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Impacts of Vietnam for Americans
Impacts of Vietnam for Americans
Impacts of Vietnam for Americans
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We Were Soldiers v. Platoon
The Vietnam War was a tragedy for many families. Many families lost husbands, sons, brothers, daughters, wives, sisters and friends. A lot of lives were lost from than one country and for many different reasons. To a lot of people the war seemed to go on forever, almost as if it was endless. The Vietnam War is a part of history that will never be forgotten. Loved ones that fought in the Vietnam War that gave their lives will never be forgotten. The Vietnam War was the first war that was put on television and it brought the horrifying incidents of the Vietnam War to families at home in the United States right into their home. Since before the Vietnam War ended, documentaries and movies have been made on it. I have
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Also, there is no officers around except for a few scenes, and it is mostly run by staff sergeant Barnes played by Tom Berenger and sergeant Elias played by William Dafoe. Platoon is focused on the enlisted men which are divided between a staff Sergeant and a sergeant whose views on the war are completely different. In Platoon, the men act like they do not care, they show no respect for each other and do not help one another. Half of the platoon uses drugs and are stoned which is usually not allowed in the armed services. There is no organization, no team work, and eventually men start fighting and killing each other. Soldiers in Platoon who were going to or on their way to Vietnam were not prepared enough and were some what oblivious as to what they were getting into or fighting …show more content…
There are plenty of officers around explaining what is going on, why Lieutenant Colonel Moore which is played by Mel Gibson, is sent to Vietnam and why his veteran soldiers are taken away. The Movie We Were Soldiers focuses on the whole battalion fighting in the Vietnam War in the Ia Drang Valley. There are officers and enlisted men that show a lot of team work, organization, support each other, and die for each other. We Were Soldiers also shows how men honorably fought to carry out their mission, followed orders, gave respect to commanding officers and each other. Another aspect of the movie We Were Soldiers shown was the families of soldiers and officers who went to war. We Were Soldiers gave a brief look at what wives went through back at home while their husbands were off fighting the war. The saddest part of what the wives went through was when the military sent a cab to deliver telegrams telling wives their husbands have died. Platoon has shown no look at the home life while men were fighting in the
The Vietnam conflict has been known for being the most unpopular war in the history of the United States. The war of 1812, the Mexican war and the Korean conflict of the early 1950's were also opposed by large groups of the American people, but none of them generated the emotional anxiety and utter hatred that spawned Vietnam. The Vietnam war caused people to ask the question of sending our young people to die in places where they were particular wanted and for people who did not seem especial grateful.
“We Were Soldiers” is a movie about the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division’s battle against the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Ia Drang Valley northeast of Chu Pong Massif, Vietnam in 1965. It is filmed from the point of view of Lt, Col. Hal Moore, who takes command of the newly formed Airmobile Cavalry battalion and leads them in the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam war.
The Vietnam War was, mentally and physically, one of the most brutal the United States has ever participated in. Our soldiers had to undergo daily miseries and sufferings which wore on them in body and mind. Dysentery was a common cause of physical wasting. Other diseases combined with the continuous rain and mud caused flesh to rot and made daily life that much more insufferable. Long periods of boredom would be broken by unexpected guerilla attacks or booby traps. The enemy rarely materialized long enough to be actively fought or even identified. Equally uncertain as who they were fighting was the answer to the question of what purpose they were fighting and dying for.
The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country riots began to raise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. This truly was a failure in the political side of things. For the public, all they saw was a failed attempt in a far away country. Events such as the Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong established an all out attack on key locations around Vietnam, and although the Viet Cong was virtually wiped out, this still had a large affect psychologically on the troops as well as the populist back in the United States. Another atrocity that occurred during this war was the My Lai Massacre. This was the mass murder on unarmed civilians in South Vietnam during March 16,1968. Around November 1969, the world saw this and was outraged with the killings of innocent civilians prompting and giving the public more reasons to stop the war. Although the war was very unpopular, men and women were still fighting and dying for America. Heroes such as Captain John W, Ripley of Dong Ha, Medal of Honor recipients, and overall troops that gave the ultimate sacrifice were forgotten for a brief period. As unpopular as the war was, the American people should still know the stories and good that some of these troops had done for the United States.
