Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

History

Committee Chair

James Siekmeier

Committee Member

Austin McCoy

Committee Member

William Gorby

Abstract

The Vietnam War was notable because it was a very violent and very public war. Throughout the course of the conflict, the United States imposed anti-guerilla warfare on a grand scale. American soldiers were often given orders to destroy the enemy at all costs; but in a war with no discernable front lines, the difference between combatant and non-combatant was, at best, blurry. The way the war was being fought, coupled with its unpopularity and emerging counterculture at home, made the Vietnam War a hub for illicit drug use among American soldiers. American soldiers use drugs for a number of reasons: they were bored with nothing better to do; they used them as a method of resistance against the war; and they used them to cope with the reality of fighting in Vietnam. Drug use became more acute after the Tet Offensive in 1968. More and more soldiers turned to using drugs like marijuana, opium, and heroin. As the drug problem increased, along with internecine violence, military officials and politicians took notes and searched for solutions. At first, the military took punitive measures by court-martialing drug users. This proved ineffective and more solutions via urinalysis and rehabilitation centers became a focus for military officials and politicians. While the results of rehabilitation programs were mixed, they were a step in the right direction. However, they did not address the root cause of the problem: the United States’ war in Vietnam.

Download

Share

COinS