The Weight on Their Shoulders The Vietnam War was a time of turmoil in 1970s America. To many, the war was seen as pointless and the public was not shy to let this be known to the government. Nevertheless, the brave young men that fought to defeat communism went to Vietnam, some willing, and some not so willing as the Selective Service Act gave them no choice but to serve. While the citizens were at home in the states, not too focused on the war, the men had to deal with some hellish conditions, and a heavy conscience. The men had to be on constant watch for the Viet Cong, and if this was not enough of a burden to begin with, this was just the tip of a much larger iceberg. American soldiers dealt with harsh conditions and the equipment …show more content…
they had to lug through it, memories of home, guilt of their fellow soldiers being killed in action as well as the threat of the Viet Cong, and the poor treatment they received when they finally arrived home. It was evident in the beginning of the war that Vietnam was going to be a very hospitable environment, and it did not take long for soldiers to feel the effects of the harsh region.
With the monsoon season came constant torrential rains, and the constant worry of trenchfoot from having boots on all day, every day. Marching through the paddies left the men vulnerable to gunfire, and if they were lucky enough, they could walk through dry paddies, but they were not the most common of occurrences. While this was no easy task alone, the men also had to carry standard issue M-16 rifles, twelve to twenty magazines, M-16 maintenance equipment, the standard helmet with camo, water canteens, a flak jacket, rations, and some even carried an M-79 grenade launcher, bringing the minimum weight of the load at right around 40 pounds, and with the grenade launcher and ammo, right about 60 pounds. What this statistic does not include, however, is the incredible weight of their fear, memories of home, and the guilt of their men …show more content…
dying. An undeniable part of their daily routine was time that they thought of home. Homesickness was something that weighed a great deal on the soldiers, and in the story, Jimmy Cross was not immune to this in the slightest. While Lieutenant Cross was stuck in his memories of home, one of his men, Ted Lavender, was struck in the head by a bullet. On top of the ever-mounting weight he already carried, Lieutenant Cross now carried the immeasurable weight of the guilt that he placed on himself for letting one of his men die in front of him. The soldiers always had to be on high alert, because if they let their guard down, it would be over, quick, and without warning. Just as Lavender had died, with a bang and he fell to the ground like a bag of concrete. The young men spent their days thinking about life in the states, and holding on to items of great significance to them. For Lieutenant Cross, this was a daily occurrence. At several points in the story, he reflects on how beautiful Martha was. He received letters from her, and they were ingrained into his mind. She had also sent him a good luck charm, a rock that she had found on the beach. What Cross was looking for, however, was a sign of love that she had not yet exposed. While she had signed love on all of the letters, he knew better than to assume that she had actual feelings for him. One day, the guilt of Lavender’s death finally got to him, and he decided to burn all of his memories of her. He started a fire in his foxhole that he dug the night that Ted Lavender had died. He threw every one of Martha’s letters, as well as the two pictures that he had carried with him, into the fire, to help erase some of the guilt. He knew that he could not just burn the guilt away, and he had memorized the letters, so he could not get away from them anyway. Cross understood that she had distanced herself from him, and did not mention the war except to tell him to stay safe. He realized that he needed to focus on the war, and more importantly, the safety of he and his men. Cross vowed from then on to make sure his men had understood that he was to accept the blame for Lavender’s death, and that he would not let his company be relaxed any longer. He realized that the love for his men was much stronger than his love for a woman back in the states. One of the worst things the soldiers had to experience was yet to come.
Vietnam vets were treated like complete low lifes, and after all they had been through, they would expect a little bit of respect. Soldiers came home with PTSD, a common thing among soldiers, and who is to blame them, after the hell on earth they experienced? After all of the pressure that had rested on their shoulders throughout the entirety of the war, soldiers expected to come home to a welcoming American society. This could not be farther from the truth in most cases though, and until recently, Vietnam vets were seen as monsters, mainly because of the media coverage of war for the first time in
history. In the story, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, the theme of the story was to emphasize the amount of hell that the brave young men of Vietnam went through, and to shed a little light on some of the things that may be overlooked. While they tried to keep their mind off of the hell they were currently suffering through, they wound up making themselves vulnerable because they were not focused. With all of the things they carried through the harsh jungle, the heaviest, and one that took the biggest toll on the men would have to have been the guilt in seeing their friends, comrades, and brothers die in the line of duty. Some may have underestimated the sheer amount of burden that our young men had on them, but O’Brien really shed a light on some of the inside thoughts that soldiers commonly had in the war. In conclusion, the young men of the Vietnam War had much more than the equipment strapped to their backs to lug along with them through the jungle, and sometimes emotions and homesickness got the best of them. Even as stated by O’Brien, “They spoke bitterly about guys who had found release by shooting off their own fingers.” If this quote does not state how much of a hellish time this really was, then it would be a tragedy. The men made it through the war carrying the weight of a thousand men, and much later on, we Americans thank them greatly for it.
