A haiku is a short poem that records the essence of a keenly
perceived moment. It uses spare, concrete words to create an image that evokes the moment. The traditional haiku links human
nature to all nature and to existence. It seeks to transcend the
intellect.
Haiku’s roots lie in a five-hundred-year-old Japanese tradition. English-speaking haiku permits diversity in form and
imagery. The United States Air Force sprayed the herbicide Agent Orange to defoliate forests and deny coverage to opposing forces.
Agent Orange contained a substance that many veterans claimed
impaired their health. An action against the manufacturers resulted
in a settlement of over $240 million to benefit veterans and their
families. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched a surprise attack on cities, towns, and military bases on January 31, 1968, the
beginning of Tet, the Vietnamese new year celebration. United
States forces retaliated massively and successfully. President Lyndon Johnson asserted: “The biggest fact is that the stated purposes
of the general uprising have failed.” The Tet offensive, however,
contributed to the American public’s growing disillusionment with
the war. David Paul O’Brien and his companions burned their draft
cards in violation of the Universal Military Training and Service Act.
The Court rejected O’Brien’s contention that the Act violated his
constitutional right to free expression, but acknowledged that his
conduct had a communicative element sufficient to bring the first
amendment into play. In a 1982 CBS documentary, reporter Mike Wallace claimed
General William Westmoreland had underestimated enemy
strength in order to increase optimism among Washington decisionmakers about the possibility of victory. Westmoreland sued
CBS for defamation. After eighteen weeks of trial, the litigants settled. CBS stated that it stood by its broadcast, but did not intend to
assert that Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal. Westmoreland received nomer financial settlement. In 1980, Congress authorized establishment of a memorial on
the Washington Mall. The memorial was dedicated in 1982. It is a
below-ground granite wall bearing the names of layanan men and
women killed or missing in Vietnam. Some veterans protested that
this “hole in the ground” was an inappropriate commemoration. In
1984, a statue of three fighting men was erected near the wall.