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Blowing In The Wind (Live On TV, March 1963) 

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Song Lyrics

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Blowing In The Wind (Live On TV, March 1963)

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Song Lyrics

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History Today Magazine

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In the early 1970s, an obscure Louisiana-based country singer called Bob Necaise released 'Mr. Where is Viet-Nam'. In the song, Lil Gary Dee, a 'little boy not yet four years old', asks:

By December 1961, under President John F. Kennedy, the US had 3,205 military personnel stationed in Vietnam. By the end of the 1960s, this enigmatic country would become the most controversial issue facing the US, dividing society, debated in Congress, demonstrated for and against on the streets - and documented in song.

Vietnam has been called 'the First Television War'. But, as Billboard magazine reported on 4 June 1966, 'few conflicts have evoked such a spate of musical production'. As the magazine revealed, well over 100 Vietnam records had been released since that January alone. Fifty years on, more than 5,000 songs have been recorded about the war, forming an international conversation about a conflict that tore apart the fabric of politics, society and culture. With the US divided between 'hawks' and 'doves', music became a powerful communication tool for both sides.

'How many kids did you kill today?'

In the war's early stages, protest songs voiced the concerns of a minority movement. Most Vietnam songs released during Kennedy's presidency articulated a reluctance to be drafted. In 1962, the Californian folk duo Goldcoast Singers released 'Please Mr. Kennedy', with an unambiguous message to the president: 'I don't want to go'. Fewer than 80 American deaths were recorded between 1956 and 1962, compared to over 16,000 in 1968 alone.
Playlists of the songs mentioned in each section are placed throughout the article. Press play above to listen.
One of the earliest notable protest songs of the JFK-era was published in the New York folk magazine Broadside on 20 September 1963, two months before Kennedy's assassination. 'Talkin Vietnam' by Phil Ochs criticised the government for 'training a million Vietnamese, to fight for the wrong government, and the American way'. It also attacked South Vietnam's Catholic president Ngo Dinh Diem for his one family rule and suppression of the majority Buddhist population: 'families that slay together, stay together'. However, songs that focussed solely on opposing the Vietnam conflict were uncommon until 1964.

The turning point was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. On 10 August, Congress passed the resolution authorising President Lyndon B. Johnson to send hundreds of thousands of troops to maintain a non-communist South Vietnam. As US troop levels increased from 59,900 to 448,800 between 1965 and 1967, songwriters directed their anger at the president.

Distrust of LBJ was expressed by folk singer Tom Paxton in 'Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation' (1965). Paxton satirised the president's actions: 'though it isn't really war, we're sending 50,000 more'. In 'Hey, Hey LBJ' (1967), Bill Fredericks, backed by a group of children, asked 'how many kids did you kill today?'. Jacqueline Sharpe, a prominent folksinger and social activist, mocked the administration's stubborn insistence on sticking to its objective in her song 'Honor Our Commitment' (1966), 'even if the world goes up in the smoke of a mushroom cloud'.

On 30 April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr delivered a speech, titled 'Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam' at the Riverside Church in New York. It was later released by a Motown Records subsidiary. King pressed home the relationship between Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, pointing to the 'cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same school room', as well as the killing of 'little brown Vietnamese children'. King was not the first person to express this view. Nina Simone released 'Backlash Blues' in March 1967:

You send my son to Vietnam You give me second-class houses and second-class schools Do you think that all the coloured folks are just second-class fools?

For decades, Civil Rights groups had struggled with accusations of being unpatriotic and communist, leaving many black artists to tread cautiously. King's public move against the war opened the flood gates. Dozens of songs by black musicians drew comparisons between Civil Rights and Vietnam, including activist Matt Jones who refused to fight in 'Hell No! I Ain't Gonna Go' (1970), telling his audience that 'the Vietcong just like I am'.

In 1968, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched coordinated attacks against the South, infiltrating the US Embassy in Saigon. Following the Tet Offensive, public support for withdrawal from Vietnam increased from 19 to 55 per cent. The horrors of the war were becoming unignorable. The US dropped 388,000 tons of Napalm B on Indochina between 1963 and 1973. A jellied gasoline mixture, it stuck to skin, causing severe burns when on fire. A group of active-duty GIs from Idaho, called the Covered Wagon Musicians, offered an unflinching picture of the war in 'Napalm Sticks to Kids' (1972):

With public support for the war waning, withdrawal became a big issue in the November 1968 presidential election. Most candidates supported some form of withdrawal as songs began to emphasise the war's length, military failures and growing fatality rate. Bob Seger attacked the political system in '2 + 2 = ?' (1968): 'it's the rules not the soldier that I find the real enemy.'

