacks from committing tremendous acts of bravery for their country. A few of the blacks being awarded the Medal of Honor for their tremendous acts of bravery they committed during the Vietnam War. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Specialist Five Lawrence Joel first living African American to be presented with the honors after the Mexican-American war. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for a "very special kind of courage—the unarmed heroism of compassion and service to others." Serving as a medic in 1965 then-Specialist Five Lawrence Joel and his battalion ofparatroopers were sent on a patrol for Viet Cong soldiers near Bien Hoa, warzone "D" in the heart of Vietnam, conducting Operation Hump. Joel and his battalion shortly found themselves in a Viet Cong ambush, outnumbered six to one. He defied orders and stayed in Vietcong, facing heavy gunfire and assisting the American troops, even though he was shot twice he carried on with his duty therefore committing one of the highest standards of bravery seen throughout the Vietnam War. On April 8, 1967, the city of Winston-Salem held a parade, the first run through the city had ever held a military parade to perceive a solitary individual,to respect Lawrence Joel. He experienced childhood with the east side of the city, a transcendentally African-American area of the city at the time. The New York Times called it the greatest tribute the city had ever arranged. The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is dedicated to his honor.
Other notables include James Anderson Jr. who received Medal of Honor after his death for performing highest standards of bravery during the Vietnam War. He became first African American U.S marine to receive this honor. Advancing in dense jungles in of Cam lo in an effort to extract a heavily besieged reconnaissance patrol, they came under heavy fire. A grenade thrown at them landed very near them. With no regard for his personal safety he wrapped himself around the grenade to safeguard the fellow troops.
In 1968, U.S. Armed force Captain Riley Leroy Pitts turned into the first African American commissioned officer to be honored the Medal of Honor with President Lyndon presenting the honors to his wife, his son and daughter. He showed tremendous acts of valor while defending his troops and serving as a company commander during an airmobile assault. They came under heavy fire on landing and defending his troops by moving forward, continuously firing on the enemy positions while urging his men to keep moving forward. He did so without any regard for his own putting himself at stake to ensure the successful completion of the mission. Being in a compromised position he suffered a fatal wound and gave his life for the service of the country.
Sergeant C. Goff serving in the infantry forces received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his commendable service during the Vietnam War. Admiral Samuel .L Gravely Jr one of the notable navy black admirals to have served in the Vietnam war. He was the first African American to attain the status of captain, admiral, rear admiral and finally three-star vice admiral, the first to command a major naval warship, the first to command a warship under combat conditions since Robert Smalls during the Civil War and also the first to command a US Navy fleet. General Daniel James being other high ranked black official to have served during the Vietnam war. During his tour in Vietnam, James’ plane was hit fifty-six times by antiaircraft fire, knocking out one engine; and he was also forced to make a landing at an emergency strip in the middle of the jungle. James also saw a "first" during his military career; he became the first African American to achieve the status of four-star general.
In years to follow the black troops enlistment on the U.S armed forces grew to a considerable high level. The after effects of the civil rights movement were positive as the conditions now being more favorable for the black troops but not exactly ideal but better than before. Black troops enlistment in the involvement in the Gulf war was also commendable with many black troops serving in the Persian Gulf war. There also came a change in atmosphere of hatred towards black with the government taking certain steps to ensure this discrimination to decrease. It did take its time and its wasn’t and isn’t very ideal even to this day but it is a long step forward from what the conditions were a few decades ago. Since the end of military isolation and the making of an all-volunteer armed force, the American military has seen the representation of African Americans in its positions climb abruptly.
In 1989 army General Powell was the first, and is so far the only, African American to hold the position of Joint Chief of staff after being appointed by President George Bush Sr., serving as the chief military advisor and the secretary of defense. During his tenure which ended in 1993 Powell oversaw the 1989 United States invasion of Panama leading to the driving out General Manuel Noriegaand and the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. General William.E.Ward was the first commander of the new United States Africa command. The evolution of the mindset is notable shown by the fact that Barack Obama became the first African American president in the history of the United States of America.

Resources used: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/stevens/africanamer.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans http://www.amistadresource.org/civil_rights_era/black_opposition_to_vietnam.html http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/african-americans-in-combat/ http://www.vvawai.org/archive/sw/sw31/pgs_25-34/black_gis_revolt.html http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/blackhistorymonth/
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