The Vietnam War, which lasted for two decades (1955-1975), was probably the most problematic of all American wars. US involvement in Vietnam occurred within the larger context of the Cold War between the US and the USSR. It was, and remains, morally ambiguous and controversial. The Vietnam War was slated as both a war against Communism and a war aimed at suppressing dangerous nationalist self-determination. Christian G. Appy's book, Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam, is a graphic and perceptive portrayal of soldiers' experiences and the lasting effects the Vietnam War has had on the American culture and people. Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam, is an analytical work that has three major purposes: 1. to show that those who fought in Vietnam were predominantly from the working class 2. to convey the experiences of the soldiers who served in Vietnam and 3. to offer his own scathing commentary of American actions in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country riots began to raise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. This truly was a failure in the political side of things. For the public, all they saw was a failed attempt in a far away country. Events such as the Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong established an all out attack on key locations around Vietnam, and although the Viet Cong was virtually wiped out, this still had a large affect psychologically on the troops as well as the populist back in the United States. Another atrocity that occurred during this war was the My Lai Massacre. This was the mass murder on unarmed civilians in South Vietnam during March 16,1968. Around November 1969, the world saw this and was outraged with the killings of innocent civilians prompting and giving the public more reasons to stop the war. Although the war was very unpopular, men and women were still fighting and dying for America. Heroes such as Captain John W, Ripley of Dong Ha, Medal of Honor recipients, and overall troops that gave the ultimate sacrifice were forgotten for a brief period. As unpopular as the war was, the American people should still know the stories and good that some of these troops had done for the United States.
Throughout the story, the author goes into great detail about the heavy physical loads that the soldiers had to carry with them. Even the way O’Brien describes the many loads seems to grab your attention on the extreme conditions these men had to go through just to survive another day. The most interesting thing I found while reading this story is that even though the soldiers carried a ton of weight around with them, they insisted on carrying as much as possible to insist they were prepared for any given situation. Also, just as we are all different individuals, each soldier carried their own personal things that depended on their own habits and hobbies. Some examples of the necessities the soldiers had to carry with them include, “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pockets knives, heat tabs, wrist-watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C-rations, and two or three canteens of water (O’Brien 125). These were just some of the things these men had to carry with them just to undergo some of the conditions surrounding them. Besides those items I explained things like weapons and magazines made up most of the majority of the weight. What really shocked me at this point is that with all this weight the soldiers had to carry with them, they were expected to be very mobile and able to haul around everything for miles at a time. The only benefit I could possible see coming out of all the things they carried is the protection the backpack gave the soldiers from the spraying of bullets during battle. Other than that, the more the men carried, the more their moral went down under those conditions. I think that the author brilliantly described this story. It was almost like I felt my backpack getting heavier as I was reading on and the items kept increasing. Towards the end of the story I kind of felt just as the soldiers did, weighed down and dead tired.
The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.
In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the readers follow the Alpha Company’s experiences during the Vietnam War through the telling’s of the main character and narrator, Tim. At the beginning of the story, Tim describes the things that each character carries, also revealing certain aspects of the characters as can be interpreted by the audience. The book delineates what kind of person each character is throughout the chapters. As the novel progresses, the characters’ personalities change due to certain events of the war. The novel shows that due to these experiences during the Vietnam War, there is always a turning point for each soldier, especially as shown with Bob “Rat” Kiley and Azar. With this turning point also comes the loss of innocence for these soldiers. O’Brien covers certain stages of grief and self-blame associated with these events in these stories as well in order to articulate just how those involved felt so that the reader can imagine what the effects of these events would be like for them had they been a part of it.