Richard Nixon won the election and soon became the focus of protest. Three key events raised pressure on Nixon. Each of them inspired records. The first was the 'Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam', a mass demonstration which took place across the US on 15 October 1969, followed by a march on Washington on 15 November. Native-American folk artist Buffy Saint Marie released 'Moratorium' in 1971, in which she highlighted the increasingly diverse demographics of the protest movement in the early 70s:

The second was the Kent State demonstration on 4 May 1970, which protested Nixon's Cambodia incursion, an attempt to cut off North Vietnam's supply routes to the South via its neighbour. Four students were killed by the Ohio State National Guard. That the war's brutality had reached American soil shocked the nation. Within weeks Crosby, Still, Nash & Young released 'Ohio', placing blame firmly with the government. It was just one of more than 50 songs released about Kent State.

Third, in 1971 the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret study on the history of the war, commissioned in 1967, was leaked to the New York Times by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg. The papers revealed that the public had been misled about the war's progress. The resulting news coverage inspired Texas band Bloodrock's 'Thank You Daniel Ellsberg' (1972):

After the Tet Offensive and the subsequent turn in public opinion, commercially minded record labels became less afraid of releasing strong anti-war songs, for example Edwin Starr's 'War' (1970) on Motown. By the 1970s, anti-war songs came from a range of backgrounds and perspectives and permeated popular culture. Anti-war sentiment even spread into the traditionally conservative country genre. John Wesley Ryles' single 'Kay' (1968) featured 'two young soldiers' who tell the singer how they 'hate that war in Vietnam', while the wounded veteran in George Kent's 'Mama Bake a Pie' (1970) pointedly says:

Yes sir it was worth it for the old red, white and blue And since I won't be walking, I suppose I'll save some money buying shoes

But for every protest song decrying the war's pointless brutality, there was another side to the story.

The Silent Majority?

Anti-war sentiment fuelled a large discography, but so did anti-communist sentiment. Opinion polls showed vast support for presidential policy across the Heartland and Southern states, in areas with ties to agriculture and religion. Patriotic songs supporting the government and troops filled the country charts and radio stations from the JFK to the Nixon eras of the war.

Jimmy Jack's 'Battle of Vietnam' (1964) described the need to stop 'the Commie charge' in Vietnam and 'keep it free'. In 1965 The Lonesome Valley Singers released 'It's All Worth Fighting For', which articulated Dwight Eisenhower's Domino Theory. The country group sang:

I guess there are people who think we should go ahead and give Vietnam to the enemy But then what country would they demand next?
We've got to call a halt to this transgression somewhere
And it may as well be here in these jungles of South Vietnam

The US flag was an important symbol in patriotic songs. In Hank Snow's 1966 'A Letter From Vietnam', the narrator vowed he would do his best for 'old glory, the red, white and blue'. And, like the flag, previous conflicts were often alluded to as patriotic symbols. In 'What's Come Over This World' (1965), Billy Carr sang how

On 16 March 1968, 300-500 civilians were murdered by US troops led by platoon leader Second Lieutenant William Calley in the south Vietnamese villages of My Lai and Song My. The My Lai Massacre became one the war's most controversial events and inspired over 90 songs. But most of them supported Calley.

One of the most interesting of these was 'Thank God, Calley Wasn't Black' (1973) by James Armstrong. The song defended Calley's actions, but pondered what his fate may have been if he was an African-American. Would the public have been so lenient?

The most well-known song defending Calley was the 'Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley' (1971), by Terry Nelson, which sold over one million copies. But the massacre also became a symbol of an unjust war. The sleeve of Yoko Ono's 'Now or Never' (1972) featured a horrific photograph of bodies in a ditch taken by army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle. It was one of the most graphic images to appear on a Vietnam War record.

A significant number of pro-war songs were directed at the war's protestors and the perceived laziness, permissiveness and pacifism of the 'Flower Power' hippie generation. Jan Berry, member of the surf rock duo Jan & Dean, mocked the 'Universal Coward' (1965):

He just can't get it through his thick skull Why the mighty USA Has got to be the watchdog of the world Else that greedy USSR Will bury us from afar And he'll never see the missiles being hurled

The narrator of Jack Sanders' 'The Vietnam Blues' (1965), composed by Kris Kristofferson, comes across a 'strange looking bunch' of protestors gathering signatures to send a 'telegram of sympathy to Ho Chi Minh'. The veteran feels 'down right sick'. As the anti-war movement grew in the late 60s, a large number of records were recorded in support of Nixon. On 3 November 1969, the president had given a speech: 'to you, the great silent majority: I ask for your support'. Written in response, George Jay's 'The Real Silent Majority' (1969) expressed a desire to 'unite with you in your search for an honourable peace'.

