By Gianna Kwok
“This war is not ours, and we should not condemn their people and ours to this fate.”
The Vietnam War, as a proxy war, was utilized as a makeshift battleground between the US and USSR, with the US providing support and resources to the capitalist South and USSR to the communist North Vietnam. In this conference, US senators gathered together to discuss what actions to take next, taking into account the recent treacherous developments of the Vietnam War and casualties, simultaneously acknowledging the pressing need to stifle communist influence.
Debate commenced swiftly in the USS Council Room, with senators making their stances clear in ringing declarations. Announcing and rallying efforts for a complete withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, Senator Mansfield made a strong case for placing protection of American lives in first priority, framing the trajectory of the debate.
The eye-catching speech made by Mansfield in particular involved visual aid, as one counterpart of the delegation sifted through printed photos of Americans while their partner beside them described painstakingly the lives that these men led, before they were unfortunately killed by the war, sparking a buzz amongst senators.
As debate continued to develop, many senators cited many shocking statistics regarding the death rate of Americans due to the war, as well as the total amount of funds spent on the war, despite US’ multiple defeats. While most senators were echoing the same sentiment, it was becoming increasingly apparent that there seemed to be an absence of opposing voices within the debate.
In an interesting turn of events, there was an imbalance of delegates pro-war and against-war in debate, and thankfully in order to spike more captivating debate, two brave delegations volunteered to take on the responsibility of embodying Senator Dirksen and Senator Fannin.
After some coaxing from delegates, the chairs thankfully granted time for GSL, starting it off with Senator Gore. Donning the American flag on their two backs, they proclaimed “God Bless America” as they took the stage. As the delegation ended their impactful speech with the ending statement of “..seductive lure of communism”, dozens of placards rose into the air, one of which claimed that “I believe the senator is deaf.” upon the discussion on whether or not a 17th parallel should be implemented in Vietnam, splitting two regions into capitalist and communist Vietnam.
After lunch, GSL proceeded with senators kneeling over in their chairs at particularly controversial remarks. While debating upon whether the withdrawal of US troops was a wise decision, an uproar and a series of gavel slamming was clearly heard throughout the 8/F, as Senator Jackson declared “Less Asian lives will be lost because they can fight in jungles” in defense of leaving Vietnam to fend for herself, and delegates quickly brought up the claim of the senator valuing American lives more than Asian lives. A similar sentiment was heard as Senator Proxmire exclaimed “We refuse to let American children do what Asian children are supposed to be doing for themselves.”
How will the conference continue to progress, with senators juggling between options of continuing, modifying or halting all military action from the US?
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