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Have you ever felt alone or like no one even wanted to be near you? Well, Vietnam Veterans never had a “Welcome Home” like the Veterans of World War 2 who were treated like heroes and got paraded around. They were disrespected and looked down upon for their part in Vietnam. They were treated like the Vietnam War was their idea and they represent those ideas or their commander’s decision instead of it being the government’s fault or their commander’s. This paper will discuss how the veterans felt and the issues they faced, what the people home did or felt, and what the veterans did about it.
The first thing that will be discussed in this paper is how veterans felt when they came home. According to History.com a video about the Vietnam War called Coming Home, soldiers were as ready to come home as the
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They would protest where veterans were coming home and bang on the vehicle they were in with the handle of the signs they were holding. Other would look at them with hate for what they represented even if the veterans didn’t want to be because they were drafted. Even others would refuse to sit by a veteran when they were on buses. They were more likely to sit on the floor or stand against the wall than sit next to a person who risk their life for their country.
I understand that many people back home hated that Vietnam war, but that does not mean that we can disrespect those who fought in it. Many of them were drafted and didn’t want to be there in the first place. Yet they were repeatedly disrespected and looked down upon because of what they went through for our country. The Vietnam veterans were rejected by the people they served. They never received a welcome home after the war. The only people to receive a “welcome home” were POWs. They received sympathy because of what they went through in the prisoner of war camps in
They fought for their country because they thought they would gain first class citizenship when they returned, but that didn’t happen. When they returned home, nothing had changed. They were still discriminated. They felt a lot of resentment over that.
Tina Chen’s critical essay provides information on how returning soldiers aren’t able to connect to society and the theme of alienation and displacement that O’Brien discussed in his stories. To explain, soldiers returning from war feel alienated because they cannot come to terms with what they saw and what they did in battle. Next, Chen discusses how O’Brien talks about soldiers reminiscing about home instead of focusing in the field and how, when something bad happens, it is because they weren’t focused on the field. Finally, when soldiers returned home they felt alienated from the country and
Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his short story “The Things They Carried” presents the effects of the war on its young soldiers. The treatment of veterans after their return also affects them. The Vietnam War was different from other wars, because too many in the U.S. the soldiers did not return as heroes but as cruel, wicked, and drug addicted men. The public directs its distaste towards the war at the soldiers, as if they are to blame. The also Veterans had little support from the government who pulled them away from their families to fight through the draft. Some men were not able to receive the help they needed because the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not show until a year
The origin of the myth of spat-upon Vietnam veterans lies in the propaganda campaign of the Nixon-Agnew administration to counter the credibility of the anti-war movement and prolong the war in Southeast Asia. Nixon had won election as peace candidate, but he was also committed to not being the first American president to lose a war. It was a contradictory agenda. When the Vietnaame...
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s, the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view than in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period.
The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, transports the reader into the minds of veterans of the Vietnam conflict. The Vietnam War dramatically changed Tim O’Brien and his comrades, making their return home a turbulent and difficult transition. The study, titled, The War at Home: Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on Post-War Household Stability, uses the draft lottery as a “natural experiment” on the general male population. The purpose of the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) study is to determine the psychological effects of the Vietnam War on its veterans. In order to do this, they tested four conditions, marital stability, residential stability, housing tenure, and extended family living. However, it neglects the internal ramifications of war that a soldier grapples with in determining whether they are “normal” in their post-war lives. Thus, effects such as alienation from society, insecurity in their daily lives, and the mental trauma that persist decades after the war are not factored in. After reading the NBER study, it is evident that Tim O’Brien intentionally draws the reader to the post-war psychological effects of Vietnam that may not manifest themselves externally. He does this to highlight that while the Vietnam war is over, the war is still raging in the minds of those involved decades later, and will not dissipate until they can expunge themselves of the guilt and blame they feel from the war, and their actions or inaction therein.
figures out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. And yet our
The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial wars in history, perhaps because it was one of the first wars to be documented, filmed and shown on television for most of the public to see, judge, feel and eventually protest against. This essay will discuss the varying experiences of Australian veterans upon their return to Australia from Vietnam. In my opinion, I do believe that the Australian soldiers of the Vietnam War were treated horribly when they got back from Vietnam. Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell and many Australian families who had to fight in the Vietnam War believed that it was a bad idea to send troops. Families watched their men and boys leave for Vietnam as soldiers and came back as disrespected veterans.
An emotional burden that the men must carry is the longing for their loved ones. The Vietnam War forced many young men to leave their loved ones and move halfway across the world to fight a ...
...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.
...ments and desensitized of their civilian mentality, making them walking, breathing killing machines. During war, this became apparent with the countless war crimes committed by soldiers; they were trained to not have any apprehension in regards to killing the Vietnamese, because they were “gooks” and of lesser form than a human. These violent events have scarred and traumatized some soldiers for the rest of their lives. Some soldiers have developed mental illnesses, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. Some veterans will always live their lives damaged and in fear. Some have already taken their own life because the burden of knowing and reliving what they went through during the Vietnam War was too much to bear. The only goal of the war was to gain a victory, another notch on America’s belt, regardless of how many lives it cost, including American.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
wake up to see the face of a drill sergeant shouting at me to get up.
War is hell. War is misery, suffering, pain, and anguish. From the days of rocks and sticks to today’s high tech drones and aircraft carriers one thing above all others has remained the same; war is a terrifying, nightmarish endeavor. Unfortunately for those who fight for their nation, the battlefield does not remain in the far off land where the battle took place. In fact, those warriors bring back that battlefield, festering in the hearts and minds, sometimes long after their uniforms have been put in the closet to collect dust. It should come as no surprise that for a variety of reasons all stemming from combat experience, many of our nations Veterans will act in unconventional or perhaps even illegal ways, in an attempt to cope with the stress of their military service. It may be easy for some to say that these men and women, despite their service, are criminals and should be locked away like any other who breaks the law. However, if rehabilitation is truly a goal of our justice system it would not make any sense to take a group of offenders suffering from the side effects of combat experiences and throw them in prison, which is little better than combat anyway. This is why the advent of Veteran’s courts is so important. Due to their service, and the effects that PTSD and other service related conditions may have on their criminal behavior, Veteran’s courts are not only an honorable way to treat our nation’s defenders, but a way in which to protect them from the negative impact of incarceration. These courts, which are based off of drug and mental health courts, are designed to take less serious offenders, who offenses were related to their service connected conditions and keep them away from incarceration and into treatment (...
Our soldiers not only risked life and limb for our country while serving in the Vietnam War, but they continue to suffer immensely. Americans as well as Vietnamese troops and civilians suffered great losses when it comes to casualties. Witnessing first-hand the pain and death of strangers and allies, isn’t something one is likely to forget. Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been one of the many repercussions of witnessing these gruesome events (Mental Health America). Veterans, their families, and the government have come together in combat in attempts to address the detrimental effects of PTSD.