Are Soldiers Wrongly Sent To Vietnam

In this interview Luis Le answered some question about his experience during the Vietnam War. He was born in Vietnam and during the time the was happening. Mr. Le explains in this interview what it was like when he was a child in the war. His mother and father were killed by the communist government and was constantly moving from place to place. He tells us in one of the questions that when Saigon fell after the Paris Peace Accords many people were scared and that this was the real start for a terrifying life for many families. One of the answered questions states, “ War is ugly. I saw so many people died. The family lost their fathers, brothers, and sisters.” During the war many people had lost their homes, villages, and loved ones just as

The Vietnam War that commenced on November 1, 1955, and ended on April 30, 1975, took the soldiers through a devastating experience. Many lost their lives while others maimed as the war unfolded into its full magnitude. The book Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam by Bernard Edelman presents a series of letters written by the soldiers to their loved ones and families narrating the ordeals and experiences in the Warfield. In the book, Edelman presents the narrations of over 200 letters reflecting the soldiers’ experiences on the battlefield. While the letters were written many decades ago, they hold great significance as they can mirror the periods and the contexts within which they were sent. This paper takes into account five letters from different timelines and analyzes them against the events that occurred in those periods vis a vis their significance. The conclusion will also have a personal opinion and observation regarding the book and its impacts.

Topic: War, change Theme: War changes the soldier's personalities and perceptions. Thesis: O'Brien reveals that no matter what the circumstances were the people who were exposed to the Vietnam War were greatly affected; O'Brien showed this through the changes in Mary Anne Bell.

Even the RSL proved to be unwelcoming. Backlash and controversy spouted from veterans of earlier conflicts suggested that Vietnam was not a real war severely demoralised Vietnam veterans and caused a divide between former veterans and newly-arrived veterans from seeking comradeship and understanding of fellow servicemen. It wasn’t until the late 1980s before attitude towards the war and veterans had changed for the

The infantry soldiers of the war the wised up to their situation wrote many interesting letters. These “grunts” knew what they got themselves into and their letters reflect this. Most of them wrote letters home the described their everyday routing during the war. Back at home a lot of pressure was being put on politicians to end the war. Unlike previous wars many believed this wasn’t their place and believed America shouldn’t have gotten involved. The letters sent home during this time was a way to persuade people to fight to end the war. Although, not as important as other things the letters sent during this time are still important as they describe the reality of the Vietnam War. One of these letters was very detailed and describes what was important to him even if it wasn’t important to others. Cameron MacDonald wrote this letter while in Vietnam in October 1968. MacDonald begins his letter to his mom stating, “We’ve been running around these mountains every day without a break.” He starts the letter by expressing something that is very important that most people don’t talk about; the fatigue from walking. The constant walking soldiers must endure

Imagine one day you receive a mail from the government that you been draft to go a war at a different country. How would you feel if you know that purpose of this war is unreasonable in any senses? Angry, anxious or even confused. Vietnam War was “a personal failure on a national scale” (Hochgesang). There are many videos, documents and movies about the Vietnam War that show different angles of the Vietnam veterans’ experience and how the war really changes their life. In “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien, he argues about how the Vietnam War affect the soldiers in many ways, not only physically, but more important is the psychological effects before, during and after the war.

For countless of people today, the Vietnam war is just something from the past, but for Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War will endlessly be with him. This one year in Vietnam changes the lives of this platoon from emotional pain, physical pain, as well as muscle pain will commence to cloud their vision. The weight of the things that they carried takes great effect on them that they have to continue to endure on this one year trip in Vietnam and remember these memories for the rest of their lives..

“The last American soldier left Vietnam during the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. For 2.4 million who served in Vietnam, there was no official homecoming. In June of 2005, Branson, Missouri held “Operation Welcome Home” for Vietnam Veterans. The parade and events were planned to provide the celebration and recognition they did not receive 30-plus years earlier.” (Vietnam: Homecoming) The veterans were able to see the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall and find the names of men they had known they had dies while serving. These veterans met with men they had formerly served with. Although this event was only a fraction of the welcome the soldiers truly deserved, many veterans were very appreciative of this. “Branson gave me

The final theme I notice between Tim O’Brien and the Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam videos is the blame or guilt every soldier felt between things going wrong on missions or losing their friends. In “The Things They Carried”, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross takes the blame for the death of his soldier Ted Levander. In the story it states “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war”. Lt. Jimmy Cross often caught himself dreaming about a girl he loved to escape the war. He possibly thought about her too much which is why he took the blame. But in all reality, Lavender was shot while using the bathroom and that’s that. The only blame for that would be the war itself. In the video 60 Minutes: “My Lai Massacre”, a report on a very brutal attack on a Vietnamese village by U.S Soldiers, Hugh Thomson is a hero for saving many Vietnamese civilians from an awful fate. More than 150 women and children were marched

Wars are a difficult place to be. “THE VIETNAM WAR transformed a generation” (Roberts 1). With all that happened during the war such as exposure to

The rambunctious behavior of the soldier’s triumphant victory is a strong message visually for the viewer. These soldiers struggle to find their identity and once the war ends, the identity they’ve build at war vanishes, (McCutcheon, 2007). As a result, they essentially lose a part of them selves, (McCutcheon, 2007). When they return home, many soldiers struggle with psychological issues that prevent them from resuming their once regular lives, (McCutcheon, 2007). The images of soldiers celebrating at the end of war give the viewer a taste of this problem. This also allows the viewer insight to the deeper issues surrounding an American soldier’s mental stability and mentality. Through this image, along with many others throughout the film, the viewer is able to dig deeper and truly analyze what they are seeing.

There were two main views toward the soldiers in Vietnam; a negative view and a positive view. The negative view seemed to be the most popular attitude towards them. The negative outlook portrayed the soldiers as the reason for the United States involvement in the war and the reason to why the U.S. was losing. Many soldiers came back to the U.S. and felt like a criminal (Rivers 647). The positive view saw the soldiers as heroes. This perspective depicts the soldiers as heroic and fighting for the United States.

Imagine being drafted by the U.S military and being forced to got fight in a War you did not even know about. The vietnam war was a war weare random men were selected out of the country to go and fight in the war. The war lasted 9 years and lost of people were subjected to go and fight. Meany did not want to but had to. The methods of fighting made people mad, and mad at the solders. When soldiers came home from the Vietnam War people were mad at them and they were treated unfairly.

The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in

It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting.