1967 Students Debate Vietnam On National Television - The Charlottesville Virginia Community

This is an extraordinary debate in part because of where it was recorded. Not New York City. Not Boston, Madison Wisconsin, San Francisco or other antiwar hotspots for protests. In the fall of 1967, a television crew traveled to Charlottesville Virginia to see how one college town was looking at the Vietnam War. The TV special tried to uncover the attitudes and emotions toward the war in a “typical“ American town . From an American Legion meeting to a ministers’ conclave and from a University of Virginia teach-in to the mother of a dead soldier, the program captured one community’s range of feelings and widespread uncertainty about the war. In the early 1960s the majority of Americans supported the war. This was largely due to the government’s claim that the war was a necessary measure to stop the spread of communism, as part of the wider Cold War strategy. As the war dragged on with increasing American casualties and little sign of a clear victory, public support began to wane. By 1967 when this video was recorded, public sentiment began to shift more substantially against the war, driven in part by a rising “anti-war“ movement, particularly among younger people, and by significant media coverage of the war’s realities. This was also the year where there were major protests against the war. The comments in this clip express a variety of points of view that existed in Charlottesville Virginia at the time. The local newspaper supported the war and the government through editorials. Although a local company gained substantial business from military contracts, many employees did not support the war. Veterans and Army Reserve members expressed differing views on the purpose of the war. Many of Charlottesville’s draft age young people seemed willing to support the . but were joining the Reserve, Navy, or Air Force in order to avoid the draft. The Charlottesville Junior Chamber of Commerce and Veterans organizations were supportive of war efforts, but some veterans express concern about methods and hoped for an end to the war. A University of Virginia professor argued that the government had not made the purpose of the war clear to young people, creating confusion and anger. Members of the ROTC generally expressed support for the Vietnam War, arguing that the U.S. has an obligation to destroy the communist threat but at the same time these young men did not understand the war and did not want to be drafted. Some University of Virginia professors were against the war but were unsure how to bring it up in class. David Nolan of the Southern Student Organizing Committee said that most students wanted to avoid the draft whether they supported the war or not, and came to him for help: some moved to Canada. Charlottesville ministers expressed concern about how the war was affecting their congregations, arguing about how the Vietnam War was different from other American wars, and what determined its morality. After Anthony Jones died in Vietnam, the Jones family expressed grief, anxiety, and confusion about the war. Their ideas about the war came from Anthony’s letters than the news: Anthony believed he was fighting for a good cause. His mother was troubled by requests that showed he was not equipped with basic necessities. I post videos like this with the hope that I will pick up advertisers who choose to advertise on this clip. I want to thank the current advertisers who include: wounded warrior support foundation. Veterans compensation and pensions. Veterans compensation for asbestos. JG Wentworth military disability. Best veterans disability advocate. Military family and readiness Center. Financial assistance for military spouses. Military moral help. Vietnam veterans. Black Vietnam veterans. US Army officer career. Civil rights advocates groups. List of civil rights attorneys. Civil and political rights law firm near me. Discrimination lawyer. Founder of NAACP. Civil rights advocacy groups. Black veterans organizations. Trauma residential treatment. Get self-help PTSD. PTSD. PTSD treatment center. Best PTSD treatment center. Inpatient trauma treatment center. David Hoffman Filmmaker