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The effect Vietnam had on American soldiers
America's involvement in the Vietnam War
Why did the USA become involved in Vietnam
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Full Metal Jacket
1968 the year of the TET offensive in Vietnam. The TET offensive takes place on the TET holiday and the North Vietnam planned and attack on South Vietnam. Full Metal Jacket follows Joker a new recruit that is heading into basic training. This movies touches on the ideas of what the war was like for both people that were enrolling into the marines and people who were serving in Vietnam. During the movie there is feelings of both hope and sadness that run through the body.
When coming into the marines soldiers felt as if they were joining to do their country a favor. For new recruits it was a rough transition between home life and the military. During Full Metal Jacket you see that the recruits are stripped of their freedom
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This attack was one that made the United States realize that they were not going to win this war. The United States failed to predict how large this attack would be and when this attack would happen (Hartman, 2/23). This attack lead to several hundred soldiers losing their lives. Soldiers that are fighting the war begin to realize that this is a war that the United States is not going to win. The United States categorized a win as the amount of kills they got. Which also lead to civilians being killed. In Full Metal Jacket when Joker is in the helicopter he begins to question the sniper. One of the questions that he asks is how many kills has he gotten. He said that he has killed over 150. Then Joker proceeds to ask if he has killed any women or children. The answer to that was yes, and you just can’t think about it because you are trying to win a war. The policy toward the villagers was not helpful. The American soldiers would victimize them and use a lot of the women as “sex toys”. As you can see in Full Metal Jacket when one of the Vietnamese generals brings up a women and charges the US men for her services. She is resistant, but in the end they used her to satisfy their needs. The soldiers had to face seeing some of their friends being killed in the line of fire while fighting this war. That is when it became personal for them and they would never leave a man
The United States Marine Corps are a branch of the United States Armed Forces, accountable for providing rapid power projection. Training is an essential aspect of becoming a Marine and being able to do this, so, Ian Tyson arrived at bootcamp, where there was utter chaos and confusion. No one knew what was happening or why, the drill sergeants looked like monsters, and every individual became nothing but a number, a part of the crowd.
Drill Instructors strip all your old values and Marine Corps values are formed. “There is no ‘I’, ‘I’ is gone” (p.60). To be a marine you must shed all thinking as “I” and “me”, and think as “we” and “recruit”. In American society, striving for independence is a goal for most people, and instead of working as a group we tend to compete with each other to get what we want. As a Marine you must think as a group, learn how to move as a group and you are drilled until not a single action is left to individual improvisation (p.64).
and Drill Instructors see Boot Camp. Why did he pick the Marines as his topic? Attracted to the Corps perception and morale, Thomas E. Ricks expresses the Marines as the only service still upholding its honor and tradition. Due to society changing into a commercial society with a “me” attitude, civilians focus on how they can splendor themselves with material items—never looking at the big picture at all that we can accomplish as a team if we give our heart and soul to life. Team means everyone on earth, for we are the people that provide for one another with peace and prosperity.
military members who share harsh, traumatic, or even funny events obviously become closer through the bond of a mutual experience. This is particularly true for Marine infantry; many Marine are brought up in different areas of the US, with different values, ages, religious and political beliefs. However different we all might look on the outside, the fact that we’ve all been through good times and bad with each other makes us closer than any civilian could understand. After being a Marine, I find that I’m close to, and always will be, than my civilian friends who I’ve known for years. Along with this, Pressfield talks about how, under all the glory and allure of fighting for one’s country exists the real reason that warriors fight; for our brothers in arms. Political beliefs, government stances, and flags go out the window, only to be replaced by concern for the safety and well-being of the men to our left and right. All of these things are reasons why it is difficult for civilians to understand what it’s like to be a warrior. This is perhaps embodied best in our motto, Semper Fidelis; Always Faithful, to our brothers and those who depend on
They were tired of just hiding from sniper fire coming from the Viet Cong. The soldiers wanted to go out a fight. Caputo described numerous times were the soldiers almost shot one another in the dark because they thought they were Viet Cong. Caputo does a good job at this as well you can feel the turning point when some of the men start to realize the reality that takes place in Vietnam. Caputo was different he seemed to feel at ease even when a bullet landed only a few feet above him. Later when Caputos platoon were chasing down some of the Viet Cong. they find a camp of the enemy that has letters, pictures, and items from their families back home. This information gives the audience a different outlook on war. Everyone thinks especially me that the enemy are heartless criminals that you would not think twice about killing. Seeing that the enemies have families and kids changes how you view them. That is what makes this book special you have a first hand information that has not been altered to make the story more enjoyable. Unlike how most people view wars through hollywood movies. This book lets you see and feel the war exactly like a marine would have during his time there. As the war goes on the death toll rises. Men start to pile up a deaths start to come daily. I feel like this is Caputos turning point. He is heavily involved in this because he is doing the casualty reporting. When he
Since the day the Marines were formed, they have developed into a highly respected military branch, where they have accomplished many achievements and took on many responsibilities. The Marines have, and will always play an important role on how Americans fight in wars today. With all the help the United States gets from the Marines, it helps guide troops through ferocious battles like many they have gone through but faster and with more force. There are many famous and infamous people out in the world that served a good purpose fighting and helped them get where they are today. Last and foremost, the Marines take on far more responsibility than people can accredit for. Many people should be grateful for what they have because if it wasn't for, the few, the proud, the Marines, they might not have made it to where they are today.
