Lyric Content Themes

Lyric content themes are the categories used to describe what a song is actually about. Every song in the archive is tagged against one or more of them. Each block below is a parent theme — the broad category, with its definition — followed by its sub-themes and their definitions, with the number of songs carrying each tag. A song may fall under several parent themes at once.

42 parent themes · 509 sub-themes · 482 tags in use
Themes, ranked ↓
Contents
US Patriotic 9
Vietnamese Patriotic 4
Peace, Protest, & Anti-War 12
Movements 12
Racism 5
Demonstrations 11
Impact of War: US Perspective 28
Impact of War: Vietnamese Perspective 6
Combat 7
Draft 14
Weapons & Military Hardware 14
Medals 4
Military Classification 4
Holidays 6
ANZUS 3
Military Branch 16
Military Battles / Operations 18
War-Related Crimes 4
My Lai 16
Vietnam as Comparison 5
Events 34
Veterans 11
Answer Record Themes 10
Drugs 6
Films 8
Doctrines & Strategy 9
Ideologies & Ideals 6
Public Affairs 17
Slogans & Sayings 9
Organisations / Brands / Groups 21
Religion 4
People: US Political & Military 42
People: Vietnamese & Communist 15
People: International 12
People: Movements & Activism 16
People: Culture & Media 13
Places: Vietnam 13
Places: United States 4
Places: International 26
Wars 16
Lyrical & Musical Devices 4
Production Themes 15
Rankings
Primary themes, rankedPeace v Patriotic v Home Front (USA, war years)Parent themes, rankedSub-themes, ranked
Definition

Expressions of patriotism, opposition to anti-war movement, support for govt. policies, pro-soldier or military.

Patriotic 1,194
Patriotic sentiment in general - pride in country, support for the war effort, the flag and the troops.
Opposition to the anti-war movement, draft card burning, demonstrations etc.
Expressions of support for government policy / actions
The soldier as hero, doing their patriotic duty.
Support for the armed forces as an institution, and for the military effort itself.
Cold War opposition
Songs referencing a soldier volunteering to join the military to fight in Vietnam
Flag 99
Reference to the national flag as a patriotic symbol, used in many wars. May be referred to as “Old Glory” or “Stars & Stripes”. May also be anti-protest songs, opposed to Flag Burning
Criticism of hippie [or hippy] culture. Often presented as a youth movement, related to psychedelic music, drugs use (e.g. LSD and marijuana), long hair (both men & women), jeans, flairs, pop art, free love (sex, love-in), travelling, spirituality
Definition

Expression of patriotism

Vietnamese patriotic sentiment where the song is not specific to North or South.
Patriotic songs of the North - the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the DRV.
Patriotic songs of the South - the Republic of Vietnam, the RVN or ROV.
The division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel after 1954, the longing for a single country, and the reunification of North and South in 1975-76. Covers songs of the divided nation as well as songs celebrating its reunion. See DMZ for the demilitarised zone itself.
Definition

Expressions of peace, opposition to government or military policies, solidarity with the anti-war movement, and songs protesting the contemporary environment

Anti-War 1,820
Opposition to the war itself. The broadest tag in the taxonomy and the default for protest material.
Opposition to supporters of the war. May reference hawks, warmongers, conservatives etc.
Criticism of government policy / actions
Criticism directed at soldiers themselves.
Criticism of the armed forces as an institution, and of the military-industrial complex.
Protest: capitalism, elitism, corruption, imperialism etc. Need: reform, revolution etc.
Peace 212
Peace as an aspiration in its own right, rather than opposition to a particular war.
Opposition to the war as an imperial project - the US as an occupying power.
Hostility to the United States as a country, most often in European songs of the left.
Criticism of capitalism as the engine of the war. Narrower than Anti-US System.
Contempt for politicians as a class. Also appears in patriotic songs attacking Washington.
Protest 177
Protest in general - against the government, the military, society, the rules or the way things are changing - where the target is not the war itself. See Anti-War for opposition to the war.

Movements

12 sub-themes · 392 songs →
Definition

Reference to a social, political, or cultural movement in song

African-American Civil Rights Movement in the US (1950s-60s). Songs may discuss inequality in the draft system, and racial mistreatment at home or in Vietnam. May also reference the lack of rights at home despite fighting for their country alongside US white citizens. Typically found in the genres of soul, gospel, funk, blues, and hip hop, and performed by African-Americans. May reference Martin Luther King Jr.
Movement to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, a prevalent issue in the Vietnam era due to young soldiers drafted unable to vote in elections (see Draft Inequality). Voting age lowered by 26th Amendment in 1971, applied during the 1972 Presidential Election.
NOT A TAG. Listed here only to acknowledge peace and anti-war activism as a movement alongside the others. Do not tag songs with this name - use the tags in the Peace, Protest, & Anti-War section instead.
Reference to values and norms presented as different from contemporary mainstream society. In the 1960s, this is often related to hippie [or hippy] culture. Often presented as a youth movement, related to psychedelic music, drugs use (e.g. LSD and marijuana), long hair (both men & women), jeans, flairs, pop art, free love (sex, love-in), travelling, spirituality etc.
The women’s liberation movement of the 1960s-70s, campaigning for equal rights - including the Equal Rights Amendment - reproductive freedom and an end to sex discrimination. Some songs raise it in hostile terms, at the prospect of women being sent to fight.
Reference to police violence and brutality. Civil Rights is broader and specific to the African-American Civil Rights Movement; this tag covers police violence itself, in any era.
The Black Lives Matter movement (2013-), named explicitly - recent songs connecting Vietnam-era protest to contemporary racial-justice protest.
The Beat generation of the 1950s, the counter-culture that preceded the hippies.
The love-in as a gathering. Always carries Counter-Culture & Hippies; the song must name the event.
The Youth International Party, the theatrical wing of the anti-war movement.
Native American activism and land rights, set beside the war. See Wounded Knee.
The international solidarity movement with Vietnam - the committees, benefit concerts and solidarity songs ("Solidarität", "Solidarité", "Solidaritet") of Western and Eastern Europe, as distinct from the US peace movement. Carries on songs that declare common cause with the Vietnamese people rather than opposition to the war at home.

Racism

5 sub-themes · 15 songs →
Definition

Racist language and racial hostility in song lyrics, as distinct from the movements that opposed it. Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter and Police Brutality remain under Movements: those name the response, this names the prejudice.

Gook 5
A racist, derogatory name for the Vietnamese, used by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, and often featured in cultural representations such as films and songs. Always carries Anti-Asian Racism.
Racism against Asians and Asian-Americans, often connected to the war’s dehumanisation of the Vietnamese. Distinct from Civil Rights (the African-American movement) and from Gook (the slur alone).
A performer putting on a caricatured racial or ethnic voice, most often a mock Vietnamese or Chinese accent. Usually carries Anti-Asian Racism. Distinct from Impersonation, which imitates a named individual.
Prejudice against Native Americans, including the framing of Vietnam as Indian country.
Racism against African Americans - segregation, discrimination in the services and at home, racist language aimed at Black soldiers and civilians. Distinct from Civil Rights (the movement that opposed it) and from Anti-Asian Racism.

Demonstrations

11 sub-themes · 389 songs →
Definition

Reference to demonstrations, both anti-war and patriotic. Typically anti-war. May specifically relate to Vietnam, or may also reference civil rights or general peace movement, or sit-ins and teach-ins on US college campuses

A demonstration referenced in general terms, without a named event.
Songs referencing the Kent State shootings ("May 4 massacre" or the "Kent State massacre"). The Kent State Shootings (or "Massacre") took place on 4 May 1970, in Ohio, where members of the Ohio State Guard shot and killed four students
Two students were subsequently killed by Mississippi state and Jackson city police, at Jackson State college ("Jackson State Killings") on 15 May 1970
The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the trial that followed. Eight stood trial - Hoffman, Rubin, Davis, Dellinger, Hayden, Froines, Weiner and Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, who was later tried separately, leaving the Seven.
Multiple demonstrations called “March on Washington” in the 1960s – both dealing with the Vietnam War and Civil Rights
Anti-war march held on 21 October 1967, from Washington D.C. to the Pentagon. Attended by famous and high profile figures, such as the Fugs, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsburg, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin. Portrayed in the Norman Mailer book “Armies of the Night”. Organised by National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (“Mobe”)
Dispute over land use at Berkeley, California, resulting in a demonstration, and the police fatal shooting of James Rector on 15 May 1969. Part of 1960s Vietnam-era campus protest and unrest
“Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam”, a massive demonstration across the US on 15 October 1969, followed up by a march on Washington on 15 November 1969
FSM 1
Student protest at the University of California, Berkeley, 1964-65, demanding the right to political activity on campus. A forerunner of the campus anti-war movement.
The Augusta, Georgia civil disturbance of 11-12 May 1970, days after Kent State.
Protest by setting oneself alight, after the Buddhist monks of Saigon. Usually carries Buddhism.
Definition

