Vietnam War Essay, Research Paper

Most people in our society think of the Vietnam War as a tragedy, or a negative time in our history that was later viewed as a misstep. These comments are true and most-certainly conventional. However, does the average person realize how large of an impact it had on the men who fought? When questioned on the Vietnam War, it can be rightly assumed that many Americans would know that it lasted over a decade. Maybe even a few would know that over 14,000 U.S. troops were killed in 1968, alone, (Appy, 7). The reality is that factual information such as this can only take you so far. It is not until we feel the experience through personal accounts, do we fully understand the Vietnam War.

Since the beginning of time the concept of war has had a negative connotation. Every war in United States history has been directly related to the brunt of the conflict, the front-line, the blood, the gore, and the mounting deaths. Vietnam never escaped, and will never escape from its horrifying side.

Over the course of the Vietnam War nearly 45,000 men were labeled as K.I.A. (killed in action). In addition to the recorded number of deaths, tens of thousands of men are still considered to be missing in action, (Appy, 29). Today, thousands of books are filled with alleged tales of horror from the war. Among the most common were the U.S. accounts involving the resented Vietnamese villagers.

We saw them. We saw people with legs hacked off…

Disemboweling seemed to be a big thing. Literally pull

a guy?s stomach open. But the sad part of it is, he doesn?t

die right away. Women…You know, the sky?s the limit.

As gruesome as you can think of things to do, they would

do. Schoolteachers were a favorite target, and unfortunately

a lot of the schoolteachers were idealistic young women, (Santoli, 196)

Individual acts of horror were incredibly common during the war for United States soldiers. Their hatred for the enemy, and especially the circumstances, altered their behavior in such a way that their actions reflected those of justly evil human beings. On the other hand, some of the innocent Vietnamese deaths were only by mistake.

During a routine mission a group of American soldiers were advancing into a small Vietnamese village. It was silent and seemed completely empty of human life. All of a sudden a soldier saw movement on the porch of and immediately fired his magazine off at the figure. Unfortunately, it proved to be an elderly Vietnamese woman. The soldier was horrified at what he had done, but his squad leader tried to ease his pain using a logical explanation. ?Don?t be sorry…She knows the rules. She shoulda been in her bunker. It?s her own fault,? (Appy, 200). Obviously, innocent death was far too common to fret over. The woman made the mistake of coming outside, and paid the ultimate price. Nevertheless, most of the front line tales dealt with U.S. injuries and casualties, parables of men watching a comrade?s death or nearly fatal injury.

During the Vietnam War hundreds of air strikes were ordered which were the result of many American deaths. One particular soldier recalls how the air strikes affected not only the NVA, but the United States as well.

…The only place for us to hide was under these scraggly

little bushes. We got our asses kicked. Any time somebody

tried to move, they got hit. We lay out in the hot sun all day,

and I mean it was baking! A few guys died from sunstroke.

When we pulled one guy out later we couldn?t find a single

wound on him; he just died from exposure…we lost twelve

men in that friggin? riverbed, (Appy, 230).

These air strikes were quite affective, but only when the United States soldier?s had ample time to flee the selected area. This particular time the air strike did not even kill a single Vietnamese soldier, only twelve Americans. Small occurrences like this one accounted for many losses. Death seemed to be the result of any situation, even without actual gunfire, and the numbers were increasing by the hour. The increasing deaths were not only lessening the American force, but also having secondary consequences.

By 1969 American soldiers commonly viewed the emphasis

on the body count as a direct threat to their own lives, and

few shared the command?s desire to engage the enemy.

Many officers themselves were less enthusiastic about

aggressive tactics and would not take the kind of risks earlier

commanders took when American lives were in jeopardy, (Appy, 230).

Men, including officers, were becoming skeptical of their chances at actually winning the war, and the rising body count was not helping. All the different kinds of witnessed deaths affected the soldiers in indescribable ways, even in the years after the war.

Pete Childress, a Vietnam veteran, was on patrol with his squad guarding a trail when an elderly man and his grandson approached and asked permission to pass. Upon being granted this permission they continued down the trail around the corner. Then the squad began to make jokes about the elderly man and questioned the sergeant?s authority over the enemies? people. At this moment the sergeant began to follow the man and child around the corner, Childress recalls the incident quite well.

The shot was loud in the peaceful morning air. It echoed

into the distance, a sound of finality carrying its message of

death. There was a silence in the still air about fifteen seconds.

No one said anything. The quiet was complete, (Childress, 3)

Years later Childress was sitting at a veteran bar by himself when another veteran

questioned him,

?What do you know about guilt?? he said, as he gently sobbed.

?I know,? Childress replied.

?I was crying, too. He stared at me for a moment. He knew,

then, that I knew. I put my arm around him, and we sat together

for a long time, he crying into his shot of pale poison, me crying

in my beer, sharing the misery that overflowed the walls men

build,? (Childress, 4-5).

The guilt of Pete Childress and other Vietnam veterans is so severe that it affects them for the rest of their lives. Stories like these make the war much more dramatic then it seems at first glance. The brunt of the war was real and we have the stories to account for much of that side. Yet, the men who were not roving through the jungle describe the war in a very different manner. These were the men in the background; the men who comprised most of the American force.

Jim Calbreath was an in-country medic at the 18th surgical hospital in Danang. For Calbreath, the war was an entirely different experience, a more informal experience.

