America's Response To The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, arguably the most controversial war in American history, severed our country between the pro-war “hawks” and anti-war “doves”. With the seventeenth parallel division of North and South Vietnam, the United States stepped in to support the south against the communistic north and Vietcong. The discussion seems to always revolve around whether or not we should have inserted ourselves into foreign affairs; however, not many appear to take interest in the impact it has had on the men of our nation. America was promised a strong leader— Richard Nixon— to drive us further from war zones to help strengthen our nation. When he buried our men deeper into the war, by bombing Cambodia, America’s response was anything less than outrage for those in support of the end of the war. War is not as glorious as is often portrayed, which is a
Through the first hand accounts described in the letters of soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War, it is quite prevalent that the conditions and average days in Vietnam were far from a pleasant experience. Although they “attempt to make due with what they have”, as an anonymous soldier states in his letter home, it is quite difficult to enjoy their stay. The largest problem among the soldiers is they had no notion as to what exactly it was they were fighting for, yet continued to fight; many didn’t even believe they had a chance at leaving Vietnam with victory in their hands. One young soldier, who remains anonymous, wrote to his brother of his inability to comprehend the war he was fighting and further extended this comment to not understanding war as a whole. The focus of the Vietnam War differed greatly from that of other wars in American history; The goal was no longer to conquer territory, but kill the enemy in cold blood. This scarred not only the soldiers, but also the nurses tending to the wounded soldiers. Although textbooks may display a more valiant outlook of what the war was like, nothing can better