About the impact of war, but may also contain protest / patriotic sentiment

US soldier fighting in the war zone. Civilian, commercial songs only – not songs by actual soldiers, which is classified under “Military”. May be narrated in the first, second, or third person regarding the soldier
About family, friends etc. back home in the US. May be narrated in the first, second, or third person
Jody 24
The term "Jody" originated from "Joe the Grinder" (dated c.1939) - a mythical man in blues and jazz tunes who seduced the wives and girlfriends of soldiers, prisoners etc. "Grinder" was an old slang word for sex (dated c.1647). Thought to have been introduced into the army by African-Americans during the WW2, used in military cadences, such as "ain’t no use in going home, Jody’s got your girl and gone". This type of marching later got the nickname of "jodies" or "jody calls"
Reference to military personnel assembling for the distribution of mail
R&R 25
Rest & Relaxation. Military personnel granted a period of leave, usually a short period, in Vietnam (such as trip to Saigon for the weekend). May also be called a “furlough” – a longer trip home
Leave of absence granted to military personnel. Usually for a longer period than R&R, possible a trip home to the US
Reference to prostitution during the Vietnam War, typically American GIs in Saigon, such as on Tu Do Street (a popular destination for bars and prostitution)
Unfaithfulness on either side of the separation. See Jody and Dear John Letter.
Reference to American GIs dating or getting married or having a child with a Vietnamese girl
Reference to a letter written to a soldier from his wife / sweetheart ending their relationship
Typically a song about the narrator’s love for the soldier boy heading off to war, often performed by Girl Groups and teen pop songs in the early 1960s.
The naval counterpart of Soldier Boy - the sweetheart sent to sea.
Song about children playing with toy soldiers – they may grow up to fight in a war. Usually leans towards anti-war message against teaching children to play with guns etc.
Child 127
Songs narrated by children or young teenagers. Popular example is 6-year old Becky Lamb’s “Little Becky’s Christmas Wish”
Reference to soldiers returning to the US
The return of US troops and prisoners at the end of the war as a national event - the 1973 withdrawal and the release of the P.O.W.s - rather than one soldier's return. Coming Home is the individual soldier returning; Operation Homecoming is the named P.O.W. release of 1973.
Reference to prison of war (P.O.W.)
TV War 20
Reference to the 'television war': media portrayal of the war and the delivery of war images directly into people's homes, first through US television news in the 1960s and later through television news and drama in other countries, including Japan and Vietnam.
Orphan 17
Children left orphans by the war, for example father died in Vietnam, mother died at home.
(Male) Soldier’s sweetheart (woman) has left him, maybe married somebody else
The song links successive generations of the narrator’s own family to military service across wars - "my dad fought in WW2, I’m in Vietnam". The family-descent counterpart of War Lineage; a song with both the enumerated wars and the family chain carries both tags, plus the individual war tags. Patriotic (a family tradition of duty) or anti-war (the tradition that keeps sending sons off to die). If the relative’s war is Vietnam itself, use Family Vet. Distinct from Generation Gap, the youth-vs-parents culture clash.
Vietnam and guerrilla-warfare imagery applied to a verbal MC battle.
The rift between the war generation and their parents. Distinct from Generational Service, which is about shared military duty.
The forced-roulette story, a myth of the war popularised by The Deer Hunter.
The overpriced drink bought for a bar girl in Saigon. See Prostitution.
A reporter or war correspondent as a figure in the song. Distinct from TV War, which is the coverage itself.
The war's effect on the family at home - parents, wives and children parted from a soldier - where no narrower tag (Dear John Letter, Soldier Boy, Orphan) applies. Family Vet is the post-war counterpart: a family member who fought.
Spy 1
Spies, informers and intelligence-gathering - in Vietnam or at home.
Definition

About the impact of war, but may also contain protest / patriotic sentiment

The war seen from the Vietnamese side, where no narrower tag applies.
Reference to Vietnamese refugees, many of whom immigrated to European countries, the US, and Canada
Reference to the “Vietnamese Boat People”, refugees who fled Vietnam by boat or ship following the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975, but especially seen in 1978-79
The war's effect on Vietnamese children specifically. See Civilian Casualties and Orphan.
A civilian left permanently disabled by the war - maimed, blinded or crippled by bombing, mines, napalm or shelling - as narrator or subject. Distinct from Disabled Vet, which is a former soldier, and from Civilian Casualties, which covers killing and wounding generally; a song about a disabled civilian usually carries both Disabled Civilian and Civilian Casualties.
Records released by South Vietnamese artists - on Saigon labels during the war, or by the Southern diaspora after 1975. The tag follows the artist, not the subject: a Northern record about the South does not carry it. See South Vietnam Patriotic for patriotic songs of the Republic of Vietnam.

Combat

7 sub-themes · 383 songs →
Definition

Generic description of battle, fighting etc. Usually from the soldier’s perspective - above category. See “Military Battles / Operations” for specific Vietnam combat references

Combat 219
Fighting described in general terms, where no narrower combat tag applies.
Reference to a soldier in a foxhole
Jungle 49
Reference to jungle warfare. May include references to mud and rain
Irregular warfare - ambush, booby traps, snipers, tunnels and hit-and-run attack - usually by the Vietcong. Distinct from Combat, which is fighting in general terms.
US and allied soldiers sent into the Vietcong tunnel networks (e.g. Củ Chi) to search and destroy them - "tunnel rat" was the soldiers’ own name for the role.
Trench or dug-in position. The older counterpart of Foxhole.
The US air campaign against North Vietnam and the defence mounted against it: bombing raids, anti-aircraft gunners, militia on air-defence duty, air-raid shelters, downed aircraft and captured pilots. Carries on any record about the bombing of the North. Add Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-68) or Christmas Bombings (December 1972) only where that campaign is identifiable, and B-52 only where the aircraft is named.

Draft

14 sub-themes · 519 songs →
Definition

US draft, anti, pro, or in-between. Songs may fall into multiple groups e.g. a conscientious objector may be a pacifist, or that could be used as a legal deferment. Includes Selective Service classifications.

Draft 493
The draft as a subject. Carried by every song that takes a narrower draft tag, and used alone where no narrower tag applies.
Support for US govt., pride to fight and serve in the military, loyalty to the country. May define their position as anti-protest / draft card burning etc.
Importance of fulfilling their duty and being law-abiding citizens
Lack of eagerness to go to war – any war in general – rather than politically for or against
Evade the draft through legal deferment (e.g. medical, education etc.) or running from authorities (to Canada etc.)
Strong opposition to the war, calling for draft card burning, refusing to register at the board, legal action against the government etc.
Specific mention of draft card burning – whether anti, pro, or ambivalent. Often took place at the early anti-war demonstrations. LBJ prohibited the destruction of draft cards in an amendment to the Universal Military Training and Service Act in August 1965. The arrest of David O’Brien in 1966 for burning his draft card led to a Supreme Court Case on the First Amendment
Inequality in draft system e.g. race (also classified under Civil Rights), social-economic, age discrepancy (see Voting Rights – old enough to fight, but not to vote or buy alcohol etc.)
The issue of pardoning Vietnam War draft dodgers and deserters. Many for and against amnesty. 16 September 1974 – Gerald Ford conditional amnesty for draft dodgers (must hold public sector job for 2 years). 21 January 1974 – Jimmy Carter unconditional amnesty for draft dodgers (excluding deserters and convicted civilian protesters)
1-A 1
Available for military service. The Selective Service classification assigned to a man eligible to be drafted.
Or 1-O: available for civilian work in place of military service, on moral, ethical or religious grounds.
Crossing into Canada to avoid the draft. Usually carries Draft Dodger.
The local Selective Service board itself - registering, reporting, or refusing to.
The draft lottery introduced in December 1969, which set the order of call by birth date.
Definition

Weapons, aircraft, vehicles and equipment named in song lyrics - from napalm and Agent Orange to helicopters, rifles and bombers.

Napalm 108
Chemical weapon Napalm B - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973. (1) (2) (3) The Dow Chemical Company, the largest supplier of napalm to the US military, became a target of Vietnam protests (such as boycotts), particularly on university campuses.
Herbicide / defoliant used by the US, which had long-term negative health effects. Especially found in 80s songs
Atomic 91
Songs referencing nuclear weapons, usually in the context of Vietnam, the Cold War, and super power relations
Small bomb thrown by hand
Helicopters, the aircraft most identified with the war. Hueys, gunships, medevac.
Guns 27
Firearms in general, where no specific weapon is named.
B-52 5
The Boeing B-52 heavy bomber, used for the sustained bombing of the North.
Mines and booby traps.
Armoured vehicles.
The BLU-82, the 15,000lb bomb used to clear landing zones.
The Convair F-102 interceptor, flown in Vietnam air defence.
M-16 1
The M16 rifle, the standard US infantry weapon of the war.
The M1 Garand, the rifle of the earlier wars, usually named in lineage songs.
Polaris —
The Polaris submarine-launched missile, usually in British anti-nuclear songs.

Medals

4 sub-themes · 90 songs →
Definition

Military awards and decorations recognising accomplishments

Medals 75
A military decoration as a subject. Carried by every song that takes a specific medal tag, and used alone where the decoration is unnamed.
Awarded by US president to those wounded or KIA. Estimated 351,794 awarded during the Vietnam War
Distinguished acts of valour, awarded by US president on behalf of US congress
Third highest US decoration for valour in combat
Definition

Military status assigned to those missing or killed in service. Nixon administration combined statistics for P.O.W. and M.I.A., which included B.N.R.

P.O.W. 193
Prisoner of War: songs referencing those held captive in Vietnam. Reference to “Operation Homecoming” (below) also coded as P.O.W.
M.I.A. 78
Missing in Action: songs referencing a missing soldier – may also be P.O.W.
K.I.A. 333
Killed in Action: songs referencing a soldier killed in Vietnam
B.N.R. —
Body not Recovered: killed in action but classified under Nixon administration as M.I.A.

Holidays

6 sub-themes · 142 songs →
Definition

Songs referencing holidays and Vietnam – Christmas being the most frequent holiday theme found in songs to date

Reference to Christmas and Vietnam
Reference to US Independence Day
Reference to US holiday Thanksgiving
Tet —
Vietnamese new year. Does not include the Tet Offensive. See Military Battles section
The new year as an occasion, New Year's Eve included. See Tet for the Vietnamese new year.
25 April, the Australian and New Zealand day of remembrance for those who served. Songs set on the day itself - the dawn service, the march and the reunions that follow. See Gallipoli for the campaign it commemorates.

ANZUS

3 sub-themes · 88 songs →
Definition

Under the ANZUS treaty, Australian and New Zealand troops fought with the United States in Vietnam from 1962-73

ANZUS 86
Australian or New Zealand participation in the war. The country itself is recorded in the Country column, not as a theme.
The Australian slouch hat, the distinctive headgear of Australian forces.
Australian and New Zealand slang for a soldier.
Definition

From any participating country: a reference to a military branch in song lyrics. If song is performed by a soldier, than it is classified as “Military” under release attributes.

