What were the varying responses from the “Allied” troops subject to Vietnam?
The responses from the allied troops were mainly of hatred for the very harsh yet beautiful environment and an ambiguous response to the Vietnamese people. It is understandable the grudge troops held against a gruesome environment shrouded with innumerable killings in an alien culture, but the brutal racial discrimination perpetrated by Americans was still very prejudicial. There were, however, acts of kindness and charity to Vietnamese, yet at the same time, these glimpses of humanity were overshadowed by the greater bloody conflict. The varying responses of the allies were clearly evident through well-known films, stories and writers.
Vietnam’s ever changing tropical climate started to mount intense physical and mental pressure on to the soldiers as they endured the alien jungle environment. Tim O’Brien’s, “In the Field,” presents a character-rich tableau of the arduous, back-breaking and soul-destroying struggles of soldiers fighting another battle against the elements of nature. The rain is used as a constant recurring motif portraying the wet environment and that, “The rain was the war and you had to fight it.” The story comments how so filthy and ridiculous the environment is that the field was seen as a literal ‘shit field.’ The soldiers are driven insane by the ‘smell’ as they complain, “the stink was everywhere.” Troops, therefore, saw themselves as outsiders who were freed from normal social and moral constraints.
Hollywood’s response to Vietnam’s environment and the people was portrayed through, “Apocalypse Now,” directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Colonel Bill Kilgore comments that no matter what the ideal circumstances were Vietnam sti...
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... emotions and so on as myself and I never… believed the propaganda.” He sees the enemy as humans and also respected their military abilities, “I believed that they were highly motivated and believed in the cause they were fighting for and I had a great respect for them, both for that and for their military ability.” Seeing the enemy for who they really are can be useful in taking control since you are no longer fighting shadowy demons.
In conclusion, the varying responses to Vietnam’s environment and people were very divergent, varying from the crazy and cruel racist attack, to sane and principled reflections. From the stories and poems we can steadily read and sympathize about the horror war indubitably causes, so harming everyone for the rest of their lives. And from the film we were able to visually observe the juxtaposition of the beauty and horrors of Vietnam.
	The novel illuminates light on the situation not just during the Vietnam era, but also rather throughout all history and the future to come. Throughout mankind’s occupation of earth, we have been plagued by war and the sufferings caused by it. Nearly every generation of people to walk this earth have experienced a great war once in their lifetimes. For instance, Vietnam for my father’s generation, World War 2 for my grandfather’s, and World War 1 for my great-grandfather’s. War has become an unavoidable factor of life. Looking through history and toward the future, I grow concerned over the war that will plague my generation, for it might be the last war.
From the contrast of the slums of Hanoi and the breathtaking beauty of a natural vista, Huong has revealed the impact of this disparity on her protagonist. The author utilises the connection between the land and the villagers of Que’s birthplace to emphasise the steadiness and support the landscape gives, in times of upheaval, illuminating that it is possible to recover from disaster. Despite Huong’s criticism of Vietnam, she emphasises the resilience of the people of Vietnam and the ability for beauty and hope to flourish through oppression.
Hillstrom, Kevin and Hillstrom, L.C. (1998). The Vietnam Experience: a Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs and Films. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press, Inc.
In Vonnegut's novel, Galapagos, the narrator, Leon Trout, attempts to understand humanity's cruelty after witnessing the Vietnam War's brutality and lack of purpose. As a marine in "...a nearly endless, thankless, horrifying, and, finally, pointless war..." (Galapagos 254), Trout struggles to come to terms w...
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
In fact, Stone sends the message that the media’s depiction of the Vietnam War was unrealistic, contrary to the real situation that was characterized by constant struggles by US soldiers and later, returning veterans (Hanley, p. 338). The perception and thesis developed by Stone about the Vietnam War is also built by his narration of the experiences and trials of individual participants in the conflict. According to Stone, these individuals suffered directly and indirectly from the war and are thus best placed to give the real picture of the happenings during and after the war.
It has been known that the Vietnam War affected many American soldiers who were involved in the war physically and psychologically. The Vietnam War was one of the most memorable wars in history. Many Americans’ lives lost for no objective at all. Chapter 10 informed us about how the Vietnam War started and what really happened during that time. It also gave us background information about Vietnam Veterans and nurses who were involved in the war and what they went through during the war. I had the opportunity to interview a Vietnam Veteran also.
Unlike the WWII era, the Vietnam War brought realism into literature and film. There were no heroic movies of men fighting in Vietnam. Men could no longer shoot fifty enemy combatants on top of a tank without being hurt. Instead, popular culture brought a realistic view of war, death, pain, and destruction. Author Tim O’Brien, like many war veterans, struggled with his Vietnam experience and expressed them through writing. Tim O’Brien exposed the truth behind war stories because he shows the difference between WWII romanticism and Vietnam realism.
The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war.
There were many events that lead up the Vietnam War, it started in 1945 with the hostilities between the French and Vietminh. “Geopolitical Strategy, economics, domestic US politics, and cultural arrogance shaped the growing American involvement in Vietnam” (Anderson 1). As a matter of fact, the Vietnam War was several wars, but it was not until 1962 that America had their first combat mission, however, Americans were killed during ambushes by the Vietnamese before the first combat mission. There is much controversy over the reasons for the Vietnam War, supported by the several different books and articles written about the war. “The most famous atrocity occurred in a tiny hamlet called My Lai in March 1968” (Detzer 127). History shows that the reaction of many Americans to the attack by US soldiers on the village of My Lai during the Vietnam War was opposition, and the actions of the US soldiers during the My Lai Massacre will be forever remembered as a significant part of the Vietnam War and American History.
In conclusion the soldiers use dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions which all allow an escape from the horrors they had to go through in Vietnam. These coping mechanisms allowed the men to continue to fight and survive the war. They wouldn’t have been able to carry on if it wasn’t for the outlets these methods provided. Without humor, daydreaming, and violent actions, the war would have been unbearable for the men, and detrimental to their lives going forward.
...ut the hidden thoughts and feelings of the narrator are the real things that need to be examined. The Vietnam War is so colluded with uncertainties that it's meaning and questions of why are still lingering in the minds of citizens of the United States.
The Vietnam War of 1954 was a long and costly fight between North Vietnam, who was communist, and South Vietnam, who was allied with the United States. Author George Black stated, “Between 1961 and 1971, about 20 million gallons of herbicides were dropped on South Vietnam, exposing as many as 4.8 million people to toxic chemicals” (Black 19). The conflict of the war led to division among the Americans, before and after the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers in 1973. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American that spoke out against this war. By using ethos, pathos, and repetition in his speech, Dr. King encouraged his fellow Americans to speak out against the war. Ethos is the writer’s authority to deal with a topic, while pathos appeals to the listeners’
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
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