Christian Appy's Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam

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Introduction
“Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam” is a book written by Christian G. Appy. The book examines the class difference between the soldiers who were dragged into or participated in the Vietnam War. Author attempts to prove that working-class youth has bore more burdens in the war than those from higher socioeconomic background. In order to prove his point, Appy includes various statistics in his book. Moreover, the book contains real experiences of the Vietnam Veterans from diverse backgrounds.
Summary of Content
In the first two sections, the author provides different reasons why the working-class youth ended up in the military. Many working-class people have ended up in the military because of their patriotic culture and poor economic background. Many working class youth ended enlisting themselves because they can’t afford going to college or lack of employment. The author also tells us that the “Selective Service System” is class-biased. The rich youth took advantage of the healthcare exemption, employment and college deferment. The working-class youth can’t afford to go to college or get medical exemption. The attempt to use unskilled and unemployed youth in the war seems unfair to author. Draftees from the American territories, African Americans, sons of blue-collar workers and farmers were the highest percentage of not only the enlisted men but also the wounded and deceased men. Appy also explains that men who were enlisted were given bonuses which are equivalent to the one-third of median family income of African American families during the war time (Appy 22). Author also provides a statistics that high school drop-outs were three times more likely to get enlisted than college graduates. A...

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...am War is not just history but the fundamental part of our history. Therefore, it needs to be taken seriously. Only if we take it seriously, can we prevent ourselves from doing the same mistakes again. It also teaches how the war policies and authorities can blind us from the real reason behind the war. It is important to also know the enemy and plan accordingly. One can clearly see that higher technologies can go wrong when accompanied with failed strategies. Most important of the all it makes the readers reconsider their definition of just-war. Most important of all, “Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam” by Christian G. Appy teaches us how education and economic advantages can help us from facing the worst.

Works Cited

Appy, Christian G. Working-class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina, 1993. Print.

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