Robert S. McNamara's book, In Retrospect, tells the story of one man's journey throughout the trials and tribulations of what seems to be the United States utmost fatality; the Vietnam War. McNamara's personal encounters gives an inside perspective never before heard of, and exposes the truth behind the administration.
On their feet they carried jungle boots—2.1 pounds. O’Brien 2. In this example, after many hours of carrying these supplies, the soldiers would start to break down physically. Fatigue and muscle pain start to cloud their vision and judgment. The weight of the things that they carried had devastating effects on their bodies, but the soldiers had to endure.
Firstly, This war took place from 1962 and finished in 1975 (Australian War Memorial, n.d) and saw a “welcome home” for the soldiers like never before. The Prime Minister at the time was Robert Menzies who believed that we should send troops to Vietnam to help America stop the ‘domino theory’, a theory in which America believe that when one country becomes a communist, surrounding countries will become communist as well, causing the world to become communist and America would no longer be able to trade any material or weapons to other countries to make money, forcing America to become a communist country as well. However a differing view of the Opposition Leader, Arthur Calwell, was equally passionate against sending troops to Vietnam to fight. In Arthur Calwel’s speech, Calwel stated in the Governments’s announcement “We do not think it will help the fight against Communism” (House of Representatives, 1965). The Public opinion was divided over this war and had never been displayed as overtly as it was during ...
This is due to a stigma that presented itself during the Vietnam era – that is the time of the Vietnam War. Countless men were drafted into a war that no one wanted to fight. A study conducted in 1980 found that “Vietnam veterans who entered the military, served and fought in Vietnam, and were released into a hostile American society were severely handicapped” (Conflict). These men who were forced to give their lives, to become disabled in many cases, were released in this “hostile” society that hated them for doing what was not a choice on their end. They should have been honored like those who fought before them in World War II, but they were completely dismissed, despised, and left to fight for their own
It is understandable that some Americans strongly opposed the United States getting involved in the Vietnam War. It had not been a long time since the end of World War II and simply put, most Americans were tired of fighting. Mark Atwood Lawrence is one of the people who opposed our involvement in the Vietnam War. In his essay, “Vietnam: A Mistake of Western Alliance”, Lawrence argues that the Vietnam War was unnecessary and that it went against our democratic policies, but that there were a lot of things that influenced our involvement.
“You will kill ten of us, we will kill one of you, but in the end, you will tire of it first”. This Quote by Vietnam leader Ho Chi Men shows just how far the Vietnamese were willing to go to defend their country. The Vietnam War was a disaster for the United States and still affects Americans today. One of the biggest questions about the Vietnam War was The Draft. The Draft was a highly debated topic during the Vietnam War. The Draft is where Americans are chosen in a lottery format to fight in the war. The Vietnam War was affected by the draft and still affects people today. It affected America because of the people that it chose and their families, the amount of people that tried to escape and the protesting that came along with it,
Many believe that America's involvement in the Vietnam War was a disaster. The majority of the men and women fighting in the war had little or no idea why they were there in the first place. The staggering number of lives that was lost cannot and will not be overlooked. The importance of this war was decimated, and the actions of political leaders were scrutinized by there own people as well as other countries. One question that comes to mind when thinking about the Vietnam War is our reasoning for entering the war and what our enemies thought about America's intervention in the war. America's intervention in Vietnam changed the lives of many people and families in our country today.
Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, is subject to a burden. Whether this is a physical sense or a mental sense, everyone has their amount that they carry and a limit they must not exceed. This is especially true for those who have to venture into dark times in their lives. One such time period was the Vietnam War, where men as young as 18 years old, fresh out of High School, are thrown in the silent, wet, and most importantly deadly rainforests of Vietnam, where they are expected to throw away their short lives fighting for a country they barely knew.
The Vietnam War was an absolute mess. It didn’t bring about any positive meaningful change, only death to all involved, even to the smallest degree such as the villagers that just so happen to live in Vietnam. All who were directly involved took too long to realize that this war was useless except to just cause death to over a million people and did not result in a better life for anyone. The cause for this war is paper thin and the amount of death to simply accomplish nothing is totally ludicrous. This war, like so many others, was completely
Vietnam was a struggle which, in all honesty, the United States should never have been involved in. North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so that they would be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem.