The Vietnam War was a very brutal war where many of the American soilders were young men with a bright mindset of serving their country. Even though many Americans forget about this war. Many veterans do not forget about the harsh expirence and how it effected them. In ¬Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers accurately describes the young American soldiers experiences in the Vietnam war on how it effected them mentally and physically.
In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant. In order to understand this mindset, we have to understand how the NLF
Tunnel rat- A specially trained Soldier who entered into man made tunnels in Vietnam to search for equipment, documents and prisoners. The American tunnel rat had to crawl or slide through long, narrow and most of the time pitch black tunnels. They faced death every time they entered a tunnel. The tunnels contained various items such as booby traps, mines, snakes and rats. In damp black holes made for slim Vietnamese Soldiers, most American tunnel rats found the tunnels to be claustrophobic panic almost uncontrollable (Bykofsky, 1985, April 30)
The American’s setback in Vietnam War is already tattooed in their history. It triggered shameful criticism both to General William Westmoreland and the US government. Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was a sin, a blunder, an indispensable war, a noble cause, or an idealistic campaign (History Learning Site, 2015). Instrumental to this campaign was American General William C. Westmoreland who engineered the build-up and consolidation of U.S. military forces in South Vietnam. He is considered to be the primary reason why he was not able to win the war in Vietnam as he overestimated the American people’s patience and tolerance of friendly losses. The Vietnam War gives valuable lessons that can be used in the present-day war campaigns. For one, the Vietnam War was based on deception that is the trend today as with the insurgents and terrorist groups.
Walter Dean Myers once stated that “One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards, had a negative effect on the viewing public. The military in Iraq specifically banned the photographing of wounded soldiers and coffins, thus sanitizing this terrible and bloody conflict.” The Vietnam War, fought in 1955 to 1975, was the longest war in American history. This war was a conflict between the Communist North Vietnam and its ally Viet Cong, and South Vietnam and its ally the United States. During the Vietnam war, tensions in the United States were extremely high. Increasing opposition to the war was causing major division amongst the American people, and many feared that Vietnam could potentially see a victory. This war was by far one of the most unpopular wars to the American people that ended with the withdrawal of the United States, and the unification of Vietnam under Communist rule.
“I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it” - George McGovern. There are numerous controversial topics dispersed among the subject of American history due to the amount of unethical decisions that have been made in order to improve the lives of the people or keep America out of the clutches of war. Throughout American history, historians have debated the ethical impact that the Vietnam war had on the United States. Although some people may believe that the Vietnam War achieved the goal of avoiding communism and protecting the people, the overarching idea is that it was an unjust war because of the countless lives that were lost from the participating countries, the
On November 1st, 1955, a country divided into two, North and South Vietnam will soon have a war known to many countries around the world. The Vietnam War, or the Second Indochina War occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. At the time, Vietnam had a dispute on what the country should be, Communistic or Republic, which had led war breaking out. North as the Viet Cong group while the Republic Of Vietnam group was South; eventually unexpected events started to unfold, leading towards the end of the war. To this very day, The Vietnam War has changed the ways how many civilians live their lives, especially my family.
Living as a Jew between 1933-1945 was a hard life in Germany. They were tortured in concentration camps and death camps all over Germany. Other people were also sent to concentration camps and death camps. Some of them were criminals, handi-cap, homosexuals, and Romani.
Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.
There were many appalling prison camps during the Civil War, but the most infamous was Andersonville. A shocking 13,000 people died in this camp(Bartels). Andersonville was run from February of 1864 until April of 1865. When the North found out about what happened at Andersonville, people were outraged. They wanted justice, and so the man running the camp, Henry Wirz, was tried and hanged for war crimes(Kohn). By the end, any prisoner who was not too ill to move was taken from the prison(Holst). Thousands prisoners died at Andersonville because of overpopulation, bad conditions, and the South not improving conditions.
In this part of the project, I chose to take actual field trip to Little Saigon, which is the heart of Vietnamese community in the United States of America. However, before I took I actual trip, I had chosen to look up some official information regarding Vietnamese community and why they moved to the United States so that I have an overview about my topic. After the Vietnam War ended in April 30, 1975, hundred thousands of Southern Vietnamese people fled to America with the hope to find a new, safe place for their settlement. Taking responsibility for being involved in the Vietnam War, American Congress passed different Acts such as the Indochina Refugee Act in 1975, the Refugee Act in 1980, and the Amerasian Homecoming Act in order to aid
World War II was appalling, but it’s a big part in today’s history. Prisoners of war (POW) camps were in many countries that were involved in the war. Japanese POW camps were particularly gruesome, nearly all the prisoners suffered, whether it was from starvation, illness or torture.
War photography is a good medium to show the tragedy and people’s life during the war time. It is also a good way to stop war because it makes people rethink about their decision of taking away innocent lives and ruining people’s home. In my opinion, there should not be any censorship over war photography because it shows the true time of people during war. The purpose of photographs is to show what actually happen, and there should not be an exception for war photography. I think publishing the war photographs can allow people to see what happen during a war. If I remember correctly, the reason that caused the anti-vietnam war in the domestic(U.S) is because people are more aware of the war due to television as well as photography. If people
By 1975 the Vietnam war had claimed over 5 million lives, many of which were civilians. This has made it a war that Americans have been ashamed of and tried to forget. W. S. Merwin was outspoken on how he felt about war, which he shows in “The Asians Dying.” He makes a statement on the inhumane way the Vietnam war took human lives. ”The Asians Dying” will shock readers with its gruesome imagery and force them to look at what war does. Merwin uses the archetype of death to show the reader what the Vietnam war did to people, and how inhumane the Vietnam war was.
Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica is one of the most famous antique architecture works in Vietnam that were built during the time of French colonisation, that is nowadays a religious venue as well as a tourist attraction. It is special not only because of its long-lasting Romanesque-Gothic beauty that pops up in the middle of a busy boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City, but also because it has been standing for 135 years, witnessing the ups and downs in the history of Vietnam; how French colonialists left, how Chinese annexationists came, and how Vietnamese people themselves fight against each other. Moreover, it was one of the victims in World War II, which caused the 59 windows and pieces of shingles to break.