Conscription In The Vietnam War

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When you are in a relationship with a person or another country, you must show how dedicated and devoted you are to them. The Vietnam war sprouted from a long conflict with France. After 100 years of colonial rule, Vietnamese national forces under General Vo Nguyen Giap pushed out the French. Communism formed in the north and General Vo Nguyen Giap ruled in the south and a third group formed in the south that opposed the General’s rule. This sets up the premise of the Vietnam war, where the United States, Australia and other countries later intervene. To increase their dedication to the war effort, Australia increased their soldier count by conscription. The Australian conscription was similar to other drafts around the world but received …show more content…
Following the incident at the Gulf of Tonkin, where northern Vietnamese torpedo boats shot at an U.S. destroyer, the United States decided to get more involved in the war, with Australia following. To support the United States’ war effort more, the Australians brought in more troops through conscription, which is basically what drafting was in the United States. Also known as the National Service Scheme, conscription was introduced by the Liberal Robert Menzies government in the November of 1964. A similar practice of conscription in Australia traces back to Prime Minister Alfred Deakin in …show more content…
A few months after conscription was introduced, on April 29, Menzies announced that Australian troops, including National Service conscripts, would be sent to Vietnam to aid in the American war effort. Two weeks after Menzies’ announcement, fifteen women from Sydney, led by Joyce Golgerth and Pat Ashcroft, came together and formed Save Our Sons or the SOS, which was a non-political and non-sectarian community based action group that oppose conscription. The Save Our Sons group spread out to places in Australia like Sydney, Melbourne, Wollongong, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, Townsville, and Adelaide. Some men and young women became members, but for the most part SOS was composed of women, mostly middle-class and middle-aged, whose sons were old enough to be subject to national service. See Appendix X for a visual example of who the Save Our Sons group is generally consisted of. The primary focus and goal of the Save Our Sons group was to put an end to conscription in Australia which basically meant ending the
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