Hollywood and the FWMF in Vietnam

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Badger52

Always in the back of my mind is that he had the guts to make it, at the time he made it.

The Vietnam war was not as hated as the media has led us to believe since it ended. Barry Sadler's Ballad of the Green Berets was a major hit on the radio and with record sales.

In the United States, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1966, staying at No. 1 for five weeks. It placed tenth on the year-end Hot 100 chart published by Billboard in December 1966. When Billboard later revised its year-end rankings for 1966, the song was re-ranked at No.1. Since then, Billboard has recognized "The Ballad of the Green Berets" as the top Hot 100 song of that year. On Cash Box's 1966 year-end chart, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" tied for first with "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas. It was also the No. 21 song of the 1960s as ranked by Joel Whitburn. The single sold more than nine million copies; the album, more than two million.

Most of the “anti-war” protests were actually anti-draft protests. They picked up steam after the misreporting about Tet by Walter Cronkite.

Originally Posted by Walter Cronkite

Who won and who lost in the great Tet offensive against the cities? I’m not sure. The Viet Cong did not win by a knockout, but neither did we. The referees of history may make it a draw. Another standoff may be coming in the big battles expected south of the Demilitarised Zone. Khe Sanh could well fall, with a terrible loss in American lives, prestige and morale, and this is a tragedy of our stubbornness there; but the bastion no longer is a key to the rest of the northern regions, and it is doubtful that the American forces can be defeated across the breadth of the DMZ with any substantial loss of ground. Another standoff.

On the political front, past performance gives no confidence that the Vietnamese government can cope with its problems, now compounded by the attack on the cities. It may not fall, it may hold on, but it probably won’t show the dynamic qualities demanded of this young nation. Another standoff.

Once the draft ended, so did the protests for the most part. The radical Leftist anti-Americans kept it going with free concerts to add numbers to their rallies, but the crowds weren't that enthusiastic with the political speeches as before. I saw this because I was working in Tucson TV at the time.