Ask Steve: Draft's Impact and related media

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Ask Steve: Draft's Impact (2:05)

Examine the effects of the draft on American people in the 1960's in this Ask Steve video. The draft for the Vietnam War brought with it anxiety and anger to many American households.

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Related Videos (10)

  • Ask Steve: Draft's Impact
    Ask Steve: Draft's Impact

    Video Clip (2:05)

    Examine the effects of the draft on American people in the 1960's in this Ask Steve video. The draft for the Vietnam War brought with it anxiety and anger to many American households.

    Video Clip (2:05)
  • Basic Training
    Basic Training

    Video Clip (3:21)

    After joining the military, the first step on the journey to Vietnam was basic training.

    Video Clip (3:21)
  • Barry Romo
    Barry Romo

    Video Clip (3:24)

    Fresh out of high school, Barry Romo enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve in Vietnam. Romo was awarded a bronze star for his efforts but grew disillusioned with the war and later joined a controversial group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

    Video Clip (3:24)
  • Arthur Wiknik
    Arthur Wiknik

    Video Clip (3:42)

    As an 18-year-old draftee, Arthur Wiknik was rushed through officer candidate's school. After one month in Vietnam he found himself in the middle of the battle of "Hamburger Hill"--one of the most notorious battles of the war.

    Video Clip (3:42)
  • Bob Clewell
    Bob Clewell

    Video Clip (3:35)

    Bob Clewell dropped out of college to join the Army, and arrive in Vietnam just weeks after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. During his third tour, he was trained as a helicopter pilot, providing air support for ground troops during the Lam Son 719 offensive.

    Video Clip (3:35)
  • Raymond Torres
    Raymond Torres

    Video Clip (2:52)

    Navy medic Raymond Torres joined the Navy to attend medical school and was assigned to a Marine Corps company. While tending to wounded Marines during the Khe Sanh battle, Torres was critically injured when a grenade exploded near him.

    Video Clip (2:52)
  • Keith Connolly
    Keith Connolly

    Video Clip (4:31)

    Air Force pilot Keith Connolly was among the first USAF units to be stationed within South Vietnam. During his second tour, he flew F-4 Phantoms targeting the Ho Chi Minh Trail and witnessed two of his men go missing after his plane had been hit.

    Video Clip (4:31)
  • Gery Benedetti
    Gery Benedetti

    Video Clip (3:18)

    Gery Benedetti was a member of the "Brown Water River Rats," whose missions were a crucial but dangerous component of the American combat operation in Vietnam.

    Video Clip (3:18)
  • Donald Devore
    Donald Devore

    Video Clip (3:22)

    in the summer of 1968, Donald Devore was drafted and sent off to basic training. Devore was assigned to an artillery unit in Vietnam and after four months, was granted leave to attend the birth of his first child.

    Video Clip (3:22)
  • A Soldier's Story: Hamburger Hill
    A Soldier's Story: Hamburger Hill

    Video Clip (4:41)

    In 1969, Arthur Wiknik found himself in one of the Vietnam War's most notorious battles.

    Video Clip (4:41)

Related Speeches & Audio (10)

  • Chicago Seven Trial
    Chicago Seven Trial

    Audio Clip (1:39)

    During a press conference on October 14, 1969, Tom Hayden, one of the defendants in the trial of the Chicago Seven, offers his view on prosecutor Thomas Foran's most recent accusations. The Chicago Seven—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot for their participation in the Vietnam War protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

    Audio Clip (1:39)
  • Ford Offers Clemency to Draft Evaders
    Ford Offers Clemency to Draft Evaders

    Audio Clip (1:20)

    On September 16, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed a proclamation that would offer Vietnam War draft evaders the chance to earn clemency by performing alternative service for their country. In a speech to the American people, Ford defends his decision as one that's best for the nation.

    Audio Clip (1:20)
  • North Vietnam Disregards Ceasefire Agreement
    North Vietnam Disregards Ceasefire Agreement

    Audio Clip (4:44)

    In an October 12, 1973, interview, Col. Le Gran, U.S. deputy director of intelligence, discusses the discovery that North Vietnam installed SA-2 missiles in the southern city of Khe Sanh shortly after a ceasefire agreement prohibiting military incursion in South Vietnam was signed on January 27 of that year.

    Audio Clip (4:44)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress Report
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress Report

    Audio Clip (0:57)

    In his progress report on World War II on July 28, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt informs the nation that "the first crack in the Axis has come" as Italian Premier Mussolini falls from power.

    Audio Clip (0:57)
  • Truman Announces Germany's Surrender
    Truman Announces Germany's Surrender

    Audio Clip (2:04)

    In a May 8, 1945, radio broadcast, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Germany, but reminds Americans that the war wages on in the Far East.

    Audio Clip (2:04)
  • Truman Announces Japan's Surrender
    Truman Announces Japan's Surrender

    Audio Clip (1:57)

    On September 1, 1945, in a radio address to the American people, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Japan, formalized aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.

    Audio Clip (1:57)
  • Lyndon Johnson Considers Troop Increase in Vietnam
    Lyndon Johnson Considers Troop Increase in Vietnam

    Audio Clip (5:02)

    In June 1965, shortly after a coup in South Vietnam led to the 10th change of government in the war torn country, an attack by the North Vietnamese destroyed three U.S. aircraft at Danang. During a recorded telephone conversation with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara on July 2, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson contemplates whether the war can be won.

    Audio Clip (5:02)
  • John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam
    John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam

    Audio Clip (6:06)

    On October 29, 1963, President John F. Kennedy meets with the National Security Council to discuss whether to support the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. During the secretly recorded conversation, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the president craft a detailed plan involving Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to South Vietnam, Gen. Paul D. Harkins and the general of the South Vietnamese military, hoping to avoid setting off a civil war in the country.

    Audio Clip (6:06)
  • Nixon Orders Invasion of Cambodia
    Nixon Orders Invasion of Cambodia

    Audio Clip (1:02)

    On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon asks the American people to support his decision to send troops into Cambodia in response to North Vietnam’s invasion of the country.

    Audio Clip (1:02)
  • Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara Plan Airstrikes in Vietnam
    Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara Plan Airstrikes in Vietnam

    Audio Clip (3:31)

    In a recorded phone call on February 26, 1965, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President Lyndon B. Johnson discuss possible airstrikes in Vietnam.

    Audio Clip (3:31)

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