Jimi Hendrix & The Vietnam War

VIETNAM WAR

• part of the Cold War: U.S. fighting against Communist takeover of South Vietnam by North Vietnam

• combat troops begin in 1965; popular resistance to war escalates in late 1960s

• 58,000 U.S. troops died

1955-1975

VIETNAM WARThe Vietnam War was American’s first racially integrated conflict.

The height of the Vietnam War (1968-1969) coincided with the rise of the Black Power movement in America.

Of the 246,000 men recruited under Pres. Johnson’s Project 100,000 between Oct.1966-June 1969, 41% were black (black Americans represented only 11% of the population)

“[African-Americans] are asked to die for the system in Vietnam, in Watts they are killed by it.” – Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader

1955-1975

VIETNAM WAR“If blacks can account for up to 22% of the dying, they should at least have 22% of the jukebox or the music on Armed Forces Radio.” – Wallace Terry, Vietnam War Correspondent, TIME Magazine

40% of black veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (compared to 20% of white veterans)

1955-1975

JIMI HENDRIX ON THE VIETNAM WAR“The Star-Spangled Banner”

at Woodstock (1969)

VIETNAM WAR 1955-1975

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