His day began with a 6 a.m. wake up, where he was generally covered in sweat, due to the horrible climate. After putting on his ?blood stained? fatigues he went to the mess hall for breakfast, which usually consisted of ?rotting food? and ?disgusting coffee.? There were just a few of the small discomforts of the war. After breakfast he would begin his twelve-hour shift in the hospital tent. His day was mostly a monotonous routine. Calbreath would usually spend his time thinking about his life back home, including he woman who was supposed to be waiting for him to return. His duties in the hospital did not cover a large range. His patients were usually suffering from malaria or minor injuries. At around 7 p.m. Jim?s relief would show up and he?d rush out to dinner and then on to the EM club for what he considered to be ?the fun of the war.?

?It?s Saturday night. That means lots of loud music and cold beer,? (Calbreath, 3). The EM club was where the medic?s and other soldiers would relax in the evening. Nights were usually filled with card playing, drinking, smoking marijuana, and watching the lights from the distant war. This was Calbreath?s average day, quite different from the previous accounts, but still a very crucial part of the war. The meaning behind his account is where its importance is revealed.

Calbreath discusses many things in his article, most of which seem very insignificant. However, they symbolize very key themes in the soldiers? lives. The problem with Calbreath?s story is that he does not explain that these were actually significant. Calbreath passes them by, barely mentioning his thoughts and feelings on the particular issue.

Two of the most frequent ideas outlining most of the individual Vietnam accounts, including Calbreath?s, are the themes of homesickness and loneliness. Other than the task at hand, returning to their normal lives was always in the back of their minds. Calbreath even begins his story with these feelings.

May 10, 1969. It?s about 6-6:30 in the morning. As I

manage to pry my sticky eyes open I realize that I?m one

day closer, sixty more days. Short enough to be getting

excited but not short enough to be too excited, (Calbreath, 1).

This theme submerges yet again when he mentions his excitement for seeing his

friends and his girlfriend.

It?ll be so cool to be back. All of my friends will be really

amazed at the stories I have to tell them…They?ll be so happy

to see me and it?ll be just like it was before I left, (Calbreath, 3).

This type of thinking was not uncommon. Nearly all of the individual articles mention their excitement to return.

A second theme discussed in Calbreath?s article was the idea of discomfort. Granted that men like Calbreath did not have to worry about getting their leg ?hacked off,? they did deal with a number of discomforts and small problems that made their stay in Vietnam extremely hard. Immediately following the segment discussing homesickness in the first paragraph is the idea of heat. ?It?s already hot,? (Calbreath, 1). Dealing with heat at 6 O?clock in the morning was an obvious climate transition for the American soldiers. Most days the temperature would climb well above one hundred degrees. Along with the scorching heat was the horrendous food. ?Rotting food,? was the general term for every square meal. The rest of the discomforts included sand in your bed, cold showers, mosquito?s and other insects, and the horrible smell that seemed to never vacate.

Nevertheless, the immense homesickness and all of the discomforts were not the most important themes Calbreath mentioned, yet did not explain. The most prevalent theme among these types of Vietnam soldier accounts dealt with alcohol consumption and smoking marijuana.

Most men drank before the war, some used marijuana, but very few used both so frequently as they did during the war. ?Drugs were central to the response of American soldiers to the war in Vietnam…By 1969, studies placed total users at fifty percent, with thirty percent in the heavy use category. By 1971, the total figure approached sixty percent,? (Appy, 283). Even soldiers who never used drugs prior to the war were advised to use marijuana during the conflict. It was helpful. ?The effect of marijuana on soldiers was varied, but it was most valued for it?s ability to provide euphoric escape from the anxiety of the war,? (Appy, 285). One American soldier recalls an incident when him and his platoon used marijuana to escape from the war.

We?d get together in a hootch or sometimes we?d sneak

out to the Buddhist temple near the base. It was very

powerful stuff and everybody got real happy. At first we?d

laugh and joke and talk about silly *censored*. But after awhile

it got real mellow and we might even talk about things

that bothered us…Most of the time I hated everything about

Vietnam. But when I was stoned I could really appreciate

the beauty of the country, (Appy, 284).

For Jim Calbreath, smoking marijuana was a very frequent activity. For him it was also a way to escape thinking about the war. In fact, when he does make an actual attempt to think about what is going on around him he says, ?It?s hard to think with a brain full of alcohol, dope, and great music,? (Calbreath, 5). Thinking about the war was hard when it is so apparent all around you. But this lack of attention to the task, specifically drinking and drugging, might have had larger consequences.

Drug and alcohol use among men resulted in a poor attitude during the war. ?Drugs are commonly equated in a simplistic way with the rise of dissent among American troops,? (Appy, 283). Due to the fact that most of their leisure time was spent drinking and smoking marijuana the morale of the men decreased, as did the United States? advantage in the war. Along with chemical use, homesickness also affected the soldier to a point where he would not focus on his duties. In a short essay entitled ?The Things They Carried? by Tim O?Brien a Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross was so infatuated with his girlfriend back home that he would never cease thinking about her. At one instant he was fantasizing about her and not paying attention to his troops and their location. The result was one of his men being killed by sniper fire while relieving himself. ?He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war,? (O?Brien, 813). Something this small resulted in yet another American death, stemming from a simple case of wistfulness.

In simplest terms and most convenient definitions a war is generally defined as a conflict between two or more nations. It is a battle and a struggle. The front line harshness and insurmountable deaths are usual correlations. However, a war is also about the men who fight. In the Vietnam War Jim Calbreath played a minor role. For the most part his days did not vary and he was fortunate to have the familiarity of a semi-normal lifestyle. His story seemed plain, but he failed to describe the meaning behind his emotions and actions. Him and all the other soldiers suffered from homesickness or loneliness, growing discomforts, and a painful environment. To help them cope they drank or smoked marijuana. They also felt comfort by thinking of loved ones or the excitement of returning home to the United States. This seemed harmless, but in a way seemed to drastically affect the attitudes and actions of the troops, which in return, affected the final outcome of the war.