The Effect of Vietnam War on the Soldiers - 1679 Words

The Vietnam War was the longest and the most unpopular American war of the twentieth century. The United States was involve in the Vietnam from 1944 to 1973, but it was only during the last years that the U.S deployed ground troops (Lawrence 1). For the first time the United states was the aggressor. Vietnam is situated thousands of miles from the United States, so Vietnam was not a direct threat to the United States’ safety. The Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh seem to look up to the United States, their declaration of independence is prove of that. The United States involvement was so controversial because to some people the U.S was trying to stop heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement (CITE). Tim O’Brian was a university graduate†¦show more content†¦O’Brien has the same feeling â€Å"They had no sense of strategy or mission. They searched the villages without knowing what to look for, not caring, kicking over jars of rice, frisking children and o ld men, blowing tunnels, sometimes setting fires and sometimes not, then forming up and moving on to the next village, then other villages, where it would always be the same.†(Cite). The U.S lawmakers feared the â€Å"domino theory† which states that if Vietnam became a communist country, nearby countries would do the same, later on this theory was proven false (CITE). Andrew J. Rotter a professor of history at Colgate University said â€Å"no U.S. president wanted to lose a country to communism† so the war was prolong for 10 years increasing the publics discontent. Tim O’Brian wrote several novels and short story about the Vietnam War which include Going After Cacciato, If I Die in a Combat Zone and a short story collection called The Things They Carried. His writing give an insight of the Vietnam War and all the suffering soldiers when through in Vietnam. In his short story â€Å"The Thing They Carried† O’Brian list in great detail the phy sical things that soldiers carried to battle, but he also lists the intangible thing that soldier carried through war like grief, terror, love, longing and guilt. O’Brian describes every item with great detail to makes his story come to life, he uses the items characterize every soldiers, he also uses imagery to show the true horrors of war. The detailShow MoreRelatedThe Vietnam War: The Mental, Social, and Physical Effects on the Soldiers1402 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1961 the worst war ever fought by America had just started. The Vietnamese of the north also known as the Viet Cong had invaded the south to take control of the entire country. America and other democratic countries felt the spread of communism to this country would be a stepping-stone for other communistic countries around the world, also known as the Domino Effect. 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