Television brought unforgettable sounds and sights of war to the American home front. Geographically isolated from major conflicts, U.S. citizens had become accustomed to reading newspaper and hearing radio reports of distant battlefield action, military and civilian casualties, troop movements, government propaganda, and commentaries about war. Television could do all of these things and more, bringing viewers a new and captivating sense of reality, immediacy, and participation through the combination of moving images and sound. Television narrowed the psychological, emotional, and political distance between the home front and the battlefield: what happened in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, and Iraq also happened inside American living rooms. Television helped support and form American communication about fighting wars and managing enemies.

Before the Vietnam War, film footage and commentaries about World War I, World War II, and the Korean War were frequently aired on television, but typically...