It was a very bloody war, with more than 58,000 American soldiers having perished in combat. Also, during the decade of direct U.S Military participation in Vietnam, during early times of the year, 1964 the U.S treasury spent over 140 billion dollars on this war. “This was enough money to fund urban projects in every major American city” (history.com). As this war affected the American’s, it affected the Vietnamese people too. This war affected both the American’s and the Vietnamese, because in the year 1973 the United States began withdrawing troops.
Vietnam War (1954-1975) is considered as one of those big wars of the modern world that has been acknowledged and studied by countries in the world. Especially, in regard to the United States, starting and ending war in Vietnam was an unforgettable experience that has left a priceless lesson in its foreign policy, and of course a lot of loss, physically, mentally, and property. “The Legacy of Vietnam” article of George Herring basically summarizes how the Vietnam War led to an end in failure of America and what consequences it left behind.
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 the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
... book to characters in other novels, you begin to see styles of leadership that are used and the effectiveness that they can have on a person’s character and ability to accomplish a mission. I feel as if a constant leadership style was put in charge from the beginning of their deployment that followed the standard that was necessary, then the soldiers would have been unable to commit the crimes they did during their deployment. On the flipside of that coin, I feel as if more competent leaders had existed through the tumultuous time of the deployment, they would have been able to adapt to the situation and control the soldiers they were responsible for no matter how difficult the deployment became. Despite the fact that 11 of 33 original 1st platoon leaders were removed by the end of the deployment a strong leader duo could have prevented the actions that took place.
The New York Times Bestseller We Were Soldiers Once... And Young was authored by Lt. General Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway. In November 1965, Lt. Colonel Harold Moore commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th cavalry at the Ia Drang Valley-one of the bloodiest battles of Vietnam. He eventually retired from the Army in 1977 after thirty-two years of service. After his military career, Lieutenant General Moore resided as executive vice president for four years at a Colorado ski resort before founding a computer software company. Harold Moore currently lives in Auburn, Alabama and Crested Butte, Colorado.
The Vietnam War has had its effects on America, both good and bad. We can ridicule it, we can deny it, we can say it was for the best, we can say we shouldn't have even gotten involved, but the one thing we can't do is ignore it. Because it's become an unforgettable part of history, and we all need to remember Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was a horrific war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. There were many causes for the Vietnam War from both the North and South side. There were also many emotions during the war for United States citizens, Vietnam citizens and soldiers of the war for both Americans and Vietnamese. United States couldn’t help but get into the war. They had to intervene which brought tons of good and bad things to the United States. The Vietnam War wasn’t only affecting the North and South Vietnam it also affected the United States and the citizens of the war from both the United States and Vietnam.
Most of the soldiers did not know what the overall purpose was of fighting the Vietnamese (Tessein). The young men “carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 21). The soldiers did not go to war for glory or honor, but simply to avoid the “blush of dishonor” (21). In fact, O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were to...
During the Vietnam War, the first platoon (approximately forty men) was lead by a young officer named William Calley. Young Calley was drafted into the US Army after high school, but it did not take long for him to adjust to being in the army, with a quick transition to the lifestyle of the military, he wanted to make it his career. In high school, Calley was a kind, likable and “regular” high school student, he seemed to be a normal teenager, having interest in things that other boys his age typically had. He was never observed acting in a cruel or brutal way. In Vietnam, Calley was under direct order of company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, whom he saw as a role model, he looked up to Medina. (Detzer 127).
...ust deal with similar pains. Through the authors of these stories, we gain a better sense of what soldiers go through and the connection war has on the psyche of these men. While it is true, and known, that the Vietnam War was bloody and many soldiers died in vain, it is often forgotten what occurred to those who returned home. We overlook what became of those men and of the pain they, and their families, were left coping with. Some were left with physical scars, a constant reminder of a horrible time in their lives, while some were left with emotional, and mental, scarring. The universal fact found in all soldiers is the dramatic transformation they all undergo. No longer do any of these men have a chance to create their own identity, or continue with the aspirations they once held as young men. They become, and will forever be, soldiers of the Vietnam War.
The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).