My Review of Full Metal Jacket In Stanley Kubrick’s film Full Metal Jacket, the emphasis is spotlighted on the carnage of boot camp and the soldier’s life in Vietnam. The life of a soldier is not an easy one, as it requires great diligence and much sacrifice to ensure the safety and freedom to all those who are afraid and those who seek it. Stanley Kubrick makes sure that we see the harshness and ugliness of the Vietnam War as it was made to be seen. The movie starts with the life of boot camp, getting marines ready to be sent and fight over in Vietnam. The relationship between Private Joker and Private Pyle appears when the Drill Sergeant Hartman makes Private Joker the squad leader. Private Joker, is to make certain that Gomer Pyle cleans his act up and bring an end to the burdens that Pyle has put on the whole squad. Although Private Joker is trying his best to clean up the Private Pyle’s mess, he has met his match, and ultimately sees Pyle as a problem. During the scene where everyone in the squad prepares to beat Pyle with bars of soap wrapped in towels it shows that Private Joker is somewhat hesitant at first, but eventually hits Private Pyle multiple times with heavy blows. Analyzing the relationship between the two privates can be said that Private Joker was trying to help Private Pyle as much as he could, until Private Pyle suddenly breaks and it is made clear when Private Pyle is talking to himself while he is cleaning his rifle. Yes boot camp can be living hell for those who are psychologically unfit and not able to cope during times of great stress, and this can often make certain people “snap”. Stanley Kubrick does a fine job focusing on the stresses of boot camp, especially as this is a time of war and thousands of ...
The Vietnam War was one of the most prolonged wars in US history. Although there were no exact dates, it is believed that US involvement lasted for around 20 years. The US went into this war hoping they could stop the spread of communism and defeat the northern Vietnamese. The battles were like nothing they had seen before and it was very difficult for the soldiers to differentiate between the enemies and civilians. To make it even more difficult for the soldiers, their “information was based on faulty intelligence”. Võ Nguyên Giáp, a northern Vietnamese general, believed that the US and the southern Vietnamese had an unstable relationship. He hoped that through the Tet Offensive the US would believe they were no longer worth defending. Fighting was done using guerrilla warfare which blurred the lines of legitimate and illegitimate killings and this had effect of bringing peoples morales down. Support for the war had always been split but this battle caused even the government to reconsider their involvement. The Tet offensive changed the US's attitude towards the Vietnam war by leading to further anti-war protests, a credibility gap in America, and for President Johnson to negotiate peace and not seek reelection.
It’s pretty simple. If it’s dressed in black and it has a scary face, it’s evil. But what if it’s dressed in white, or doesn’t have such a scary face? What if it looks pure, pretty, even...safe? All of us judge our surroundings by some form or code, embedded within our marvelous brains by learning, experience, or even our God-given nature. Without this code we wouldn’t know how to view anything; but even with it, we can easily become confused and even deceived. When Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out on April 4th 2014 it made roughly $95,000,000 on it’s opening weekend and it’s estimated gross by August 15th was $260,000,000. This movie was so popular because the main message, of how a wolf can hide in sheep's clothing, is very relevant to today’s society. It reflects perfectly on how communism is taking over America even when we thought it was dead.
The Few, the Proud and the Brave. Timothy Durham, a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps, considers himself to be an example of what the Marines exemplify. "I am a Marine to the heart 100%." Timothy joined the Marines at the age of twenty three, in search of a better life for both himself and his daughter. He felt like the Marines would be the best route to not only developing him into manhood but also providing him with the best "possible benefits". I wanted to be a better person and open up doors of opportunity for myself.
The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam. Sadly, this is not what happened. The Viet Cong (VC) had far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.
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.
How it relates: Engagement rings are symbols of the love, devotion, and fidelity a couple shares. They are circles of metal which has a very sacred, symbolic geometry. Circles have no beginning and no end and thus represent eternity, renewal, wholeness, and perfection. The gesture of a man presenting an engagement ring to a woman is asking her to start a long term relationship by marrying him. This relates to the Preamble which is the preliminary part of a document, legislation, a contract or a treaty explaining what it is all about and why was it prepared. With the exchange of the rings in a wedding ceremony, it should represent the vows and promises the bride and groom are committing between each
In a previous blog I discussed Agent Pyle from Full Metal Jacket as being condemned to die and looked at it from the perspective of Susan Sontags quote, “more upsetting is the opportunity to look at people who know they have been condemned to die” (Sontag 60). In this quote she says it is more upsetting to see a body condemned rather than already dead. After viewing the film the Sessions I see this same pattern returning but in a different sense. Mark O’ Brain played by John Hawks is a body condemned to itself--- polio disease stole from him his bodily motion, he believes he is condemned to never experience pleasure that is not brought on through unwanted bodily responses to his female aids. This condemnation it what
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