'Now I'm 1-A'

According to the Veteran's Administration, of the 3.5 million people who went to Vietnam, 2.2 million did so via the draft. The experience is reflected in hundreds of songs. '1-A' was the classification for those eligible for service, a recognised phrase sung by Richie Kaye in 'Here Comes Uncle Sam' (1965): 'I'm through with school, now I'm 1-A, I got a letter, they are taking me away'.

The line between 'hawks' and 'doves' was clearly demarcated in songs relating to the draft. While Steppenwolf praised the 'courage' of the 'Draft Resister' (1969), Smiley Smith released the single 'I Wish I Had a Draft Card'. Merle Haggard noted that 'we don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street' in 'Okie From Muskogee' (1969). Originally composed in jest, it became one of the most popular patriotic songs. In one of the standout novelty tracks, Chicago group Seeds of Euphoria advised LBJ in 1967: 'Let's Send Batman to Viet Nam'.

Draft inequality was a major theme. Gary Laster emphasised in 'A Drafted Minor' (1969) the absurd legal discrepancies affecting those drafted: draft age: 18; voting and drinking age: 21. Creedence Clearwater Revival confronted the inequality between the rich and poor in 'Fortunate Son' (1969), inspired by President Eisenhower's grandson, David, who avoided the draft by joining the reserves.

Many songs also focused on the impact of war on those left behind. Some of these were sentimental: from the early 60s, many 'soldier boy' themed songs appeared, including 'Your Heart Belongs to Me' by The Supremes in 1962. Each holiday season galvanised sentiment on the home front and over 70 Christmas songs were written about the war. But not every song about absent soldiers was sentimental. Many artists were not shy about confronting the unethical activities of serving soldiers on furlough. The Soul Patrol's 'Saigon Strut' (1968) described GIs visiting prostitutes on the famous Tu Do Street in Saigon, while 'What's Been Going On in Viet Nam' (1968) by Ginger & Jean is told from the point of view of a veteran's wife who discovers her husband has fathered a child abroad.

War is Over?

The North Vietnamese Army captured Saigon in April 1975. US military involvement in Vietnam was over, but the war continued to reverberate throughout American society. Almost half of the Vietnam War song discography was released in the postwar period.

The first wave of songs appeared between the 1973 peace agreement and the fall of Saigon. Many American songs of this period focused on returning prisoners of war. As part of the Paris Peace Accords, 591 POWs returned to the US in 'Operation Homecoming', an event celebrated in Funkadelic's 'March to the Witch's Castle':

February 12th, 1973 The prayers of thousands were answered The war was over, and the first of the prisoners returned Needless to say, it was the happiest day in up to thirteen years for most For others, the real nightmare had just begun

That nightmare referred to the experience of returning veterans trying to readjust; that the war's end had terrible consequences for those in South Vietnam who had fought with the Americans was largely overlooked. Only a few records addressed the Vietnamese refugee crisis: 'The Boat People (A Song of Hope)' by Canadian jazz singer Dick Maloney, for example.

The 1980s saw a revival of interest in the war. The Reagan-era saw a wave of nationalism that attempted to overcome 'Vietnam Syndrome'. Applied to veterans, it referred to feelings of guilt or shame about the war, influenced by the domestic climate they had returned to. Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: 'For too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome. We dishonour the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died. They deserve our gratitude, our respect and our continuing concern'.

Two prominent themes dominated the new batch of songs. First, the attempt to overcome Vietnam Syndrome; second, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, characterised by shell shock, flashbacks and nostalgia. The Charlie Daniels Band released 'Still in Saigon' in 1982. The song is told from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran:

The completion of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall in Washington DC in 1982 led to over 30 songs of remembrance as Americans sought to come to terms with the war. Hawks and doves remained, but the names of more than 58,000 Americans killed became heroes, as sung by Michael J. Martin & Tim Holiday on 'Who Are the Names on the Wall?'.

