The sound of combat echoed throughout Vietnam's vast jungles at sunset, a melancholic song that grew fainter with each passing moment. As a poor rice farmer from a small town, the Vietnam War was more than just a historical event. It was a brutal reality that permeated every part of my life. I vividly recall the day the war came to our neighbourhood. The anticipation was palpable on this sweltering afternoon. The sound of the helicopter overhead was so loud that it broke the silence in our community. Our quiet village was reduced to a scene of mayhem and devastation as bombs dropped out of the sky, causing the ground to tremble beneath our feet. As the fighting intensified, surviving became a daily challenge. The once-luxurious fields that provided for us were now scarred by conflict, and there was terror everywhere. We never knew if we would survive another daybreak, so we lived in continuous fear of the next bombing or ambush. However, there was also resiliency and camaraderie among the victims. In hardship, our community came together and supported one another. Families pooled their resources, and we took comfort in the ties of kinship that endured the horrors of combat. …show more content…
I can still picture fireflies dancing in the moonlight, their soft glow serving as a constant reminder that hope is not completely lost in the shadows. And I would sneak a peaceful time under the stars, hoping for an end to the carnage that had overtaken our home, in the silent hours before dawn, when the earth held its breath. However, as the years passed, hope started to fade and was replaced with a sense of acceptance of our situation. The conflict had become an unavoidable fact, a constant spectre that loomed large over our hopes and desires. And with every day that went by, the number of victims increased, and the surroundings became bleaker. It seemed as though there would be no end to the suffering that had befallen
Appy’s book is valuable to its readers in showing how Vietnam became the template for every American war since, from novelties like the invasion of Grenada to the seemingly never-ending conflicts post-9/11. But before all that, there was Vietnam, and, larger lessons aside, Appy’s book is a fascinating, insightful, infuriating and thought-provoking study of that conflict, from its earliest days
The years 1961 to 1972 saw the American involvement in Vietnam. For a little over ten years, America sent its sons off to fight for an unknown cause in a country they knew little about. When the United States finally pulled out of Southeast Asia, many were left scratching their heads. Over 58,000 young men died without really knowing why. Although it is a work of fiction, Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato expresses the views of those who spent their lives in the jungles of Vietnam.
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
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.
Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.
	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.
I. ‘s True Story of The War in Vietnam”, is a powerful account of one man’s journey from New York to the horrors that would proceed him into Vietnam. The memoir’s use of writing and vivid descriptions helps to make the story come to life as something more than events that would appear on a timeline. While some of the text seems clumped together, they also give a sense of life and credibility to a subject that at times caan be too much to comprehend. The author’s approach about his experiences is admirable. I would recommend this book to anybody who would want an up-close account of what life in Vietnam was
Julianna Claire, an award winning poet once said, “War makes men act like fools, and makes fools pretend to be brave.” War is a very difficult and dangerous game. There must be a just cause to fight for, supporters on either side of the war, and clear plan on what the war ought to look like. Though, as much as countries plan their strategies and perfect their tactics, war never seems to go how people think it should. War creates heartache, makes countries question their governments, and changes the lives of the soldiers who fight in them. One such story that address the damages of war, is Ambush, by Tim O’Brien (1946). In this short story, Tim O’Brien tells a story of a young man fighting in Vietnam who kills a member of the Vietnam army. Robin Silbergleid, a neurosurgeon in Seattle, Washington, who minored in
...ust deal with similar pains. Through the authors of these stories, we gain a better sense of what soldiers go through and the connection war has on the psyche of these men. While it is true, and known, that the Vietnam War was bloody and many soldiers died in vain, it is often forgotten what occurred to those who returned home. We overlook what became of those men and of the pain they, and their families, were left coping with. Some were left with physical scars, a constant reminder of a horrible time in their lives, while some were left with emotional, and mental, scarring. The universal fact found in all soldiers is the dramatic transformation they all undergo. No longer do any of these men have a chance to create their own identity, or continue with the aspirations they once held as young men. They become, and will forever be, soldiers of the Vietnam War.
Today in America, people see the war zones of Syria, Iraq and Turkey with all the families torn apart and do not think twice about it but for those in the war zones the struggle to keep a family together is hard. “You don’t involve any more Meekers in this terrible war,” (Collier and Collier 149). Mrs. Meeker has already lost half of her
It was the evening of Christmas, 1776. The voice of an army sergeant shouted, “Everybody, up this instant! We’ve got a battle to win!” George Washington’s order awoke us soldiers, and we prepared for a rough night, as General Washington knew it would be more than strenuous to get the Continental Army, made up of 2,400 men, across the Delaware River especially in such harsh weather conditions. The plan was to attack in the morning since the Hessians would be celebrating Christmas tonight, they will hopefully be too tired to put up a fight tomorrow morning. The cold, brisk air intruded into the tent, as the rest of the soldiers arose from their slumber, not knowing what the day would bring them, or should I say, night.
It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting.
In 1988, my last year of high school, twelve years before the start of the new century, some genius in L.A.U.S.D. thought it would be a grand idea to dress all the kindergarten students in Graduation outfits with 2000 streaming across their chest. And have them presented to the rest of the students as the future graduating class of the year 2000. The students, some gazing off into space, others fidgeting with their cap and gown, a few looking a bit lost and confused, were to be trumpeted that day and given cookies at the end of the assembly. So I was informed by one of the honorees sitting next to me on top of the stage. Cookies were on a lot of these future Twenty-First-Century minds. The little guy next to me couldn't wait for this "stuff" to end so he could get the cookies he was promised for wearing his cap and gown. He wondered aloud if I was going to get any cookies. He was entering twelve years of schooling, and I was finishing twelve years of schooling. The beginning meets the end. I wanted those cookies too. I began to imagine him remembering this day twelve years from now on his "real" graduation. Will he be this excited about graduating high school as he is about the cookies, or will he look forward to pizza afterwards with the family and some dead end job? I suddenly felt time wrapping around me, shaking thoughts from my mind. How many of these students will finish school? How many will drop out or quit?
When I was seventeen I nervously traveled about 350 miles from my sleepy little home town of Freedom, Wyoming to the relatively enormous city of Boise, Idaho to go to the Military Entrance Processing Station. This wasn 't the first time I had been this far from home by myself, but it was the first time I was making adult decisions without my parents involvement. When it came time for me to choose my job in the army the counselors presented me with a long list that I qualified for. I got tired of scrolling and reading so I chose the first job that I actually understood. I returned home and excitedly told my parents that I would be an infantry soldier. My dad 's response to this might be considered a little less than heart warming “You dumb ass. Why didn 't you choose
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