Saigon Execution

Of the many wars the United States has been involved in, most of them have had obvious starting points, or obvious reasons why our nation became involved; however, the Vietnam War wasn't so black and white. We all know that the North Vietnam was a communistic country that invaded South Vietnam to spread the communistic government, what isn't so clear is to why the United States decided become involved with this conflict. The world at that time was very anti-communism, so many people believed that it was perfectly okay for the United States to become involved. Others, however,  believed that the United States had no right to intervene with the international affair. This photograph taken by Eddie Adams is depicting a scene in which a South Vietnamese officer is firing a bullet into the head of a civilian. "Saigon Execution" was actually photographed (this photo) and filmed by some American news reporters. When this photo and the video were released, the anti-war people immediately took advantage of it and used it to show that the United States shouldn't be supporting a country who is killing innocent civilians. This photo was also used as propaganda in Northern Vietnam for the same reason. Eddie Adams' "Saigon Execution" later went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for spot photography.