Vietnam War Thesis Statement

598 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Psychological effects of war on soldiers

The speech that I chose to analyze and critique is from John Forbes Kerry “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In this speech he did not represent himself, he represented the group of 1000 veterans that feels the same way he does about the war.
The topic is clearly stated during entire speech. The speech describes how veterans feel about the Vietnam War. The specific purpose statement or main topic of the speech is the crimes on a day to day bases that were committed during Vietnam War, and how war made monsters of them. The thesis statement is the result of the war. The feeling these man carry with them after coming back from Vietnam.
For me introduction really got my intention, because after …show more content…

One of them is about the crimes that they committed while they were over there with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. Second main point is the feelings that these men carry with them after coming back from Vietnam. How country doesn’t know what monsters they created for nothing. Third main point is how they don’t consider themselves heroes, America’s best men, because they were ashamed of and hated for what they were called to do in Southeast Asia. The last main point is how veterans don’t get the support that they deserve when they came back to the States after the war. They can’t find jobs and the hospitals across the country won’t or can’t meet their demands. Each main point and sub-point is supported by facts, testimony, and examples. He talked how they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, and a lot more that they did. He talks how angry they were when they came back, because they committed crimes because of the war that didn’t even supposed to happen. Because there was nothing in Vietnam which could happen that could realistically threatens the United States of America. He talked how some veterans died while they were in the VA hospital because there was no personnel to help

Show More
Related

  • Betrayal Exposed in Vietnam Perkasie, By Ehrhart

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Dbq Essay

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    i. Difficulties faced by soldiers due to the nature of fighting in the Vietnam War - Personnel had difficulties with transportation supplied with adapted vehicles back seat faced rear to provide additional fire power (Source A) – It appears as if the government didn't worry enough to supply men with safe and capable equipment - Threat of traps led to fear as vehicles had to be parked on street at night (Source A) o Check for traps each morning became a daily ritual particularly in fuel tanks (Source A) o A request for a locking fuel cap was denied because weren’t entitled to one” (Source A) • What circumstances would have needed to arise for them to be entitled to one? The Offensive full guard was set up (24hrs a day), personnel got no sleep and were constantly on alert (Source A) – How significant would this have been in the personnel’s mental frame of mind?

    Read More

  • Character Comparison in Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.

    Read More

  • The Brothers K

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    	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.

    Read More

  • Coping Mechanisms Used for Survival in The Things They Carried

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion the soldiers use dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions which all allow an escape from the horrors they had to go through in Vietnam. These coping mechanisms allowed the men to continue to fight and survive the war. They wouldn’t have been able to carry on if it wasn’t for the outlets these methods provided. Without humor, daydreaming, and violent actions, the war would have been unbearable for the men, and detrimental to their lives going forward.

    Read More

  • The Rhetorical Analysis Of John Kerry And The Vietnam War

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1971, John Kerry stood in front of the Senate and spoke about his experiences in Vietnam as a soldier. There would be many that would agree with his position, some that would disagree and ultimately some that had no strong opinion at all. John Kerry knew that although he was speaking to the senate he was also speaking to the American people and through his intentional way of speaking he used this to his advantage. In John Kerry’s speech, strongly opposing the Vietnam War, Kerry successfully uses his persona as one who experienced the war head on, to reveal the lack of morality in Vietnam and paint the war as barbaric acts with no true purpose behind them.

    Read More

  • The Emotional and Psychological Burdens in 'The Things They Carried'

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    This contrast in style affirms that the soldiers are human and provides emphasis to the weight these intangible objects have on the soldiers. 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 questionable war in an unfamiliar land.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Loss of soldier identity

    2537 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • John F Kennedy Inaugural Address Ethos Pathos Logos

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the Vietnam War was heating up, he tried his very best to keep his words very straightforward and honest. He used pathos in his speech through the usage of the phrases, “a celebration of freedom,” and, “forge against these enemies.” By using these phrases, instead of making the war a task for the people, he made it out as saving the country for the people and for their kids. It wasn’t just a "go and fight," but more of a "go, win, and when you come back enjoy what you have accomplished. " Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country.”

    Read More

  • The Role of Storytelling in The Things They Carried

    2570 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis of Vietnam

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each of the people interviewed, explained the changes they went through. Some were drafted, some enlisted, most entered Vietnam with a naive, youthful attitude. They were hardened, their souls rapidly aged. Most left, having changed drastically in their attitudes toward our involvement as a country, as well as their own personal involvement. Many despised the protesters at home, and ended up despising the Vietnamese people.

    Read More

  • Declaration Of War In Vietnam Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    471 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the speech,“Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam,” Martin Luther King Jr.’s tone was three different types: earnest, heartbroken, and bold. He wanted to show his audience what the whole scenario meant to him and what he plans to get with non-violence and sincere words.

    Read More

  • Personal Statement On The Vietnam War

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    Personally I found myself on the verge of an emotional breakdown, his story so closely related to that of my family members who have served and the horrors they have deep in the back of their mind. He was a physical embodiment of the horror the war was no only to the country of Vietnam but for those who were there to fight. He explained how the reason we suffered o greatly during the war because unlike other wars the US has fought in the past, they were fighting this wear for themselves without know the people they were fighting with. To the Vietnamese, the war wasn’t to fight communism or bring a halt to some type of tyrannical leader engaging in the domino effect, but for their own freedom, and because of that, we were doomed from the start from making my kind of positive impact.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Friendship in The Things They Carried

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).

    Read More

More about Vietnam War Thesis Statement

Open Document