But the 1980s was also the decade in which the long-term negative health effects of Agent Orange, a herbicide used in Vietnam to deprive the North Vietnamese guerrillas of concealment and food, became apparent. Peggy Seeger released 'Agent Orange' in 1982:

We'd fly above the trail all day and clouds of poison spray
I never thought that chemical would take my life today But I just found out this morning, the doctor told me so It killed me in Vietnam and I didn't even know

Fuelled by anger, a politically conscious anti-Reagan punk movement grew internationally. Over 100 songs used Vietnam as a case study to criticise US interventions in Grenada, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Vietnam continued to be compared to other conflicts throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

The Vietnam War inspired songs on a scale never seen before, or since, and not just in the US. Performed by men and woman of different ethnicities and nationalities, the astonishing breadth of opinions from all levels of society reveals the changing nature of responses to the war. Aided by the development of the portable tape recorder, General Edward Lansdale captured hundreds of songs in Vietnam on tape, performed by US soldiers, Vietnamese guerrillas and civilians. Returning home he identified popular music's central place in the experience of the war: 'all along we have been historians without meaning to be. These tapes tell the story of a human side of war.'

Justin Brummer is founding editor of the Vietnam War Song Project and has a PhD on 20th-century American history. A playlist of all the songs mentioned in this article is available here. @VietnamWarSongs

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In the early 1970s, an obscure Louisiana-based country singer called Bob Necaise released 'Mr. Where is Viet-Nam'. In the song, Lil Gary Dee, a 'little boy not yet four years old', asks: By December 1961, under President John F. Kennedy, the US had 3,205 military personnel stationed in Vietnam.

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Special Collection of Performing Arts, University of Maryland's College Park

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America's longest and most controversial war, Vietnam stands apart. This collection explores the divergent sonic legacies of the war. Uncover new, often-unheard aspects of the war as you explore the music that told its story through data visualizations, recordings, photographs and more.

Start here to trace the arc of the war and the ways in which the music of Vietnam shaped the course of American history.

Follow how public consciousness of Vietnam is mirrored in song from early off-hand mentions of the country to veteran's songs reflecting on the war.

Discover the legacies of the war cemented on vinyl, tape, and CD. Search through a comprehensive database or explore releases by subject with graphical analysis of our holdings.

Follow the arc of the war through the Billboard Hot 100 with data vizualizations.

Unless otherwise noted, photographs are taken from the Keesing Collection on Popular Music and Culture. "Recordings" photo: Diebold, William F. 1969. "Phan Rang Airbase, Vietnam.... Red Cross aids, Dolly Hasselwander, left, and Cathy Knutson, right, accompany U.S. Air Force Airmen during a jam session." Department of Defense Still Media Records Center.

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Vietnam Home | Modern Songs of War and Conflict

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America's longest and most controversial war, Vietnam stands apart. This collection explores the divergent sonic legacies of the war. Uncover new, often-unheard aspects of the war as you explore the music that told its story through data visualizations, recordings, photographs and more.

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Use this resource from History.com to explore what was happening when your selected song was written.

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Vietnam Background: Uneasy French Rule

* 1887: France imposes a colonial system over Vietnam, calling it French Indochina. The system includes Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China and Cambodia. Laos is added in 1893.

* February 1930: Ho Chi Minh founds the Indochinese Communist Party at a meeting in Hong Kong.

* June 1940: Nazi Germany takes control of France.

* September 1940: Japanese troops invade French Indochina and occupy Vietnam with little French resistance.

* May 1941: Ho Chi Minh and communist colleagues establish the League for the Independence of Vietnam. Known as the Viet Minh, the movement aims to resist French and Japanese occupation of Vietnam.

* March 1945: Japanese troops occupying Indochina carry out a coup against French authorities and announce an end to the colonial era, declaring Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia independent.

* August 1945: Japan is defeated by the Allies in World War II, leaving a power vacuum in Indochina. France begins to reassert its authority over Vietnam.

* September 1945: Ho Chi Minh declares an independent North Vietnam and models his declaration on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 in an (unsuccessful) effort to win the support of the United States.

* July 1946: Ho Chi Minh rejects a French proposal granting Vietnam limited self-government and the Viet Minh begins a guerrilla war against the French.

When Was the Vietnam War?

* March 1947: In an address to Congress, President Harry Truman states that the foreign policy of the United States is to assist any country whose stability is threatened by communism. The policy becomes known as the Truman Doctrine.

* June 1949: The French install former emperor Bao Dai as head of state in Vietnam.

* August 1949: The Soviet Union explodes its first atom bomb in a remote area of Kazakhstan, marking a tense turning point in the Cold War with the United States.

* October 1949: Following a civil war, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declares the creation of the People's Republic of China.

* January 1950: The People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union formally recognize the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam and both begin to supply economic and military aid to communist resistance fighters within the country.

* February 1950: Assisted by the Soviet Union and the newly Communist China, the Viet Minh step up their offensive against French outposts in Vietnam.

