Life of a Vietnam Soldier

The public was on board the war train for the first few years of the war, until they found out what it was actually like in Vietnam. Public view of the war immediately changed negatively. When the news reached the soldiers in Vietnam, reactions were mixed. While they could understand why the people didn't like the prospect of war, they were still killing-even when they didn't want to-for their country. Some soldiers didn't know how to respond. One solder wrote to his mother and told her that for one second he felt as if he was on vacation because it was so beautiful in Vietnam. Another one told his mom “not to worry, there is nothing I can't handle”. While the soldiers could handle the physical horrors happening to them, it was the mental stuff that was breaking them down.

The Vietnam War was one of the most hated wars in United States history, for the primary reasons that we did not win and the draft destroyed countless men, physically and mentally. The end result of the war did not justify the means and this made a lot of people very upset. This war was also the most televised war, showing incredibly gruesome, uncensored images on the evening news at dinner time. The political protest for the

Many Americans believed that the war ravaged country of Vietnam, had to be resurrected from grave. Beginning in 1964 and growing in later years, anti-war protests began forming. Outrage from civilians erupted when President Johnson issued the draft, as he felt the Americans needed to take a more aggressive action against North Vietnam. Young men refused to join the fight and protests emitted from college campuses and major cities such as Washington D.C. and New York. ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.texasgateway.org) and ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://avuth15.wix.com/thecoldwar are both primary sources illustrating anti-war protests, showing the outrage that America had towards the war. By 1968, the whole country had felt the war's impact. When the war finally ceased and the troops returned home, the protests, the actions by the government and the war itself, had taken a toll on the country. America's opinions were sharply turned against the war. The veterans who fought bravely in the war, returned to a nation that was bitter towards anything related to the war. Today, a Vietnam War memorial has been erected in Washington, to honor those who sacrificed their life for their country. As shown in ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.english.illinois.edu), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built to honor the U.S defence members who died in service in South-East Asia. As a result, the social

“The Vietnam War was one of the most publicized wars in all of American history” (ows.edb.utexas.edu). As a result the media played a very important role in the war. It had a very powerful effect on americans opinion on the subject, because this was the first time they got to see what was actually happening right on their living room tv’s.The media mostly covered the horrors of the war which made many americans turn against it and look down on the soldiers who fought in it.

Instead, most Vietnam veterans returned to a society that did not seem to care about them, or that seemed to view them with distrust and anger. ”(Coming Home: Vietnam Veterans In American Society). Even when they just fought a brutal war, the lives of the Veterans were just

There are over 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are seeking compensation for injuries they claim are related to their military service. That is over double the 21 percent of veterans that filed service-connected claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Additionally, these new veterans are claiming on average eight to nine issues and the most recent ones received by the VA are claiming 11 to 14 ailments. In comparison, the Vietnam veterans are averaging compensation for fewer than four ailments and those from World War II and Korea average only two.

In 1961 the worst war ever fought by America had just started. The Vietnamese of the north also known as the Viet Cong had invaded the south to take control of the entire country. America and other democratic countries felt the spread of communism to this country would be a stepping-stone for other communistic countries around the world, also known as the Domino Effect. America, as cocky as they were, invaded Vietnam to help the southern Vietnamese. Although America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, it extremely underestimated the dedication of their enemy. Backed by China and the USSR, the Viet Cong were a determined and very tough enemy. The Vietnam War as a whole was a terrible act by the US government. Vietnam was

The Vietnam war was one of the most publicly hated wars in American history. The amount of people killed and the amount of people declared MIA is unfathomable. These troops were never liked, never supported, and to this day are over looked because no one wants to remember the years of the Vietnam war.

The Vietnam War was the longest and the most unpopular American war of the twentieth century. The United States was involve in the Vietnam from 1944 to 1973, but it was only during the last years that the U.S deployed ground troops (Lawrence 1). For the first time the United states was the aggressor. Vietnam is situated thousands of miles from the United States, so Vietnam was not a direct threat to the United States’ safety. The Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh seem to look up to the United States, their declaration of independence is prove of that. The United States involvement was so controversial because to some people the U.S was trying to stop heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement (CITE). Tim O’Brian was a university graduate

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.

After the Vietnam War, soldiers suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder in countless numbers. The trauma they saw, endured, and witnessed forever changed and scared their lives. Men, like Tim O'Brien the author of the novel The Things They Carried, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder and it took them years to regain their lives after their return home. In the excerpt from his novel, O'Brien shows the reader how the men endured this mind-altering experience in the jungles of Vietnam through the details of all the items the men carry.

I was just a mere eight years old the day of the battle, but I remember it like it was just yesterday. My family of three lived in Franklin, Tennessee, not far from the Carter family, whom we were quite close with. On November 21,1864 Union soldiers began to roll in.1 The soldiers dug trenches not too far in front of the Carter’s home. Their house and the Carnton plantation got the worst of it. 30,000 Union soldiers entrenched taking up over two miles,2 with no regard for our little town.

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

Ronald said that army and being in the Vietnam war had a huge impact on his life. He learned skills that we was able to take with him. He also learned what really happens in war. He said that ¨It was nothing like I expected. It was a grueling experience, that if I had to do it again, I would because I know how much good I did¨.

The Vietnam War was a nightmare for many soldiers. It re-defined the meaning of war to an entire generation. As the conflict grew it became known around the world that this was a war that could not be won. After this was realized by America the main focus became to "get out" instead of "getting a victory". In the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, directed by Randall Wallace, a true account of the first major battle in Vietnam is given. At the beginning of the film he introduces to us many of the soldiers and their families. This is a very smart technique, because it ensures that the audience not only will care about each one, but also tell them apart. Wallace exemplifies