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Propaganda in the 20th century war
Vietnam war
Propaganda in the 20th century war
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Men zoom by on a sled. Cheerful music plays in the background, and a voice chimes, “You want fast action?” A man floats along on water skis. “Outdoors action?” the voice calls. A man climbs up a tall, dangerous mountain. “Real man-sized action?” the voice proclaims. “Well, here’s action that tops them all, in the combat branches of today’s Army,” the voice finishes (Quitney). It was not uncommon to see the Army or military glamorized in Vietnam recruitment commercials, much like the one described previously. Despite the decorated ideals of the military life and duties, the Vietnam War would prove to be far from idealistic for U.S. soldiers. Many of the soldiers who were drafted into the war did not have a choice in the matter and did not want to go. During training camp, the privates were often mistreated and suffered physical and mental punishments. American soldiers committed war crimes repeatedly without any second thought. Because of the brutality that occurred during the Vietnam War, many soldiers suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which frequently led to suicide and depression. The goal was to win the war, but those who were forced to kill without conscience cannot close their mind to the anguish they placed upon themselves and so many people.
Millions of men were called to serve in the Vietnam War. Sometimes, the men were drafted and did not have a choice. Unlike the gift-wrapped ideals of the war that were displayed to the United States, many soldiers would find that the military life would involve far more than “real man-sized action.” To the general public, soldiers were being drafted to be heroes, but once they were forced into war, less than heroic things occurred, and no one would be able to object. The law...
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...ments and desensitized of their civilian mentality, making them walking, breathing killing machines. During war, this became apparent with the countless war crimes committed by soldiers; they were trained to not have any apprehension in regards to killing the Vietnamese, because they were “gooks” and of lesser form than a human. These violent events have scarred and traumatized some soldiers for the rest of their lives. Some soldiers have developed mental illnesses, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. Some veterans will always live their lives damaged and in fear. Some have already taken their own life because the burden of knowing and reliving what they went through during the Vietnam War was too much to bear. The only goal of the war was to gain a victory, another notch on America’s belt, regardless of how many lives it cost, including American.
In 1960, at the age of twenty-four, Philip Caputo enlists in the United Sates Marine Corps in hopes of escaping his relaxed lifestyle in the quaint town of Westchester, Illinois. Caputo is interested in proving himself a man and earning respect in response to President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address to the nation. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” are the famous words that pushed many young men into the patriotic world of enlistment, in order to defend American ideals. Caputo’s expectations of the war in Vietnam are to achieve heroic acts, finish his missions quickly and efficiently, get out in one piece, and return home to a supportive country interested in his heroic adventures.
Imagine yourself as a nineteen year old boy headed off to Vietnam. It’s the late 60s and you were drafted into the Vietnam War. You watch as some of your friends flee the chance of fighting in a war where they have no idea what their fighting for. You watch as thousands of your countrymen die, too young to have been there. Imagine fighting an enemy that you can’t even see.
The soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War had to endure many incredibly horrifying experiences. It was these events that led to great human emotions. It was those feelings that were the things they carried. Everything they carried affected them, whether it was physical or mental. Everything they carry could in one way or another cause them to emotionally or physically break down.
A Vietnam War veteran experienced many gruesome and horrifying events during their time of serving the army. Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking “PTSD is defined as a re-experience of a traumatic event, for example, flashbacks. Anything can trigger a flashback a click, a movement, anything associated with the past event” (Cruz). Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking. A soldier was told to forget what they saw and basically move on from it, but it only made it worse. Having everything “bottled up” makes it even harder to treat PTSD. U.S. soldiers had to live with the disorder on their own without any help. “The veterans experience combat related nightmares, anxiety, anger, depression, alcohol and/or drug dependency, all are symptoms of PTSD” (Begg). The symptoms occurred over long periods of time when that person has been in certain situations that he or she was not ready to be in. Some of these situations including the Vietnam veterans not feeling like their unit was together or united. “Soldiers were sent into replace other soldiers, which caused the other members of the group to make fun or haze them. The unit never developed as much loyalty to each other as they should have” (Paulson and Krippner). “Many of...
On August 7th 1964 the United States Congress passed into law the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which, for all intents and purposes, officially brought the United States into the Vietnam War. Following this resolution, a draft was instated to increase the number of men that could be sent to war. Shortly after men started to be signed into conscription for the United States Military, a public outcry started over the use of a draft to increase military size. The draft was found to be unfair to American Citizens because certain groups of men were severely disadvantaged, the draft was illegal in many ways, and veteran’s future lives were harmed, among other reasons.
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.
There has been books and scholarly articles written about each of these components. However, there are very few that are written to show a distinct correlation between the three components. I aim to expose a correlation between the three components to develop a collaborated work that answers the ultimate question of, “How did the draft system affect the outcome of the Vietnam War, the treatment of the Veterans, and why was it necessary to put a stop to this
A famous quote by Tim O’Brien “Each morning, despite the unknowns, they made their legs move.” O’brien is saying that no matter how indifferent their mission was or what they had to do, the soldiers of Vietnam completed their missions without a sound. Though many Soldiers went through very traumatic ordeals while they were there in the war. This war was unlike any other, there were no fronts, the war was all around you. This brought a constant fear of death to the war, causing mental problems among the soldiers. The war also required many supplies to be prepared for an ambush, as well as prepared to stay and camp wherever they were, but the weight on the back was not light. The combat side of the war was very difficult, the terrain in
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...
Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his short story “The Things They Carried” presents the effects of the war on its young soldiers. The treatment of veterans after their return also affects them. The Vietnam War was different from other wars, because too many in the U.S. the soldiers did not return as heroes but as cruel, wicked, and drug addicted men. The public directs its distaste towards the war at the soldiers, as if they are to blame. The also Veterans had little support from the government who pulled them away from their families to fight through the draft. Some men were not able to receive the help they needed because the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not show until a year
In A Rumor of War, Philip Caputo stated, “War is always attractive to young men who know nothing about it.” He was right. During the Vietnam war, thousands of men were sent there to fight, and as they arrived, they were expecting it to be exhilarating and that they would relish having the opportunity to be there. In the beginning, most of the soldiers’ attitudes are courageous, and fearless. They are not
Our soldiers not only risked life and limb for our country while serving in the Vietnam War, but they continue to suffer immensely. Americans as well as Vietnamese troops and civilians suffered great losses when it comes to casualties. Witnessing first-hand the pain and death of strangers and allies, isn’t something one is likely to forget. Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been one of the many repercussions of witnessing these gruesome events (Mental Health America). Veterans, their families, and the government have come together in combat in attempts to address the detrimental effects of PTSD.
Coming to terms with war and its moral consequences is burdensome. War is filled with death, pain, bullets. Tim O'Brien, a military veteran and author, believes that the “nightmare of Vietnam” was not the bullets and the bombs, but the failure of nerve and consciousness. I believe that the failure of consciousness means that you act before you think, as shown in Ambush and Of Mice and Men.
Throughout the emergence of the Vietnam war {and military draft}, many innocent people were inducted and taken from their homes to fight in alien territory. A few significant individuals, however, managed to take a stand and refuse the government’s orders. Two texts that exhibit this difficult time are Muhammad Ali’s “The Greatest: My Own Story” and an interview of John Strickland. Both Ali and Strickland experience criticism and reveal a determined state of mind as they oppose the war and induction. Each man faces the same conflict, and their perspectives prove to be similar.
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as