United States Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, frequently reference in military songs.
Songs referencing aerial warfare.
Navy 20
Songs referencing sea-based warfare.
VC 206
Vietcong (or "VC") - the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam
Reference to doctors, nurses etc.
Specific reference to nurses
KP 1
Kitchen patrol
Volunteer program, established by JFK in 1961
The United States Marine Corps.
Army 7
The United States Army, named as such.
GI 7
The GI as the generic American soldier. The song must use the term.
A sailor or naval rating.
The Red Cross women who ran recreation programmes in-country.
The WAC, the women's branch of the US Army.
The League for the Independence of Vietnam, 1941-54, the forerunner of the Vietcong.
Vietnamese women as combatants and militia: the 'long-haired army', anti-aircraft and village self-defence units, and the women who built and kept open the Trường Sơn trail. For US service women see Women's Army Corps, Nurses and Red Cross Donut Dolly; for the women's movement see Women's Liberation.
Definition

Reference to specific / actual military battles or campaigns

Campaign launched by the North Vietnamese army and the VC on South Vietnam, on the Vietnamese New Year, 30 January 1968. Viewed as a watershed moment, feeding into the US “credibility gap”.
Dien Bien Phu (March-May 1954), between French forces and the Viet Minh. Resulting in the end of French involvement in Indochina (First Indochina War).
US aerial bombardment campaign on North Vietnam under LBJ (1965-1968).
Return of 591 US P.O.W.s held by North Vietnam (12 February – April 1973). Negotiated in the Paris Peace Accords.
Offensive tool, crucial to General William Westmoreland’s strategy: sending out platoons etc. to locate and destroy VC or NVA units in the countryside.
“Pacification”: strategy and programs established by the US and South Vietnamese govt. to win popular support
Major air offensive launched by Nixon on North Vietnam, 18-29 December 1972, officially called “Linebacker II”, but dubbed the “Christmas Bombings”
US psychological-warfare operation broadcasting eerie "ghost tape" recordings - playing on the Vietnamese belief that the souls of the unburied dead wander - to demoralise Vietcong fighters.
The Battle of Ia Drang (November 1965), the first major engagement between the US Army and the North Vietnamese Army.
The supply network through Laos and Cambodia that sustained the North.
DMZ 6
The demilitarised zone at the 17th parallel.
The strategic valley near the Laotian border, contested throughout the war.
The 1967 search-and-destroy operation in Quang Tri province.
The 1966 interdiction campaign just north of the DMZ.
The coastal highway running the length of Vietnam, the main logistical artery.
The assault on Hill 937 in the A Shau Valley, May 1969. See Hamburger Hill for the film.
The Battle of Long Tan, 18 August 1966: D Company 6RAR against a far larger Vietcong force in the Long Tan rubber plantation, Phuoc Tuy province. The battle most often named in Australian songs; its anniversary is Vietnam Veterans Day in Australia.
The fighting at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, May-June 1968 - the largest Australian unit actions of the war.
Definition

Atrocity and unlawful violence as a subject in song - what was done to civilians and prisoners, rather than combat between armed forces.

Reference to rape and sexual violence, typically against Vietnamese civilians during the war. Not covered by Prostitution or Vietnamese Girls.
Reference to the killing or wounding of Vietnamese civilians - villagers, women, children, the old - whether in a named atrocity, a bombing, or in passing. Distinct from Combat, which is soldiers fighting.
The destruction of a people as such, alleged of the war or named from another conflict.
Torture of prisoners or civilians as the subject of the song, in Vietnam or set beside other wars.

My Lai

16 sub-themes · 288 songs →
Definition

Reference to the My Lai massacre on 16 March 1968, led by Lt. William Calley. Or reference to a My Lai-type massacre

My Lai 287
The massacre as a subject. Carried by every song that takes a narrower My Lai tag, and used alone where no narrower tag applies. My Lai-Type is the exception - it marks a song describing a My Lai-like incident without naming it, so it does not carry My Lai.
Defending Calley. For example: (a) he was following orders; (b) threat of death; (c) uncertainty of battle. May present Calley as a scapegoat for crimes of the govt. or army leadership. May compare Calley to Jesus, and express either anti-war or patriotic sentiment
Criticism of the massacre and the actions of Calley. The massacre a war crime. Innocent civilians killed. Usually anti-war songs.
Claimed that Calley was used as a scapegoat by the government / military / justice system
Made a comparison to the death of Jesus, possibly referencing the cross or Jesus imagery on the picture sleeve
Calley followed military orders, so the massacre was justified – he did what he was told and how he was trained
The “Fog of War” – the uncertainty of battle led to the massacre and civilian deaths
Calley and his platoon faced a dangerous enemy and threat of death from communist, VC forces
Reference to a miscarriage of justice, calling for Calley to be freed and charges dropped
Reference to Hugh Thompson Jr., a US army helicopter pilot, who tried to stop the My Lai massacre, reported the incident over the radio, and later to his superiors. He received the Soldier's Medal in 1998
Reference to photographer who took pictures at the massacre, published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 20 November 1969
Ernest Medina, the commanding officer of the platoon at My Lai, court-martialled but found not guilty at trial.
Reference to Ronald Ridenhour, a helicopter gunner who gathered accounts of the massacre from other soldiers and in March 1969 sent the evidence to President Nixon, the Pentagon and 24 members of Congress - the letter that forced the Army investigation and the charges against Calley.
The song names My Lai explicitly while being about something else - a later atrocity or situation measured against the massacre.
A war-era song describing a My Lai-like incident WITHOUT naming it - the massacre pattern, unattributed.
The commanding general of the Americal Division, demoted over the cover-up of the massacre.
Definition

Vietnam invoked as a yardstick for something else. Vietnam Analogy = compared to another WAR; Violence Metaphor and City & Community Violence = compared to violence that is not a war; War Lineage = Vietnam as the latest in an enumerated sequence of wars; Protest Analogy = the era’s dissent compared to a later stand, movement or disturbance. My Lai Analogy belongs to this family too - the massacre named as the yardstick for a later atrocity - but is tagged under My Lai.

Vietnam invoked as the precedent or yardstick against which a later conflict is judged - Iraq, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, the Troubles, a hypothetical WW3. The recognised term (Yuen Foong Khong, "Analogies at War"). Sits alongside Vietnam Syndrome and Domino Theory. A song about another war that references Vietnam at all qualifies - no explicit "like Vietnam" construction required, and a negated comparison ("this ain’t Vietnam") still counts. Vietnam measured against an EARLIER war is not analogy.
Vietnam used as the comparator for violence rather than for another war - MC battle boasts, street conflict, a neighbourhood described as a war zone, figurative combat imagery. Also covers the "X is the new Vietnam" construction, where X is a destructive thing that is not a war. If the thing compared to Vietnam is itself an armed conflict between states or factions, use Vietnam Analogy instead.
Songs using the Vietnam War as a comparison for violence in US cities and communities - the dominant usage on the Rap / Hip Hop list. The subject matter is the violence at home; Vietnam supplies the frame. Always carries Violence Metaphor as well; the reverse does not hold.
Vietnam as the latest in an enumerated sequence of wars - "WW2, then Korea, and now Vietnam". Deliberately stance-neutral: the same device serves the patriotic war-era country trope of inherited duty and the anti-war history lesson. Co-occurs with the individual war tags rather than replacing them. Family descent is not required - where the chain runs through the narrator’s own family, add Generational Service.
A Vietnam-era act of protest, refusal or dissent invoked as the yardstick or model for a later stand, movement or disturbance - Ali’s refusal, Chicago ’68, Kent State, draft card burning, the Moratorium, the Panthers, King at Riverside Church. Stance-neutral: holding the earlier act up as an example and setting it beside a later event to question the comparison are both the tag. It does not displace the specific tags; it records that the song is using them as a yardstick.

Events

34 sub-themes · 210 songs →
The agreement signed on 27 January 1973 ending direct US military involvement and providing for the return of prisoners of war.
The capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975, ending the war. Often carries Refugees or Boat People.
The 200th anniversary of American independence in 1976, used to weigh the state of the country after Vietnam.
The seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, with 52 Americans held from November 1979 to January 1981. Used as a comparison point for Vietnam, and behind a revival of the war as a subject in song.
Reference to the Nazi genocide of European Jews, usually named as the benchmark atrocity against which the war or My Lai is measured.
Reference to burning the US flag in protest. Frequently condemned in patriotic and anti-protest songs. See Flag.
The Woodstock festival of August 1969, used as shorthand for the counter-culture and the anti-war generation.
The Reagan-era scandal of 1985-87: arms sold secretly to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Usually carries Oliver North, and most often found in punk and metal.
The US-Soviet competition in spaceflight, a front of the Cold War, set against the cost of the war or of poverty at home.
US involvement in Nicaragua in the 1980s, backing the Contras against the Sandinista government - frequently drawn as a second Vietnam.
The system of racial segregation in South Africa until 1994, named alongside Vietnam as an injustice the US tolerated.
The 1972 break-in and cover-up that forced Nixon’s resignation in August 1974. Usually carries Nixon; often Credibility Gap.
The classified Defense Department history of US involvement in Vietnam, leaked by Daniel Ellsberg and published in 1971.
The oil embargo and fuel shortages of 1973-74, and the second shock of 1979. Common in songs about American decline after Vietnam.
The seizure of the USS Pueblo by North Korea on 23 January 1968 and the eleven-month detention of its crew.
The Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian communist regime under Pol Pot (1975-79), responsible for the Cambodian genocide that followed the war’s spread into Cambodia.
The street execution of Vietcong prisoner Nguyễn Văn Lém by General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, Saigon, 1 February 1968, during the Tet Offensive - captured in Eddie Adams’ Pulitzer-winning "Saigon Execution" photograph.
The July 1995 genocide of Bosniak men and boys at Srebrenica during the Bosnian War - referenced alongside Vietnam-era atrocity.
The June 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Wounded Knee, South Dakota - the 1890 massacre of Lakota Sioux, and site of the 1973 American Indian Movement occupation, invoked alongside Vietnam-era state violence.
The COVID-19 pandemic, used in a recent song as a point of comparison.
The Japanese attack of 7 December 1941, usually named in patriotic and lineage songs.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima, August 1945, often invoked as the measure of destruction.
The atomic bombing of Nagasaki, August 1945. Usually named beside Hiroshima.
The 1836 siege, invoked as the model of standing and dying for the country.
The kidnapping of Westerners in Beirut through the 1980s. See Lebanon.
The Panama Canal and the treaties returning it, a Carter-era controversy.
Negotiations to end the war in general terms. See Paris Peace Accords for the agreement itself.
The 1971 table-tennis exchange that opened US relations with China.
The 1916 battle, named in lineage songs as the byword for slaughter.
The 1815 battle, invoked as a historical reference point.
The 1991 police beating in Los Angeles and the 1992 riots that followed the acquittals.
The 1915 Gallipoli campaign, the founding story of the Anzac legend, invoked in Australian and New Zealand songs as the measure of later service. See Anzac Day.
The 1968 Czechoslovak reform movement and the Soviet-led invasion of August 1968 that ended it, paired with Vietnam in the protest songs of that year. Jan Palach's self-immolation in January 1969 carries Self-Immolation as well.