* June 1950: The United States, identifying the Viet Minh as a Communist threat, steps up military assistance to France for their operations against the Viet Minh.

* March-May 1954: French troops are humiliated in defeat by Viet Minh forces at Dien Bien Phu. The defeat solidifies the end of French rule in Indochina.

The Geneva Accords

* July 1954: The Geneva Accords establish North and South Vietnam with the 17th parallel as the dividing line. The agreement also stipulates that elections are to be held within two years to unify Vietnam under a single democratic government. These elections never happen.

* 1955: Catholic nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem emerges as the leader of South Vietnam, with U.S. backing, while Ho Chi Minh leads the communist state to the north.

* July 1959: The first U.S. soldiers are killed in South Vietnam when guerrillas raid their living quarters near Saigon.

* September 1960: Ho Chi Minh, facing failing health, is replaced by Le Duan as head of North Vietnam's ruling communist party.

* December 1960: The National Liberation Front (NLF) is formed with North Vietnamese backing as the political wing of the antigovernment insurgency in South Vietnam. The United States views the NLF as an arm of North Vietnam and starts calling the military wing of the NLF the Viet Cong-short for Vietnam Cong-san, or Vietnamese communists.

* May 1961: President John F. Kennedy sends helicopters and 400 Green Berets to South Vietnam and authorizes secret operations against the Viet Cong.

* January 1962: In Operation Ranch Hand, U.S. aircraft start spraying Agent Orange and other herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam to kill vegetation that would offer cover and food for guerrilla forces.

* February 1962: Ngo Dinh Diem survives a bombing of the presidential palace in South Vietnam as Diem's extreme favoritism toward South Vietnam's Catholic minority alienates him from most of the South Vietnamese population, including Vietnamese Buddhists.

* January 1963: At Ap Bac, a village in the Mekong Delta southwest of Saigon, South Vietnamese troops are defeated by a much smaller unit of Viet Cong fighters. The South Vietnamese are overcome despite their four-to-one advantage and the technical and planning assistance of U.S. advisers.

* May 1963: In a major incident of what becomes known as the "Buddhist Crisis," the government of Ngo Dinh Diem opens fire on a crowd of Buddhist protestors in the central Vietnam city of Hue. Eight people, including children, are killed.

* June 1963: A 73-year-old monk immolates himself while sitting at a major city intersection in protest, leading other Buddhists to follow suit in coming weeks. The United States' already declining confidence in Diem's leadership continues to slide.

* November 1963: The United States backs a South Vietnam military coup against the unpopular Diem, which ends in the brutal killing of Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. Between 1963 and 1965, 12 different governments take the lead in South Vietnam as military coups replace one government after another.

America Enters the Vietnam War

* August 1964: USS Maddox on an espionage mission is attacked by North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. A second attack on the Maddox and another U.S. ship in the Gulf is alleged, but likely never occurred, according to National Security Agency documents declassified in 2005. The incidents lead President Johnson to call for air strikes on North Vietnamese patrol boat bases. Two U.S. aircraft are shot down and one U.S. pilot, Everett Alvarez Jr., becomes the first U.S. airman to be taken prisoner by North Vietnam.

* August 1964: The attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin spur Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorizes the president to "take all necessary measures, including the use of armed force" against any aggressor in the conflict.

* November 1964: The Soviet Politburo increases its support to North Vietnam, sending aircraft, artillery, ammunition, small arms, radar, air defense systems, food and medical supplies. Meanwhile, China sends several engineering troops to North Vietnam to assist in building critical defense infrastructure.

* February 1965: President Johnson orders the bombing of targets in North Vietnam in Operation Flaming Dart in retaliation for a Viet Cong raid at the U.S. base in the city of Pleiku and at a nearby helicopter base at Camp Holloway.

* March 1965: President Johnson launches a three-year campaign of sustained bombing of targets in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Operation Rolling Thunder. The same month, U.S. Marines land on beaches near Da Nang, South Vietnam as the first American combat troops to enter Vietnam.

* June 1965: General Nguen Van Thieu of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Governmental Military (ARVN), becomes president of South Vietnam.

More Troops, More Deaths, More Protests

* July 1965: President Johnson calls for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month.

* August 1965: In Operation Starlite, some 5,500 U.S. Marines strike against the First Viet Cong Regiment in the first major ground offensive by U.S. forces in Vietnam. The six-day operation diffuses the Viet Cong regiment, although it would quickly rebuild.

* November 1965: Nearly 300 Americans are killed and hundreds more injured in the first large-scale battle of the war, the Battle of la Drang Valley. At the battle, in South Vietnam's Central Highlands, U.S. ground troops are dropped onto and withdrawn from the battlefield by helicopter, in what would become a common strategy. Both sides declare victory.

