The subject of my oral history will be focused on the Vietnam War and the impact in which it had on American culture, this is an important issue due to the controversial nature involved with this war. According to History.net the Vietnam war was commonly defined as the Second Indochina War, 1954–1973, along with being the longest war in U.S history. This war was between the United States and other members of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) joined the forces of the Republic of South Vietnam who fought against the communist forces that included the Viet Cong (VC), and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The negative stigma surrounding the Vietnam war, was because in some opinions the only war the Americans ever lost and is a very …show more content…
These protesters made it difficult for veterans returning home, because they were arguing for a war that they did not have to fight in if they were middle-upper class citizens. This illustrates that American society is segregated in the aspect that if you are upper middle class to upper class you have substantially more mobility and freedom when making decisions. According to my Pepere this was something he felt very strongly about because of the negative attention that it brought to veterans. He stated, “Those anti-war protesters are the reason that everything was so damn difficult when we came back.” To me this statement can make people understand about what anti-war protesters did to these veterans, although they were just expressing themselves it had a compounding effect onto veterans. All the people that were protesting this war, were radicalized young people and for a comparative example in the movie Forrest Gump you can see a sizeable protest in front of the Washington monument against the war. American culture can be described very simply, people are very focused on their own opinions and although they may have had reasons to protest there is no reason to blame veterans for a decision they had little to no control over due to the …show more content…
My pepere was a Vietnam veteran and learning about his past and the opinions he shared was interesting while also incredibly informative. I learned both about the war and my pepere, but those opened my eyes to a new perspective of American culture and society. This lead me to believed that the war and all his experiences from when he returned to the war shaped the person who my pepere is today. This experienced allowed for me to gain a different perspective of the world than my twenty- one year old college self who has faced substantially different circumstances, rather than my seventy-three pepere whose been through some serious situations. American culture has evolved since the 1960s, there has been many changes to our society, furthermore there has been things that have not changed including segregation of the different economic classes which is still a prominent problem
The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war.
Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, portrays stories of the Vietnam War. Though not one hundred percent accurate, the stories portray important historical events. The Things They Carried recovers Vietnam War history and portrays situations the American soldiers faced. The United States government represents a political power effect during the Vietnam War. The U. S. enters the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. The U.S. government felt if communism spreads to South Vietnam, then it will spread elsewhere. Many Americans disapproved of their country’s involvement. Men traveled across the border to avoid the draft. The powerful United States government made the decision to enter the war, despite many Americans’ opposition. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried applies New Historicism elements, including Vietnam history recovery and the political power of the United States that affected history.
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.
Vietnam War (1954-1975) is considered as one of those big wars of the modern world that has been acknowledged and studied by countries in the world. Especially, in regard to the United States, starting and ending war in Vietnam was an unforgettable experience that has left a priceless lesson in its foreign policy, and of course a lot of loss, physically, mentally, and property. “The Legacy of Vietnam” article of George Herring basically summarizes how the Vietnam War led to an end in failure of America and what consequences it left behind.
The Vietnam War holds a different meaning for people both young and old. The longest known US war lasted a solid eighteen years. Some would describe the war as a puzzle since not everyone was for the war. At the age of 21 Tim O’Brien was drafted for the Vietnam War. He states that The Things They Carried is a way for readers to feel what he felt during the war. The key experiences and emotions that he wants the reader to feel are frustration, not being able to find your enemy, having soldiers all around you losing their life, and being upset about being in a war in which you yourself do not believe in. Now forty years later after the Vietnam War first started O’Brien is left with face-less responsibility and face-less grief. He says it best himself “You bring war back home with you. The things you carried in the war are also things you brought back home.”
For some it was all about knowledge and enlightenment. For others it was the drive to show that they were not puppets under the marionette master. But for the masses, it was just what the other kids were doing. Yet, when it really all came down to it, regardless of what they were representing, the youth counter-culture of the 1970’s was quite powerful. Who would have thought that the youth who in all previous wars had heeded their parents call now rejected and abandoned their ideals and almost formed their own sect in the political spectrum? In order to give a just analysis, to give an examination of the Vietnam Counter-Culture, one would have to look to the preliminary causes, the debates and diplomacy of the youth themselves, and the reflection where this has influenced today’s youth.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
The Vietnam Veteran I interviewed was my grandfather; he was 27 years old during the time of the war. He volunteered to go to Vietnam because he didn’t like picking fruits and vegetables in the hot sun with his father. That’s when he decided to join the service and he volunteered to go to Vietnam. My grandfather only served one tour, because he wanted to go home to his family. So, his younger brother Rick who was single volunteered to go to Vietnam. My grandfather told me that Rick had a death wish so it didn’t really matter to him if he came back dead or alive.
Engaging in the war in Vietnam brought a whole different set of "American Views" to the topic of war. This time the country did not support the war like we've seen in the past. Mostly by young people, the war effort was criticized and Americans staged massive protests. The Vietnam War's controversy spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself.
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.
The reality of war changed many soldiers' lives because of nightmares from firefights and small skirmishes to bombings and atrocities. Many places from Saigon to Khe Sanh are filled with stories from many veterans. A letter from a marine fighting in Khe Sanh said to his Parents "Since we began, we have lost 14 KIA and 44 men WIA. Our company is cut down to half strength, and I think we will be going to Okinawa to regroup. I hope so anyway because I have seen enough of war and its destruction." From the death of close friends any person's emotions would crumble. A normal everyday business person in the shoes of this soldier wouldn't last a day. The experience a soldier goes through will change his view on life forever. This is just showing how it affects people. Seeing death and killing on a daily basis. The random occurrence of death would truly disturb any person. Seeing the death of friends and mangled bodies of South Vietnamese villagers left by Vietcong guerillas, the soldiers were left with the vivid visions of the bodies.
There was nothing that affected America in 20th century like the vietnam war,It tore the nation apart .It was a costly war which took three million lives . The main reason it has so much impact on america was that some people were for the war but so many were against it .The younger nation ,especially the young men who were drafted ,did not...
Even though Appy describes this social shift in societies’ national identity happening all of the sudden after the Vietnam War, primary sources such as Milwaukee 14, show that parts of public were aware of the truth much earlier and thus were trying to take action against it. This was by far the biggest social change that the war caused. This war was not only able to question people’s belief in American exceptionalism but also forced them to take a hard look at their country and its role in the world. The Vietnam War not only caused social changes but also had economic and political effects. The biggest economic change that the Vietnam War caused was damage to the wealth and resources of the United States.
All countries in the world are wide. Each culture has more differents about location, size and culture. Futhermore, the school in another country also have difference. The high school system of America and Vietnam differ in three important ways such as: tuition, online assignment and activity.
No America shouldn’t have intervened in the Vietnam war. When America intervened in the Vietnam war they had made a very big decision. America chose to intervene in gruesome unwinnable war, but many reasons not to intervene also followed and these are the reasons why. To begin, the Vietnam war shouldn’t have happened in the first place because America did not have any business being there. America chose to go and start a war with Vietnam to “stop communism,” as said by Dwight Eisenhower.