Veterans

11 sub-themes · 633 songs →
Definition

Reference to a veteran in song lyrics. If song is performed by a veteran, than it is classified as “Military” under release attributes.

Vet 538
A Vietnam veteran referenced in general terms, where no narrower veteran tag applies.
aka: “Wall”, “Black Wall”. National monument in Washington D.C., with the names of 50,000 + US soldiers killed in Vietnam (also including some classified as M.I.A.). Built in 1982.
A disabled Vietnam War veteran - a former soldier - often found in post-war songs. For a civilian maimed by the war, use Disabled Civilian.
PTSD 98
PTSD, frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans. Often connected (in songs) to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, feelings and dreams related to an event.
Songs referencing the treatment of veterans back in the US – lack of govt support, no jobs, no parades etc.
The clichéd image of a crazed, out-of-control Vietnam veteran, typically associated with gun violence - a stock figure in post-war songs and films. Sits beside Disabled Vet and Mistreatment of Vet.
Reference to suicide, typically veteran suicide in post-war songs.
Reference to a family member - usually the narrator’s father, but also an uncle, brother or grandfather - who fought in Vietnam. Typically post-war songs by or about the children of veterans: growing up with a vet in the house, PTSD at home, the Agent Orange legacy. Distinct from Home Front Perspective (war-era family waiting at home) and Child (child narrator during the war). Where the song links service across different wars, see Generational Service.
The story of anti-war protesters spitting on returning Vietnam veterans. No incident has been documented and it is generally held to be a myth; it is rare in song, and usually surfaces alongside Mistreatment of Vet.
The belated welcome-home marches for Vietnam veterans, above all the Sydney parade of 3 October 1987. See Mistreatment of Vet for the neglect the parades were meant to answer.
War memorials, cenotaphs and honour rolls in general. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington has its own tag.
Definition

A song recorded in answer to another song - also called a response or answer song. Each tag below gathers the whole family around one record: the original, every reply to it, and covers and alternative versions of either, so the related material can be found together. A song that merely uses the same phrase is not part of the family.

An answer-record family whose original is not one of the named cases below.
Victor Lundberg's “An Open Letter to My Teenage Son” (1967), declaring his opposition to draft card burning, and the many replies defending the right to protest - among them “Teenager's Answer”, “Letter to Dad” and “Open Letter to My Dad”.
Dave Dudley's “What We're Fighting For” (1965) and the records answering it - Mother Maybelle Carter's “I Told Them What You're Fighting For” is the clearest. For the phrase used generally rather than as a reply, see Fighting For.
Barry McGuire's “Eve of Destruction” (1965) and the answer cycle it set off - “Dawn of Correction”, “Day of Decision”, “Eve of Tomorrow” and many more, mostly patriotic.
“The Americans”, Gordon Sinclair's 1973 radio editorial praising American generosity, the spoken-word hits made of it by Byron MacGregor and Tex Ritter, and the replies - among them “An American's Answer (To Gordon Sinclair)” and “A European (Speaks Up for the US)”.
Larry Verne's novelty hit “Mr. Custer” (1960) and the records built on it, borrowing its tune and cadence to address the president or another public figure.
“Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town” (1967), the disabled veteran's plea to his wife, and the replies - among them “Ruby's Answer” and “Billy, I've Got to Go to Town”.
Barry Sadler's “The Ballad of the Green Berets” (1966) and the records answering it, supporting or parodying it - among them “Ballad of the Yellow Beret”.
Merle Haggard's “Okie from Muskogee” (1969) and the records answering it - among them “Obie From Senatobie” and “Only Hippie in Muskogee”.
Johnny Wright's “Hello Vietnam” (1966) and Kitty Hawkins' “Good-Bye to Viet Nam”, the reply Tom T. Hall wrote to his own song. Songs that merely use the phrase are not part of the family.

Drugs

6 sub-themes · 100 songs →
Definition

Reference to drugs and Vietnam. Usually (a) culture of drug use by American GIs in Vietnam, or (b) drug use of US Vietnam veterans, back in the US. May also be about hippies taking drugs.

Drugs 86
Drug use as a subject. Carried by every song that takes a specific substance tag, and used alone where no substance is named.
Reference to the psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Thought to be the second most used drug by US troops, after alcohol.
LSD 5
Reference to LSD, the psychedelic drug central to 1960s counter-culture.
Reference to drinking - in-country, on R&R, or by veterans back home.
Reference to cocaine, including the 1980s crack epidemic named beside Vietnam.
Reference to heroin - frequently tied to GI addiction in Vietnam and veteran addiction back home.

Films

8 sub-themes · 84 songs →
Definition

Reference to a Vietnam War films in the lyrics of a song (not including Vietnam War film soundtracks – which are classified as “Soundtracks” under release attributes).

Film 63
Any Vietnam War film referenced in a lyric. Every specific film tag carries this one as well.
Reference to the Rambo films, from First Blood (1982), and their veteran-as-one-man-army figure. Always carries Film.
Reference to Apocalypse Now (1979), often through surfing, napalm, beach parties, or the line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning… smells like victory”. Always carries Film.
Reference to the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam (Robin Williams as AFVN DJ Adrian Cronauer). Always carries Film; an allusion counts, not only a name-check.
Reference to the 1994 film Forrest Gump. Always carries Film.
The 1968 John Wayne film. Always carries Film. Distinct from Green Beret, the Special Forces soldier, and from Answer to Green Beret.
The 1971 film and its Green Beret veteran hero. Always carries Film.
The 1987 film. Always carries Film. See The Battle of Hamburger Hill for the engagement itself.
Definition

The named doctrines, policies and strategies by which the war was justified, fought and ended.

The 1980s Reagan-era saw a trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome" - the perception that domestic controversies over the war led to the US taking a less interventionist position in US foreign affairs. This term also applied to veterans, who may have felt guilt or shame about the war, influenced by the domestic climate they returned to in the US. Ronald Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: "for too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome...We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died...They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern". Many war films of the period fitted into this climate of trying to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, such First Blood [Rambo] (1982), Uncommon Valor (1983), and Missing in Action (1984)
That the US executive / president mislead the public about the growing US military commitment to the region, and the nature and impact of US intervention. On 4 August 1964, President Johnson gave a speech on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which he told the American public that the US must take action against "this new...aggression". He re-assured the public that "we still seek no wider war". Yet, in 1965 LBJ began to significantly escalate the Vietnam conflict - from 59,900 in June 1965 to 184,300 by December 1965
That the collapse of South Vietnam into the control of the communist north would trigger the collapse of democracy in other countries and threaten the US - the idea of which came from President Eisenhower, during a press conferences on 7 April 1954
Term used by President Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation, 17 January 1961: “A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment… In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex”. Thus, a reference to the relationship between the military and the arms industry.
Nixon’s policy and military strategy of gradually withdrawing American forces while building up the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to carry the fighting.
The Cold War doctrine that neither superpower would strike first, because both would be destroyed.
US economic aid to rebuild Western Europe from 1948, invoked as the model of American generosity abroad.
That America should stay out of foreign wars. Found in patriotic and anti-war songs alike.
The August 1964 resolution that authorised the escalation. The song must reference it, not merely the incident.
Definition

The political ideas and ideals a song argues for or against, as distinct from the doctrines and policies of the war itself.

Hawk 3
A supporter of the war and of military escalation. The term itself must appear in the lyric. Opposite of Dove; see also Anti-Hawk.
Dove 5
An opponent of the war, favouring negotiation and withdrawal. The term itself must appear in the lyric. Opposite of Hawk.
Communism as a system or a threat. See Anti-Communism for opposition to it.
Freedom and liberty as ideals worth fighting for, or as promises broken. Usually patriotic.
Material framed to persuade the listener towards a cause or point of view, and songs about propaganda itself - the official version of the war and who is telling it.
Pride in Mexican identity, praise for Mexican culture, and Mexican patriotism. Distinct from Patriotic, which is US patriotism - a Mexican-American record can assert both at once.

Public Affairs

17 sub-themes · 90 songs →
Definition

Domestic policy and civic life at home - elections, the economy, welfare, the environment and the issues that shared the decade with the war.

Jobs, wages, prices and hardship at home. See Inflation and Poverty for the policy side.
Vote 20
Voting and the franchise. See Voting Rights for the campaign to lower the voting age.
An election as an event, most often a presidential one.
A campaign song, or a song about campaigning.
Pollution, conservation and concern for the environment.
Schooling and universities as a political issue.
Rising prices and the cost of living. Common around the 70s Energy Crisis.
Poverty at home, often set against the cost of the war.
Tax 5
Taxation, and what it is being spent on.
Corruption in public life.
Crime and law and order as a domestic issue.
American aid abroad, and arguments over its cost.
The control of firearms as a political question. See Guns for weapons in the lyric.
The 1965 health programme, usually named with Great Society.
Johnson's domestic programme, and the argument that the war paid for its failure.
Veterans' education and housing benefits.
School desegregation by busing, a Nixon-era flashpoint. Usually carries Civil Rights.
Definition

Recognised phrases and catchwords of the war and the era as they appear in song lyrics. The phrase is the theme; supporters and opponents both use them.