* 1966: U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000.

* June 1966: American aircraft attack targets in Hanoi and Haiphong in raids that are among the first such attacks on cities in North Vietnam.

* 1967: U.S. troop numbers stationed in Vietnam increase to 500,000.

* February 1967: U.S. aircraft bomb Haiphong Harbor and North Vietnamese airfields.

* April 1967: Huge Vietnam War protests occur in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.

* September 1967: Nguyen Van Thieu wins the presidential election of South Vietnam under a newly enacted constitution.

* November 1967: In the Battle of Dak To, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces resist an offensive by communist forces in the Central Highlands. The United States forces suffer some 1,800 casualties.

* January-April 1968: A U.S. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh in South Vietnam is bombarded with massive artillery by communist forces from the People's Army of North Vietnam (PAVN). For 77 days, the marines and South Vietnamese forces fend off the siege.

North Vietnam Shocks America

* January 1968: The Tet Offensive begins, encompassing a combined assault of Viet Minh and North Vietnamese armies. Attacks are carried out in more than 100 cities and outposts across South Vietnam, including Hue and Saigon, and the U.S. Embassy is invaded. The effective, bloody attacks shock U.S. officials and mark a turning point in the war and the beginning of a gradual U.S. withdrawal from the region.

* February 11-17, 1968: This week records the highest number of U.S. soldier deaths during the war, with 543 American deaths.

* February-March 1968: Battles at Hue and Saigon end with American and ARVN victory as Viet Cong guerillas are cleared from the cities.

* March 16, 1968: At the U.S. massacre at Mai Lai, more than 500 civilians are murdered by U.S. forces. The massacre happens amid a campaign of U.S. search-and-destroy operations that are intended to find enemy territories, destroy them and then retreat.

* March 1968: President Johnson halts bombing in Vietnam north of the 20th parallel. Facing backlash about the war, Johnson announces he will not run for reelection.

* November 1968: Republican Richard M. Nixon wins the U.S. presidential elections on the campaign promises to restore "law and order" and to end the draft.

* May 1969: At Ap Bia Mountain, about a mile from the border with Laos, U.S. paratroopers attack entrenched North Vietnamese fighters in an attempt to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos. U.S. troops eventually capture the site (temporarily), which would be nicknamed Hamburger Hill by journalists due to the brutal carnage of the 10-day battle.

* September 1969: Ho Chi Minh dies of a heart attack in Hanoi.

* December 1969: The U.S. government institutes the first draft lottery since World War II, prompting ever more young American men-later disparaged as "draft dodgers"-to flee to Canada.

Gradual Withdrawal from Vietnam

* 1969-1972: The Nixon administration gradually reduces the number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, placing more burden on the ground forces of South Vietnam's ARVN as part of a strategy known as Vietnamization. U.S. troops in Vietnam are reduced from a peak of 549,000 in 1969 to 69,000 in 1972.

* February 1970: U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret peace negotiations with Hanoi politburo member Le Duc Tho in Paris.

* March 1969-May 1970: In a series of secret bombings known as "Operation Menu," U.S. B-52 bombers target suspected communist base camps and supply zones in Cambodia. The bombings are kept under wraps by Nixon and his administration since Cambodia is officially neutral in the war, although The New York Times would reveal the operation on May 9, 1969.

* April-June 1970: U.S. and South Vietnamese forces attack communist bases across the Cambodian border in the Cambodian Incursion.

* May 4, 1970: In a bloody incident known as the Kent State Shooting, National Guardsmen fire on anti-war demonstrators at Ohio's Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine.

* June 1970: Congress repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to reassert control over the president's ability to use force in the war.

Vietnamization Falters, America Exits

* January-March 1971: In Operation Lam Son 719, ARVN troops, with U.S. support, invade Laos in an attempt to cut off the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They are forced to retreat and suffer heavy losses.

* June 1971: The New York Times publishes a series of articles detailing leaked Defense Department documents about the war, known as the Pentagon Papers. The report reveals the U.S. government had repeatedly and secretly increased U.S. involvement in the war.

* March-October 1972: The People's Army of Vietnam launches the large-scale, three-pronged Easter Offensive against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and U.S. forces. While North Vietnam gains control of more territory in South Vietnam, the offensive isn't the decisive blow its military leaders had hoped for.

* December 1972: President Nixon orders the launch of the most intense air offense of the war in Operation Linebacker. The attacks, concentrated between Hanoi and Haiphong, drop roughly 20,000 tons of bombs over densely populated regions.

