"For instance, I want to tell you this: twenty years ago I watched a man die on a trail near the village of My Khe. I did not kill him. But I was present, you see, and my presence was guilt enough. I remember his face, which was not a pretty face, because his jaw was in his throat, and I remember feeling the burden of responsibility and grief. I blamed myself. And rightly so, because I present" (O'Brien 171). Obviously, this is going to scar him, and who knows what other gruesome moments they witnessed? They watched their pals die, women and children be slaughtered, and watched themselves slowly deteriorate mentally and physically. From my research earlier before we read the book, I wrote in the group pamphlet that there was no parades to support them from their return. They were spit on and outcasts from society. They were blamed for a war they didn't start, accused of killing innocent people, called dope heads, and ridiculed by citizens. They had the hardest time adjusting to society because the way they were treated when they returned, and all of the awful memories they had. It haunted them. They had to overcome physical injuries, emotional problems, and drug addictions form their time in Vietnam. Around this time, feminism was a huge topic throughout the Vietnam war era. Women started standing up for themselves, getting jobs, and some were sent to Vietnam. For example, Mary Anne. She wasn't mistreated, but the men were confused. Men in Vietnam had no control on what's going on back home, especially with the whole women's rights movement.
-Sydney Derrow
It is terrible how war veterans were treated at this time. They risked their young lives every day for their country and the citizens of that country. They deserve the best treatment because they are the reason anyone of our great country has the freedom they are awarded. It is horrible that these men did not get the utmost respect they so very much deserved.
ReplyDelete-Brice Lucas
I agree with your point about how they were blamed for a war they never started. Today, we look at the Vietnam war as being one of the most pointless wars in American history, and some of the resentment for the war starting is shoved onto the soldiers. It wasn't their fault at all, it was the fault of politicians caught up in the utter paranoia and downright idiocy of the Cold War. Yes, some of them did commit what amounted to war crimes(and there is no excuse for that, they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law) but to act like they all did was a terrible injustice. -Ethan Cantrell
ReplyDeleteLike I had said in another post, Vietnam was a useless war. Started by paranoid politicians, like Ethan had clarified, that were afraid of the effects of the Cold War. Soldiers were considered dope heads because when they came home to a place they were resented and blamed, The soldiers had to find a way out just how they thought thinking of home was a way out of the war. Many committed suicide or became alcoholics and drug addicts because of the burden that they had to carry. Resent and blame, and the scarring images of the war. However, some think a lesson would be learned? Nope! America went to fight two more pointless wars during the Cold War, the first Iraq and Afghan wars, because of idiocy of the politicians who couldn't leave communism be and had to try and "coax" other countries into democracy.
ReplyDelete-Brady Wood ^^^
ReplyDelete