Nixon’s term for the Americans who supported the war without demonstrating - “to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support”, 3 November 1969. Common in pro-war and anti-protest songs.
Popular slogan, along with “if you don’t love it, leave it”, often seen at “patriotic” demonstrations
Nixon’s formula for ending US involvement without appearing to abandon South Vietnam, claimed at the Paris Accords in 1973.
The refrain “what are we fighting for” and its variants. Patriotic records supply an answer, anti-war records press the question. See Answer to What We’re Fighting For for songs replying to the Dave Dudley record.
The draft-resistance chant of the anti-war movement, refusing induction outright. See Draft Resistance.
The protest chant “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”, aimed at Johnson over the war’s civilian dead. Always carries LBJ.
The demand that American troops be brought back - a staple title and refrain of anti-war and home-front songs.
Sherman’s phrase, used as the plain summary of what combat is. Patriotic and anti-war records both reach for it.
The withdrawal demand of the anti-war movement, sung or chanted as a direct call to end American involvement.
US chemicals company, one of several manufacturers of napalm and agent orange, under a government contract from 1965-1969. Later the sole provider to the US government after companies became a target of the anti-war / peace movement. Sometimes referenced in songs
Intergovernmental organisation founded on 24 October 1945, following the Second World War. A replacement of the League of Nations.
The Black Panther Party, founded 1966, the revolutionary Black-power organisation.
Students for a Democratic Society, the largest US student radical organisation of the 1960s and a driver of campus anti-war protest.
OPEC 2
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, named in songs about the oil embargo and American dependence. See 70s Energy Crisis.
The Pentagon - the building and the institution as headquarters of the US military. Distinct from Pentagon Papers and Military-Industrial Complex.
KKK 10
The Ku Klux Klan, named in songs tying racism at home to the war. Usually alongside Civil Rights.
CIA 9
The Central Intelligence Agency.
NATO 5
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, usually in Cold War contexts.
NLF 74
The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam named as an organisation - including its European forms, FNL and "FNL-grupperna", and its anthem. See VC for the Vietcong as fighters.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The US Congress as an institution.
The Democratic Party as an institution.
EC 1
The European Community, forerunner of the European Union.
The anti-communist society, initially hawkish on Vietnam.
The National Guard, at Kent State and in the domestic disturbances of the period.
The Nazi party and regime, usually a WW2 or lineage reference.
The Red Cross as an organisation.
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the alliance invoked to justify intervention.
The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the international pacifist organisation, which sponsored the Vietnamese Buddhist peace appeal and issued the "Cry for Vietnam" LP.
The United Service Organizations, which staged shows for the troops in Vietnam - Bob Hope's Christmas tours above all - and the entertainers who travelled with them.

Religion

4 sub-themes · 438 songs →
Definition

Faith, religious practice and religious figures as they appear in song lyrics.

Reference to religion in general - praying, church, God. Songs by missionaries are a release attribute, not this tag.
Buddhism and Buddhist monks, most often in connection with protest in South Vietnam.
Christian belief, churches and clergy.
Judaism —
Jewish belief and identity.
Definition

Americans in office, in politics and in uniform - presidents, cabinet members, candidates, commanders and servicemen named in song.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, US president 1953-61, who backed the French and then South Vietnam, and warned of the military-industrial complex.
JFK 51
John F. Kennedy, US president 1961-63, who expanded the US advisory presence in Vietnam. Assassinated in November 1963.
LBJ 93
US president 1963-69, who escalated the war after the Gulf of Tonkin and declined to seek re-election in 1968. The chief target of protest songs - “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”
Nixon 177
Richard M. Nixon, US president 1969-74: Vietnamisation, the Paris Accords, the bombing of Cambodia and Watergate. The most frequently named president in the discography.
The Marine officer and Vietnam veteran at the centre of the Iran-Contra affair, named in Reagan-era songs. See Iran-Contra Affair.
Henry Kissinger, national security adviser and secretary of state, architect of the Paris Accords and the secret bombing of Cambodia.
Robert McNamara, secretary of defense 1961-68, identified with escalation and with the war’s body counts. Commissioned the study that became the Pentagon Papers.
George H. W. Bush, 41st US president (1989-93) - the First Gulf War presidency.
George W. Bush, 43rd US president (2001-09) - the Afghanistan and Iraq War presidency.
Reagan 18
Ronald Reagan, 40th US president (1981-89) - the Vietnam Syndrome era.
Donald Trump, invoked in later songs over his draft deferments or as a point of comparison with the war’s politics.
George C. Wallace, segregationist governor of Alabama and presidential candidate.
Abraham Lincoln, invoked for the Civil War and for national unity.
RFK 13
Robert F. Kennedy, senator and anti-war presidential candidate, assassinated in June 1968.
Agnew 12
Spiro Agnew, Nixon's vice-president, who attacked the protest movement and the press.
Carter 11
Jimmy Carter, US president 1977-81 - the amnesty, the energy crisis and the Iran hostages.
Ford 7
Gerald Ford, US president 1974-77, who took office after Watergate and offered conditional amnesty.
Johnson's vice-president, who lost the 1968 election to Nixon.
The first president, invoked in patriotic and lineage songs.
Thomas Jefferson, invoked for the founding ideals.
James Monroe, named for the Monroe Doctrine and the founding era.
General William Westmoreland, US commander in Vietnam 1964-68.
General Douglas MacArthur, usually a Korea or WW2 lineage reference.
Haig 1
Alexander Haig, battalion commander in Vietnam and later Nixon's chief of staff.
George McGovern, the anti-war senator who lost to Nixon in 1972.
The senator whose 1968 anti-war candidacy helped drive Johnson from the race.
Barry Goldwater, the hawkish Republican candidate of 1964.
Edmund Muskie, Humphrey's running mate in 1968.
Nelson Rockefeller, New York governor and presidential contender.
Everett Dirksen, Senate Republican leader.
Nixon's attorney general, convicted over Watergate.
H. R. Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff, convicted over Watergate.
Nixon's White House counsel, whose testimony broke Watergate open.
Mayor of Chicago, whose police confronted demonstrators at the 1968 convention.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, usually a WW2 reference.
Harry S. Truman, named for the atomic bomb, Korea and the start of the Cold War.
Lee Harvey Oswald, named in connection with the Kennedy assassination.
Lady Bird Johnson, the president's wife, named in satirical and critical songs.
Johnson's elder daughter, named in the same satirical vein.
Johnson's younger daughter, named in the same satirical vein.
A serviceman killed in Vietnam, named in Hispanic-American songs.
H. Ross Perot, the Texas businessman who campaigned for the P.O.W.s and M.I.A.s and ran for president in 1992 and 1996.
Definition

Figures from Vietnam and the communist world - leaders of the North and South, and the communist figures invoked in Cold War songs.

President of North Vietnam and leader of the Vietnamese independence struggle until his death in 1969. The Vietnamese figure most often named in US songs - condemned as a communist in patriotic records, admired as a man of the people in protest ones.
Diem 5
Ngo Dinh Diem, president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his assassination in the coup of November 1963.
Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader 1953-64, the Cold War adversary of Eisenhower and Kennedy. Referenced in songs framing Vietnam as a Cold War confrontation.
Cuban leader from 1959, named as the communist threat in the Americas.
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-Cuban revolutionary, named directly or through his 1967 call to create "two, three, many Vietnams".
Phan Thị Kim Phúc, the South Vietnamese girl photographed in 1972 at the age of nine, running from a napalm strike - known informally as the napalm girl. Always carries Napalm. The picture sleeve counts as evidence, not only the lyric.
Mao 6
Mao Zedong, leader of communist China.
Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader, named in Cold War and anti-communist songs.
Vladimir Lenin, named in Cold War and anti-communist songs.
Marx 3
Karl Marx, named in anti-communist songs.
Nguyen Van Thieu, president of South Vietnam 1967-75.
Duong Van Minh, the general who took the South Vietnamese presidency at the fall of Saigon.
The North Vietnamese negotiator of the Paris Accords, who declined the Nobel Peace Prize.
The North Vietnamese radio broadcaster who addressed American troops by name.
Thích Nhất Hạnh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet and peace activist exiled in 1966, whose poems were set to music in Europe and the US. Usually carries Buddhism.
Definition

Figures from outside the United States and the communist bloc, including the leaders of earlier and later wars.

Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq (1979-2003), referenced around the Gulf and Iraq wars.
Hitler 21
Adolf Hitler, named as the benchmark of tyranny, usually in lineage or analogy.
Charles de Gaulle, French president, who urged American withdrawal.
Benito Mussolini, usually a WW2 reference.
Tojo 1
Hideki Tojo, Japanese prime minister during the Second World War.
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian president, named in Cold War contexts.
Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan leader, named in 1980s analogy songs.
Harold Macmillan, British prime minister, named in UK anti-war songs.
Australian prime minister, who committed Australian troops to Vietnam.
Harold Holt, Australian prime minister 1966-67, who tripled the Australian commitment to Vietnam and coined "All the way with LBJ". Disappeared while swimming in December 1967.
The pope who addressed the United Nations in 1965 calling for peace.
The Swedish activist whose 1965 arrest at an anti-war demonstration became a cause in Sweden.
Definition

Leaders and figures of the civil rights, Black Power and anti-war movements, and those who became emblems of resistance to the war.

The actress whose 1972 visit to Hanoi made her a target of pro-war and veteran songs - “Hanoi Jane”.
Reference to Muhammad Ali, the world heavyweight champion who refused induction in April 1967 on religious grounds and was stripped of his title. Where a song names him in connection with Vietnam or the draft it always carries Draft Resistance, because that is what his refusal was. Add Draft Dodging as well only if the song frames it that way.
Reference to Muhammad Ali by the name he was born with and gave up in 1964. A song using it after that date is usually making a point by doing so. Always carries Muhammad Ali.
MLK 27
Martin Luther King Jr., whose Riverside Church speech of 1967 turned the civil rights movement against the war.
Black Panther co-founder, bound and gagged at the Chicago trial.
The analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
Yippie co-founder and one of the Chicago Seven.
Yippie co-founder and one of the Chicago Seven.
SDS founder and one of the Chicago Seven.
Pacifist organiser and one of the Chicago Seven.
Anti-war organiser and one of the Chicago Seven.
The Black nationalist leader, assassinated in 1965.
Black Panther co-founder.
The SNCC leader who coined Black Power and opposed the draft.
Black Panther leader and author of Soul on Ice.
The activist and academic, prosecuted and acquitted in 1972.
Definition

Musicians, writers, actors and fictional characters invoked as shorthand for the era or turned on the war.