* January 22, 1973: Former President Johnson dies in Texas at age 64.

* January 27, 1973: The Selective Service announces the end to the draft and institutes an all-volunteer military.

* January 27, 1973: President Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese accept a cease fire. But as U.S. troops depart Vietnam, North Vietnamese military officials continue plotting to overtake South Vietnam.

* February-April 1973: North Vietnam returns 591 American prisoners of war (including future U.S. Senator and presidential candidate, John McCain) in what is known as Operation Homecoming.

How Many Were Killed in the Vietnam War?

* January 1975: President Ford rules out any further U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

* April 1975: In the Fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam is seized by communist forces and the government of South Vietnam surrenders. U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters transport more than 1,000 American civilians and nearly 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees out of Saigon in an 18-hour mass evacuation effort.

* July 1975: North and South Vietnam are formally unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under hardline communist rule.

* The War Dead: By the end of the war, some 58,220 Americans lose their lives. Vietnam would later release estimates that 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters were killed, up to 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died and more than 2 million civilians were killed on both sides of the war.

Sources

The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History, created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, published by DK | Penguin Random House, 2017.
The Vietnam War: An Intimate History, by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, based on the film series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, published by Penguin Random House, 2017.
Vietnam Profile - Timeline, BBC News, June 12, 2017.
Operation Starlite: The First Battle of the Vietnam War, Military.com.
South Vietnam: The Buddhist Crisis, Time.
Buddhists - The 1963 Crisis, GlobalSecurity.org.
Vietnam, Diem, the Buddhist Crisis, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
The Fall of Saigon, United States History.
What Were the Major Battles of the Vietnam War? The Vietnam War.
Statistical information about casualties of the Vietnam War, U.S. National Archives.
"Feuds and Bad Planning in Saigon Exit Recalled," The New York Times, May 5, 1975.
"Nixon Again Deplores Leak on Bombing Cambodia," The New York Times, March 11, 1976.
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III, Vietnam, January-August 1963, The U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
"The Truman Doctrine Fades," The New York Times, May 4, 1975.

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A guide to the complex political and military issues involved in a war that would ultimately claim millions of lives.

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Song Lyrics

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Bob Dylan - Masters of War (Official Audio)

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"The Times They Are A-Changin'" Bob Dylan

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"The Times They Are A-Changin'" Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin' (Official Audio)

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"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" The Animals

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"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" The Animals

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Eric Burdon Tribute Channel 8 (unofficial)

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The Animals - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (1965) US movie clip ♫♥

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Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation (Tom Paxton)

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Malvina Reynolds, Singer-Songwriter & Political Activist

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*Note that there isn't an online recording to listen to of this song.

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Vietnam War songs: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrummer/vietnam_war_song_project/ American country singer Johnny Wright released the song "Hello Vietnam" (Decca Records # 31821), accompanied by his wife Kitty Wells. Written by Tom T. Hall, this single successfully spent twenty weeks in the billboard country charts, with three weeks at the coveted # 1 spot (23 October 1965 - 6 November 1965).

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"Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" Tom Paxton

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"Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" Tom Paxton

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Donovan - The War Drags On (Official Audio)

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"Business Goes On As Usual" Chad Mitchell Trio

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"Business Goes On As Usual" Chad Mitchell Trio

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Chad Mitchell Trio - Business Goes On As Usual

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"7 O'Clock News / Silent Night" Simon & Garfunkel

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"7 O'Clock News / Silent Night" Simon & Garfunkel

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The Fugs: At The Forefront Of The Counterculture - NPR

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"Ballad of the Unknown Soldier" Barbara Dane

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"Ballad of the Unknown Soldier" Barbara Dane

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Barbara Dane - Ballad of the Unknown Soldier

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"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" Arlo Guthrie

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"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" Arlo Guthrie

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Nina Simone - Backlash Blues (Official Audio)

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"Leaving on a Jet Plane" Peter, Paul, & Mary

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"Leaving on a Jet Plane" Peter, Paul, & Mary

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Peter, Paul and Mary - Leaving On A Jet Plane (25th Anniversary Concert)

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Peter, Paul and Mary perform "Leaving On A Jet Plane" live at their 25th anniversary concert in 1986. Now, two and a half decades later, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the group in the famed Greenwich Village, this joyous yet deeply moving live concert is being first released on DVD by Shout!

