What was the impact of student protests on the American soldiers in Vietnam?
The protests by students (and others) against the war in Vietnam is said to have had a very negative impact on American soldiers in that war. The major impact was on the morale of the soldiers. “Morale” means their enthusiasm, willingness to fight, and general attitude about the war. Military experts say that an army’s morale is critical to its ability to fight. The protests can be said to have reduced morale because they reduced the soldiers’ feeling that what they were doing was good and that it (and they) had the support of the people for whom they were supposed to be fighting. This decrease in morale is said to have led to things like increased drug use among soldiers and reduced willingness to fight.