Superman invoked as the American saviour figure.
Batman invoked as a comic-book solution to the war.
The film actor, invoked in lyrics as the emblem of American martial heroism. See The Green Berets.
Named as the voice of the protest generation, and mocked as such in anti-protest songs.
The folk singer whose war songs were themselves censored.
The folk singer and anti-war activist.
The Beatles, named as shorthand for the 1960s.
Named as shorthand for the 1960s and for Woodstock.
Named as shorthand for the 1960s and for Woodstock.
Named as shorthand for 1960s popular culture.
The psychedelic advocate of the counter-culture.
Named as a passing cultural reference.
The novelist, referenced through The Quiet American.
Definition

Places inside Vietnam named in song lyrics - cities, bases, provinces and rivers.

Saigon 160
The capital of South Vietnam, renamed Ho Chi Minh City after 1975. A common song title in its own right.
Hanoi 51
The capital of North Vietnam - named as the seat of Northern power, as the target of US bombing, and as the place American prisoners were held.
Hue 4
The city of Huế, the old imperial capital on the Perfume River, and the site of the longest battle of the 1968 Tet Offensive. See Tet Offensive.
Famous Saigon street name, known to have many bars and clubs. Tu Do translated as "Liberty", called that between 1955 and 1975. It was formerly known as Catinat street (pre-1955), and was re-named Dông Khoï (General Insurrection) after the fall of Saigon. Usually mentioned in songs in relation to US GIs visiting bars and prostitution in Saigon.
The US Marine combat base besieged for 77 days in early 1968.
The coastal city and major US airbase where the first US combat troops landed in March 1965.
The Central Highlands town whose attack in February 1965 triggered the sustained bombing of the North.
The deep-water port and major US base on the South Vietnamese coast.
The coastal province containing My Lai.
Saigon under its post-1975 name. The lyric must use it. See Saigon.
The northern port city, named for its harbour and its bombing.
The Mekong river and delta.
The town beside the Australian base at Nui Dat.
Definition

Places inside the United States named in song lyrics.

Arlington National Cemetery, where the war dead are buried. Often with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The US capital as the seat of government, and the site of the major anti-war marches.
The Georgia post where infantry trained, and where Calley was court-martialled.
The Chicago park where police confronted demonstrators in 1968.
Definition

Places outside Vietnam and the United States named in song lyrics. Only places referenced in the lyric, not the location of the artist or label.

Vietnam’s neighbour, bombed and then invaded by US forces - Nixon announced the incursion on 30 April 1970, setting off the campus demonstrations that ended in the Kent State shootings. Later ruled by the Khmer Rouge.
Laos 19
Vietnam’s neighbour, crossed by the Ho Chi Minh Trail and heavily bombed. Usually named only in protest songs about the widening of the war.
Russia 21
The Soviet Union as Cold War adversary and backer of North Vietnam.
The People’s Republic of China as a communist power and backer of North Vietnam.
Cuba 13
Communist Cuba, named as the Cold War threat close to home.
The Sierra Leone Civil War, referenced as a comparison.
Iran 1
Iran as a country reference in lyrics. The hostage crisis and the arms-for-hostages scandal are separate tags under Events.
Taiwan as a country reference in lyrics. Period lyrics may name it Formosa.
Lebanon as a country reference in lyrics, most often the US deployment to Beirut and the 1983 barracks bombing.
Iraq 6
Iraq as a country reference, where no specific war is named. See Iraq War and First Gulf War.
Ireland as a country reference. See Ireland Troubles for the Northern Ireland conflict.
Chile as a Cold War flashpoint, usually the 1973 coup.
Germany as a Cold War front. See Berlin.
Berlin, usually the Wall - its building or its fall.
Moscow, in Cold War references.
Peking, in Cold War references to communist China.
Japan 14
Japan referenced in the lyric, unrelated to the artist's own location.
Okinawa named in the lyric: the US bases there that supported the war - including the B-52s flown from Kadena - and local opposition to them. The island was under US administration until its return to Japan in 1972. See Japan for the mainland.
France referenced in the lyric - often the First Indo-China War.
Afghanistan referenced in the lyric, where no specific war is named.
Israel referenced in the lyric, outside the Arab-Israeli conflict tag.
Africa referenced in the lyric.
The Congo, usually a Cold War intervention reference.
Sydney, named in the lyric - often as an R&R destination.
The Nazi concentration camp, named as a byword for atrocity.
North Korea as a country reference in lyrics. See Pueblo Incident and Korean War.

Wars

16 sub-themes · 337 songs →
Definition

Reference to previous wars

May be reference to a battle, such as Bunker Hill
The American Civil War, 1861-65. Usually named as part of a lineage of wars, and also tagged where a Civil War song is revived and rewritten for Vietnam.
WW1 50
The First World War, 1914-18. Often named in War Lineage, Family Vet and Generational Service songs.
WW2 165
The Second World War, 1939-45. The most-cited earlier war, usually the “good war” against which Vietnam is measured, and often named in War Lineage, Family Vet and Generational Service songs.
Korea 80
The Korean War, 1950-53. The nearest precedent for a limited war in Asia, and often named in War Lineage, Family Vet and Generational Service songs.
The US-Soviet confrontation from 1945 to 1991, the frame for US intervention in Vietnam.
The French war in Indochina, 1946-54, ending in defeat at Dien Bien Phu.
The 1990-91 invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm, measured against Vietnam and sometimes naming George H. Bush. Distinct from Iraq War.
The 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, drawn as a comparison to Vietnam. Distinct from First Gulf War.
The Bosnian War (1992-95), referenced as a later war compared to Vietnam.
The Falklands War (1982) between the UK and Argentina, referenced as a later war compared to Vietnam.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland, compared to or mentioned alongside Vietnam. Distinct from Ireland, the country as a place reference.
US involvement in El Salvador in the 1980s, frequently drawn as another Vietnam.
The Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Palestinian cause, named alongside Vietnam as a struggle against occupation.
The Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), France's colonial war, named as the comparison for Vietnam in French and Italian songs. See First Indo-China War.
Definition

How a song makes its point - the rhetorical and sonic techniques it uses, as distinct from the subject it is about.

Satire 129
Ridicule or irony turned on a policy, an institution or a public figure.
A comic or gimmick record, where the treatment rather than the subject is the point.
A performer taking on the voice of a real figure - a president, a general, Ho Chi Minh - rather than singing as themselves. Where the voice is a racial caricature rather than a named individual, use Racist Impersonation.
Recorded sound used alongside or in place of the music - gunfire, helicopters, explosions, radio chatter, news broadcasts. Covers combat noise as well as any other effect.
Definition

Who made the record and how it was made, rather than what its lyrics are about.

A record made by serving military personnel, rather than a commercial act.
LGBTQ+ 32
A record by a performer who publicly identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, on their own public statements - never on rumour, inference or the content of the lyric. A band qualifies where a member does, as with Military. A song about gay life or a gay character does not carry this tag.
A record produced by a song-poem company from lyrics submitted by an amateur writer, set to music and pressed to order.
A record made in Vietnam. Recorded there - not merely set there.
A record made by missionaries. See Religion for religious content in the lyric.
Placeholder for a record confirmed as Vietnam-related but not yet assessed for its themes - lyrics not obtained or recording not heard. Not a theme. Replaced by the proper tags once the song has been reviewed.
A record issued to raise money for Vietnam - orphans, hospitals, refugees, medical aid - where the charitable purpose is the reason the record exists. Usually stated on the sleeve or label.
A recording made at or for East Berlin's Festival des politischen Liedes (1970-90), the annual festival of political song in the GDR at which many European and Vietnamese artists were recorded.
Speech 17
A recorded speech or address issued on disc, by a politician, campaigner or public figure. See Debate for a recorded exchange and Documentary for a narrated record.
A recorded debate or discussion on the war between two or more speakers.
A spoken documentary record: narration, interviews and news material assembled to tell the story of the war or of a year's events.
Sound recorded on location rather than in a studio - with the fleet, in training, in the field - and issued as a record.
A record of war-time radio broadcasting, such as Armed Forces Vietnam Network programming, or a record made for radio play.
A broadcast public service announcement pressed to disc for radio stations - recruiting, enlistment, Peace Corps and similar appeals.
A record issued by or for the armed forces to recruit: recruiting-command releases, enlistment appeals and training material. See Volunteer for a song about choosing to enlist.

Primary themes, ranked

5 primary themes · 6,529 songs

Each song carries one primary theme — its overall stance or viewpoint — so the shares add up to 100%. Songs from 1976 on are Post-War; the other primary themes cover the war years, 1960–75. The middle column splits each between records from the USA and from everywhere else.

Peace v Patriotic v Home Front / Soldier’s Perspective — USA, war years

3,228 US songs, 1960–75

US records from the war years (1960–75), compared by primary theme across the three viewpoints. What is counted: the archive holds 4,547 US records in all; 1,079 of them are from 1976 on and carry the primary theme Post-War, so they sit outside this war-years comparison. Of the 3,468 war-years records, 209 spoken-word recordings and 31 songs from Vietnam on a US-issued LP (Vietnamese Patriotic) are left out, leaving the 3,228 songs compared here.

Peace, Protest & Anti-War 1,107 34.3% US Patriotic / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest 1,040 32.2% Home Front / Soldier's Perspective 1,081 33.5%

Parent themes, ranked

42 parent themes · 6,416 tagged songs

Each parent theme by the number of songs carrying it, most first. A song may carry several parent themes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.

