The Vietnam Memorial Wall

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One of the most powerful sentiments human beings are capable of feeling is sympathy. Sympathy is the “harmony of or agreement in feeling” (Dictionary). One potential reason why one individual may feel sympathetically towards another individual would be due to a traumatic experience. The commiseration with one’s deepest sentiments such as anguish and suffering transcends the existence of two separate individuals and creates an emotional link that forms a figuratively united, compassionate entity. In many cases, those who suffer the most are not those who perish in war, but those who have to live with the fact that they had lost a love one in such perils. These individuals must wake up every morning and bear this weight due to the loss of a person that they had once loved so dearly. Although lacking a physical presence, this deceased individuals spirit lives within those that loved him/her and must live the remainder of their lives devoid of the departed being's living influence. As a result of the Vietnam War, one of the most contested and debated wars in American history, two million seven hundred thousand men and women lost their lives on the battlefield in their service of our nation (Dictionary). Many may argue that those influenced most by these deaths were in fact those that lost their loved ones in this catastrophic feud. According to Didier Fassin in his work “The Humanitarian Politics of Testimony: Subjectification through Trauma in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” incidents should incite philanthropic efforts within bystanders and create not only the will to repair the cause of such disturbances but also a sense of sympathy for the victims of the occurrence. Although the title of Fassin’s work may indicate that he is so...

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...t this wall, as a memorial and a “place of healing” (Vietnam Association), the victims of the Vietnam War, whether alive or deceased, would not attract the same amount of attention and compassion as they still do today.

Works Cited

29, December. "Wall Information." The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page. Vietnam Association. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. .

Fassin, Didier. "The Humanitarian Politics of Testimony: Subjectification through Trauma in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Diss. Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Issues,Ecole Des Hautes Etudes En Sciences Sociales and University of Paris–North. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.

"Sympathy | Define Sympathy at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. .

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