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The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower (Official Audio)

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"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" Pete Seger

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"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" Pete Seger

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Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (Pete Seeger)

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Country Joe McDonald - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag

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"For What It's Worth" Buffalo Springfield

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"For What It's Worth" Buffalo Springfield

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Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Official Audio)

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"Hell No, I Ain't Gonna Go" Matthew Jones

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"Hell No, I Ain't Gonna Go" Matthew Jones

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Unfortunately I couldn't find a source for the lyrics. They're easy to distinguish though. Please email Ms. Catcher at JCatcher@sau50.org if you do find a resource.

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hey.. lbj! songs of the u.s. anti-war movement hey

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Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Hey, Hey L.B.J. · Bill Frederick Hey, Hey.. LBJ! Songs of the U.S. Anti-War Movement ℗ 2013 Vinyl Masters Released on: 2013-08-01 Auto-generated by YouTube.

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Country Joe and The Fish - Superbird (1967)

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Donovan - Universal Soldier (Official Audio)

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Jimi Hendrix - The Star Spangled Banner [ National Anthem ] ( Live at Woodstock 1969 )

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The Bob Seger System - 2 + 2 = ? Bass Tab

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"Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues" Tom Paxton

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"Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues" Tom Paxton

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"The Fires of Napalm" Jimmy Collier & Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick

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"The Fires of Napalm" Jimmy Collier & Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick

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Song Lyrics (Note: this is the original discography promotional materials, so search (ctrl-F) "The Fires of Napalm" and you'll find it)

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"Fortunate Son" Creedence Clearwater Revival

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"Fortunate Son" Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son

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"War (What is it Good For?)" Edwin Starr

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"War (What is it Good For?)" Edwin Starr

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"Give Peace a Chance" John Lennon and Yoko Ono

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"Give Peace a Chance" John Lennon and Yoko Ono

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GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) - Plastic Ono Band (official music video HD)

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"21st Century Schizoid Man" King Crimson

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"21st Century Schizoid Man" King Crimson

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King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (Including "Mirrors")

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"If You Love Your Uncle Sam, Bring 'Em Home" Pete Seger

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"If You Love Your Uncle Sam, Bring 'Em Home" Pete Seger

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A recording of Pete Seger's song isn't available online, but here is a recording of the same song done by Bruce Springsteen.

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"I Don't Wanna Go to Vietnam" John Lee Hooker

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"I Don't Wanna Go to Vietnam" John Lee Hooker

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"Sweet Cherry Wine" Tommy James and the Shondells

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"Sweet Cherry Wine" Tommy James and the Shondells

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Tommy James and the Shondells - Sweet Cherry Wine

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"Almost Cut My Hair" Crosby, Stills, & Nash

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"Almost Cut My Hair" Crosby, Stills, & Nash

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"Run Through the Jungle" Creedence Clearwater Revival

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"Run Through the Jungle" Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Creedence Clearwater Revival: Run Through The Jungle

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The Guess Who - American Woman (Official Audio)

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"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" Gil Scott Heron

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"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" Gil Scott Heron

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Gil Scott-Heron - Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Official Audio)

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Chicago - It Better End Soon - 7/21/1970 - Tanglewood (Official)

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"Sit Down Young Stranger" Gordon Lightfoot

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"Sit Down Young Stranger" Gordon Lightfoot

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"Never Kill Another Man" Steve Miller Band

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"Never Kill Another Man" Steve Miller Band

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"People Let's Stop the War" Grand Funk Railroad

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"People Let's Stop the War" Grand Funk Railroad

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"Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" John Prine

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"Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" John Prine

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John Prine - "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" (Live)

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Imagine - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (w The Flux Fiddlers)

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Imagine - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (w The Flux Fiddlers) (Ultimate Mix 2018) - 4K REMASTER

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"Happy Xmas, (War is Over)" John Lennon & Yoko Ono

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"Happy Xmas, (War is Over)" John Lennon & Yoko Ono

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"We Say No to Your War" Covered Wagon Musicians

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"We Say No to Your War" Covered Wagon Musicians

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We Say No to Your War (Covered Wagon Musicians)

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Steve Goodman - The Ballad of Penny Evans - 4/18/1976 - Capitol Theatre (Official)

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"Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" George Harrison

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"Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" George Harrison

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George Harrison-Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)

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The O'Jays - Love Train (Official Soul Train Video)

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Pink Floyd - Us And Them (2023 Remaster)

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"Still in Saigon" Charlie Daniels Band (1982)

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"Still in Saigon" Charlie Daniels Band (1982)

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The Clash - Straight to Hell (Official Audio)

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Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon (Official Video)

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"Born in the USA" Bruce Springsteen (1984)

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"Born in the USA" Bruce Springsteen (1984)

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Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (Official Video)

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