# Parent theme Sub-themes Songs Share
1 Peace, Protest, & Anti-War 12 sub-themes 2,144 33.4% 2 Impact of War: US Perspective 28 sub-themes 1,941 30.3% 3 US Patriotic 9 sub-themes 1,300 20.3% 4 Production Themes 15 sub-themes 889 13.9% 5 Impact of War: Vietnamese Perspective 6 sub-themes 841 13.1% 6 Vietnamese Patriotic 4 sub-themes 637 9.9% 7 Veterans 11 sub-themes 633 9.9% 8 Military Classification 4 sub-themes 535 8.3% 9 Draft 14 sub-themes 519 8.1% 10 Religion 4 sub-themes 438 6.8% 11 People: US Political & Military 42 sub-themes 415 6.5% 12 Movements 12 sub-themes 392 6.1% 13 Demonstrations 11 sub-themes 389 6.1% 14 Combat 7 sub-themes 383 6.0% 15 Military Branch 16 sub-themes 364 5.7% 16 Wars 16 sub-themes 337 5.3% 17 Weapons & Military Hardware 14 sub-themes 315 4.9% 18 My Lai 16 sub-themes 288 4.5% 19 Places: Vietnam 13 sub-themes 258 4.0% 20 People: Vietnamese & Communist 15 sub-themes 237 3.7% 21 Events 34 sub-themes 210 3.3% 22 Vietnam as Comparison 5 sub-themes 197 3.1% 23 Ideologies & Ideals 6 sub-themes 189 2.9% 24 Lyrical & Musical Devices 4 sub-themes 156 2.4% 25 Organisations / Brands / Groups 21 sub-themes 149 2.3% 26 Places: International 26 sub-themes 148 2.3% 27 Holidays 6 sub-themes 142 2.2% 28 Drugs 6 sub-themes 100 1.6% 29 Military Battles / Operations 18 sub-themes 97 1.5% 30 Answer Record Themes 10 sub-themes 92 1.4% 31 Medals 4 sub-themes 90 1.4% 32 Public Affairs 17 sub-themes 90 1.4% 33 ANZUS 3 sub-themes 88 1.4% 34 Films 8 sub-themes 84 1.3% 35 War-Related Crimes 4 sub-themes 76 1.2% 36 Slogans & Sayings 9 sub-themes 68 1.1% 37 People: Movements & Activism 16 sub-themes 66 1.0% 38 Doctrines & Strategy 9 sub-themes 59 0.92% 39 People: International 12 sub-themes 44 0.69% 40 People: Culture & Media 13 sub-themes 17 0.26% 41 Racism 5 sub-themes 15 0.23% 42 Places: United States 4 sub-themes 12 0.19%

Sub-themes, ranked

482 sub-themes in use

Every sub-theme tag in use, most songs first, with the share of tagged songs carrying it.

# Sub-theme Songs Share
1 Anti-War 1,820 28.4% 2 Soldier's Perspective 1,328 20.7% 3 Patriotic 1,194 18.6% 4 Vietnamese Perspective 804 12.5% 5 Vietnamese Patriotic 623 9.7% 6 Vet 538 8.4% 7 Draft 493 7.7% 8 Religion 416 6.5% 9 Home Front Perspective 400 6.2% 10 Military 339 5.3% 11 K.I.A. 333 5.2% 12 My Lai 287 4.5% 13 Demonstration 266 4.1% 14 Song Poem 242 3.8% 15 Civil Rights 229 3.6% 16 Combat 219 3.4% 17 Peace 212 3.3% 18 VC 206 3.2% 19 Themes Pending 198 3.1% 20 P.O.W. 193 3.0% 21 Ho Chi Minh 182 2.8% 22 Anti-Protest 179 2.8% 23 Nixon 177 2.8% 24 Protest 177 2.8% 25 WW2 165 2.6% 26 Saigon 160 2.5% 27 Anti-Imperialism 140 2.2% 28 Christmas 135 2.1% 29 Satire 129 2.0% 30 Child 127 2.0% 31 Pro-Soldier 119 1.9% 32 Kent State 114 1.8% 33 Vietnam Analogy 111 1.7% 34 Napalm 108 1.7% 35 Anti-American 101 1.6% 36 Flag 99 1.5% 37 PTSD 98 1.5% 38 Anti-Calley 94 1.5% 39 LBJ 93 1.4% 40 Atomic 91 1.4% 41 Soldier Boy 89 1.4% 42 Counter-Culture & Hippies 87 1.4% 43 Freedom & Liberty 87 1.4% 44 ANZUS 86 1.3% 45 Drugs 86 1.3% 46 Anti-Government 82 1.3% 47 Communism 82 1.3% 48 Korea 80 1.2% 49 Refugees 80 1.2% 50 Violence Metaphor 80 1.2% 51 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall 79 1.2% 52 Air War 78 1.2% 53 M.I.A. 78 1.2% 54 South Vietnamese 78 1.2% 55 Draft Card Burning 76 1.2% 56 Medals 75 1.2% 57 NLF 74 1.2% 58 Benefit Record 66 1.0% 59 Reunification 66 1.0% 60 Draft Dodger 65 1.0% 61 Anti-Communism 64 1.00% 62 Film 63 0.98% 63 Boat People 59 0.92% 64 Chicago Seven 59 0.92% 65 Pro-Calley 59 0.92% 66 Civilian Casualties 58 0.90% 67 Cold War 57 0.89% 68 Mistreatment of Vet 57 0.89% 69 Coming Home 55 0.86% 70 Solidarity 55 0.86% 71 Agent Orange 53 0.83% 72 Ho Chi Minh Trail 53 0.83% 73 Hanoi 51 0.79% 74 JFK 51 0.79% 75 WW1 50 0.78% 76 City & Community Violence 49 0.76% 77 Jungle 49 0.76% 78 Air Force 47 0.73% 79 Generation Gap 45 0.70% 80 Lost Love 45 0.70% 81 Purple Heart 43 0.67% 82 Vietnamese Girls 41 0.64% 83 Watergate 40 0.62% 84 Calley-Order 39 0.61% 85 Cambodia 39 0.61% 86 Guerrilla Warfare 39 0.61% 87 Helicopter 39 0.61% 88 Wallace 38 0.59% 89 Vietnamese Children 36 0.56% 90 Disabled Vet 35 0.55% 91 Mail Call 33 0.51% 92 Foxhole 32 0.50% 93 Green Beret 32 0.50% 94 In Country 32 0.50% 95 LGBTQ+ 32 0.50% 96 Mekong Delta 32 0.50% 97 Civil War 30 0.47% 98 China (Cold War) 29 0.45% 99 Election 29 0.45% 100 Answer to Eve of Destruction 28 0.44% 101 Bicentennial 28 0.44% 102 Guns 27 0.42% 103 MLK 27 0.42% 104 Buddhism 26 0.41% 105 Calley-Justice 26 0.41% 106 Fall of Saigon 26 0.41% 107 First Indo-China War 26 0.41% 108 R&R 25 0.39% 109 Toy Soldier 25 0.39% 110 Women Fighters 25 0.39% 111 Jody 24 0.37% 112 American Revolution 23 0.36% 113 Fighting For 23 0.36% 114 Missionary 23 0.36% 115 Anti-Capitalism 22 0.34% 116 Draft Resistance 22 0.34% 117 Vietnam Syndrome 22 0.34% 118 Anti-Hippie 21 0.33% 119 Hitler 21 0.33% 120 Russia 21 0.33% 121 Calley-Chaos 20 0.31% 122 Navy 20 0.31% 123 Silent Majority 20 0.31% 124 TV War 20 0.31% 125 Vote 20 0.31% 126 Iranian Hostage Crisis 19 0.30% 127 Laos 19 0.30% 128 Marines 19 0.30% 129 Answer to Green Beret 18 0.28% 130 Fellowship of Reconciliation 18 0.28% 131 First Gulf War 18 0.28% 132 Genocide 18 0.28% 133 Lincoln 18 0.28% 134 North Vietnam Patriotic 18 0.28% 135 Reagan 18 0.28% 136 Thich Nhat Hanh 18 0.28% 137 Battle of Dien Bien Phu 17 0.26% 138 Bobby Seale 17 0.26% 139 My Lai Analogy 17 0.26% 140 Novelty 17 0.26% 141 Orphan 17 0.26% 142 South Vietnam Patriotic 17 0.26% 143 Speech 17 0.26% 144 Domino Theory 16 0.25% 145 Draft Reluctance 16 0.25% 146 Police Brutality 16 0.25% 147 Pro-Government 16 0.25% 148 Volunteer 16 0.25% 149 Calley-Danger 15 0.23% 150 Journalist 15 0.23% 151 Prostitution 15 0.23% 152 Sound-Effects 15 0.23% 153 Space Race 15 0.23% 154 Alcohol 14 0.22% 155 Answer to Open Letter 14 0.22% 156 Apocalypse Now 14 0.22% 157 Da Nang 14 0.22% 158 Iraq War 14 0.22% 159 Japan 14 0.22% 160 War Lineage 14 0.22% 161 Christianity 13 0.20% 162 Cuba 13 0.20% 163 Hugh Thompson 13 0.20% 164 RFK 13 0.20% 165 Agnew 12 0.19% 166 Dear John Letter 12 0.19% 167 Draft Inequality 12 0.19% 168 Economic 12 0.19% 169 Fidel Castro 12 0.19% 170 McNamara 12 0.19% 171 Muhammad Ali 12 0.19% 172 Calley-Scapegoat 11 0.17% 173 Carter 11 0.17% 174 Flag Burning 11 0.17% 175 Kissinger 11 0.17% 176 Love It or Leave It 11 0.17% 177 Propaganda 11 0.17% 178 Woodstock 11 0.17% 179 Anti-Asian Racism 10 0.16% 180 Anti-Politician 10 0.16% 181 Khe Sanh 10 0.16% 182 KKK 10 0.16% 183 Paris Peace Accords 10 0.16% 184 Peace With Honor 10 0.16% 185 Silver Star 10 0.16% 186 CIA 9 0.14% 187 Eisenhower 9 0.14% 188 George H. Bush 9 0.14% 189 Mexican Pride 9 0.14% 190 Military-Industrial Complex 9 0.14% 191 Pentagon Papers 9 0.14% 192 Poverty 9 0.14% 193 Rambo 9 0.14% 194 Voting Rights 9 0.14% 195 Amnesty 8 0.12% 196 Answer to Hello Vietnam 8 0.12% 197 Calley-Jesus 8 0.12% 198 Festival of Political Song 8 0.12% 199 Field Recordings 8 0.12% 200 Grenade 8 0.12% 201 Hiroshima 8 0.12% 202 Jackson State 8 0.12% 203 Jane Fonda 8 0.12% 204 Landmine 8 0.12% 205 Saddam Hussein 8 0.12% 206 Tanks 8 0.12% 207 Answer Record 7 0.11% 208 Army 7 0.11% 209 Berlin 7 0.11% 210 Billy Jack 7 0.11% 211 Black Panther 7 0.11% 212 Bob Dylan 7 0.11% 213 Conscientious Objector 7 0.11% 214 Crazed Vet 7 0.11% 215 Credibility Gap 7 0.11% 216 Documentary 7 0.11% 217 Ecology 7 0.11% 218 El Salvador 7 0.11% 219 Ford 7 0.11% 220 GI 7 0.11% 221 Good Morning, Vietnam 7 0.11% 222 Medic 7 0.11% 223 Nurses 7 0.11% 224 Oliver North 7 0.11% 225 Palestine 7 0.11% 226 Richard J. Daley 7 0.11% 227 United Nations 7 0.11% 228 Answer to Americans 6 0.09% 229 Bosnian War 6 0.09% 230 Chile (Cold War) 6 0.09% 231 De Gaulle 6 0.09% 232 DMZ 6 0.09% 233 Family Vet 6 0.09% 234 Inflation 6 0.09% 235 Iraq 6 0.09% 236 Ireland Troubles 6 0.09% 237 Mao 6 0.09% 238 Medal of Honor 6 0.09% 239 Protest Analogy 6 0.09% 240 Sailor Boy 6 0.09% 241 Tet Offensive 6 0.09% 242 Tu Do Street 6 0.09% 243 Afghanistan 5 0.08% 244 Answer to Muskogee 5 0.08% 245 Anti-Black Racism 5 0.08% 246 Anti-Military 5 0.08% 247 B-52 5 0.08% 248 Battle of Long Tan 5 0.08% 249 Daniel Ellsberg 5 0.08% 250 Diem 5 0.08% 251 Dove 5 0.08% 252 Education 5 0.08% 253 Family 5 0.08% 254 France 5 0.08% 255 Gallipoli 5 0.08% 256 George W. Bush 5 0.08% 257 Get Out of Vietnam 5 0.08% 258 Gook 5 0.08% 259 Hamburger Hill 5 0.08% 260 Ho Chi Minh City 5 0.08% 261 Holocaust 5 0.08% 262 Hubert Humphrey 5 0.08% 263 Iran-Contra Affair 5 0.08% 264 LSD 5 0.08% 265 Marijuana 5 0.08% 266 My Lai-Type 5 0.08% 267 National Guard 5 0.08% 268 NATO 5 0.08% 269 Peace Talks 5 0.08% 270 Recruitment 5 0.08% 271 Search & Destroy 5 0.08% 272 Sexual Violence 5 0.08% 273 Spitting Image 5 0.08% 274 Tax 5 0.08% 275 Washington D.C. 5 0.08% 276 Women's Liberation 5 0.08% 277 4th July 4 0.06% 278 Answer to Ruby 4 0.06% 279 Answer to What We're Fighting For 4 0.06% 280 Apartheid 4 0.06% 281 Arlington 4 0.06% 282 Attack on Pearl Harbor 4 0.06% 283 Canada Border 4 0.06% 284 Digger 4 0.06% 285 George Washington 4 0.06% 286 Great Society 4 0.06% 287 Harold Holt 4 0.06% 288 Heroin 4 0.06% 289 Homecoming 4 0.06% 290 Hue 4 0.06% 291 Ireland 4 0.06% 292 Israel 4 0.06% 293 Jefferson 4 0.06% 294 Khrushchev 4 0.06% 295 Moscow 4 0.06% 296 Mussolini 4 0.06% 297 Nicaragua 4 0.06% 298 Robert Menzies 4 0.06% 299 Russian Roulette 4 0.06% 300 Self-Immolation 4 0.06% 301 Stalin 4 0.06% 302 Trench 4 0.06% 303 War Memorials 4 0.06% 304 Westmoreland 4 0.06% 305 70s Energy Crisis 3 0.05% 306 Africa 3 0.05% 307 Batman 3 0.05% 308 Che Guevara 3 0.05% 309 Christmas Bombings 3 0.05% 310 Congress 3 0.05% 311 Furlough 3 0.05% 312 Germany (Cold War) 3 0.05% 313 Hanoi Hannah 3 0.05% 314 Hawk 3 0.05% 315 Indigenous Rights 3 0.05% 316 Jerry Rubin 3 0.05% 317 Lenin 3 0.05% 318 Marx 3 0.05% 319 McGovern 3 0.05% 320 Medicare 3 0.05% 321 New Year 3 0.05% 322 Peking 3 0.05% 323 Pentagon 3 0.05% 324 Pleiku 3 0.05% 325 Red Cross 3 0.05% 326 Tom Hayden 3 0.05% 327 Welcome Home Parade 3 0.05% 328 Abbie Hoffman 2 0.03% 329 Algerian War 2 0.03% 330 Anzac Day 2 0.03% 331 Battle of the Somme 2 0.03% 332 Big Minh 2 0.03% 333 Black Lives Matter 2 0.03% 334 Busing 2 0.03% 335 Campaign 2 0.03% 336 David Dellinger 2 0.03% 337 Debate 2 0.03% 338 Disabled Civilian 2 0.03% 339 Draftboard 2 0.03% 340 Fort Benning 2 0.03% 341 GI Bill 2 0.03% 342 Goldwater 2 0.03% 343 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 2 0.03% 344 Haiphong 2 0.03% 345 Ia Drang 2 0.03% 346 Infidelity 2 0.03% 347 Isolationism 2 0.03% 348 John Birch Society 2 0.03% 349 John Mitchell 2 0.03% 350 Khmer Rouge 2 0.03% 351 Le Duc Tho 2 0.03% 352 Lincoln Park 2 0.03% 353 Marshall Plan 2 0.03% 354 Medina 2 0.03% 355 NAACP 2 0.03% 356 Nagasaki 2 0.03% 357 Napalm Girl 2 0.03% 358 Nazis 2 0.03% 359 Okinawa 2 0.03% 360 OPEC 2 0.03% 361 Prague Spring 2 0.03% 362 Rap Battle 2 0.03% 363 Red Cross Donut Dolly 2 0.03% 364 Rockefeller 2 0.03% 365 Roosevelt 2 0.03% 366 Shirley Temple 2 0.03% 367 Suicide 2 0.03% 368 Thanksgiving 2 0.03% 369 Truman 2 0.03% 370 Tunnel Rats 2 0.03% 371 U.S.O. 2 0.03% 372 Viet Minh 2 0.03% 373 Vietnamisation 2 0.03% 374 Wounded Knee 2 0.03% 375 Yellow Ribbon 2 0.03% 376 1-A 1 0.02% 377 A Shau Valley 1 0.02% 378 Alamo 1 0.02% 379 Angela Davis 1 0.02% 380 Answer to Mr. Custer 1 0.02% 381 Anti-Soldier 1 0.02% 382 Arab-Israeli 1 0.02% 383 Ba Ria 1 0.02% 384 Battle of Coral-Balmoral 1 0.02% 385 Battle of Waterloo 1 0.02% 386 Beatles 1 0.02% 387 Beatnik 1 0.02% 388 Bergen-Belsen 1 0.02% 389 Bring Our Boys Home 1 0.02% 390 Cam Ranh Bay 1 0.02% 391 Cassius Clay 1 0.02% 392 Cocaine 1 0.02% 393 Congo 1 0.02% 394 Corruption 1 0.02% 395 COVID-19 1 0.02% 396 Crime 1 0.02% 397 Daisy Cutter 1 0.02% 398 Democratic Party 1 0.02% 399 Dirksen 1 0.02% 400 Dow Chemical 1 0.02% 401 Draft Lottery 1 0.02% 402 EC 1 0.02% 403 Eldridge Cleaver 1 0.02% 404 Eugene McCarthy 1 0.02% 405 Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém 1 0.02% 406 F-102 1 0.02% 407 Falklands War 1 0.02% 408 Foreign Aid 1 0.02% 409 Forrest Gump 1 0.02% 410 FSM 1 0.02% 411 Gaddafi 1 0.02% 412 Graham Greene 1 0.02% 413 Gun Control 1 0.02% 414 Haig 1 0.02% 415 Haldeman 1 0.02% 416 Huey Newton 1 0.02% 417 Iran 1 0.02% 418 Janis Joplin 1 0.02% 419 Jimi Hendrix 1 0.02% 420 Joan Baez 1 0.02% 421 John Dean 1 0.02% 422 John Wayne 1 0.02% 423 KP 1 0.02% 424 Lady Bird 1 0.02% 425 Lebanon 1 0.02% 426 Lebanon Hostages 1 0.02% 427 Linda Johnson 1 0.02% 428 Love-Ins 1 0.02% 429 Lucy Baines Johnson 1 0.02% 430 M-16 1 0.02% 431 M1 Rifle 1 0.02% 432 MacArthur 1 0.02% 433 Macmillan 1 0.02% 434 March on Washington 1 0.02% 435 Monroe 1 0.02% 436 Moratorium 1 0.02% 437 Muskie 1 0.02% 438 Nasser 1 0.02% 439 North Korea 1 0.02% 440 Operation Medina 1 0.02% 441 Operation Rolling Thunder 1 0.02% 442 Operation Tally Ho 1 0.02% 443 Operation Wandering Soul 1 0.02% 444 Oswald 1 0.02% 445 Panama 1 0.02% 446 Peace Corps 1 0.02% 447 People's Park 1 0.02% 448 Pete Seeger 1 0.02% 449 Ping-Pong Diplomacy 1 0.02% 450 Pope Paul VI 1 0.02% 451 Public Service Announcement 1 0.02% 452 Radio 1 0.02% 453 Rennie Davis 1 0.02% 454 Richard Campos 1 0.02% 455 Rodney King 1 0.02% 456 Ronald L. Haeberle 1 0.02% 457 Ronald Ridenhour 1 0.02% 458 Ross Perot 1 0.02% 459 Route 1 1 0.02% 460 Saigon Tea 1 0.02% 461 Sailor 1 0.02% 462 Samuel Koster 1 0.02% 463 SEATO 1 0.02% 464 Sierra Leone 1 0.02% 465 Sköld Peter Matthis 1 0.02% 466 Slouch Hat 1 0.02% 467 Sonny & Cher 1 0.02% 468 Spy 1 0.02% 469 Srebrenica Massacre 1 0.02% 470 Stokely Carmichael 1 0.02% 471 Superman 1 0.02% 472 Sydney 1 0.02% 473 Taiwan 1 0.02% 474 The Green Berets 1 0.02% 475 Thieu 1 0.02% 476 Tiananmen Square 1 0.02% 477 Timothy Leary 1 0.02% 478 Tojo 1 0.02% 479 Torture 1 0.02% 480 Trump 1 0.02% 481 Women's Army Corps 1 0.02% 482 Yippies 1 0.02%