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The innocence of the FNG’s was apparent in the letters they wrote home. Discuss
His eyes, scorched with the memory of the war, were distant in their gaze, as if looking for a part of him that was long taken away.
Such held true to many of the young men and women who fought in the Vietnam War. With the average age of a soldier being a tender 19 years-old, many entered the war having set a bench-mark for themselves, already sure that they would be the one in a million, the soldier who could remain untouched physically and emotionally from the torment of Vietnam. Bernard Edelstein’s anthology, Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam, captures exactly that.
“Today I am swimming washing and taking in the sun”
“I wish every day was like this, then I wouldn’t have any problems while being here
“Actually I’m writing now because I have to, or I’ll go out of my mind”
“When I read your letters I’m a normal person, not killing or being killed”
“Whether or not I get a letter determines if it’s a good day or not”
President Johnson asks congress for power “to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression”
Going to kill “needlessly, untold numbers of American boys, and for nothing”
Men had to go through training before
“no sense of trying to fool ourselves, we’re going for sure. The only thing that makes me mad is, how do they expect you to tell your parents”
“I don’t mind going, but there are some guys here who just wont make it, I don’t think they will make it out alive”
“Tell mom not to worry, it’s nothing I can’t handle”
March 8, 1963 The first 3,500 American combat troops arrive in Vietnam, in the coming months 100,000 follow suit,
“The price for victory is high when life cannot b replaced, but I think it is far better to fight and die for freedom, than to live under oppression and fear”
“Well in 360 days I’ll be home, try not to worry too much about me, I know that will be difficult,
His eyes, scorched with the memory of the war, were distant in their gaze, as if looking for a part of him that was long taken away.
Such held true to many of the young men and women who fought in the Vietnam War. With the average age of a soldier being a tender 19 years-old, many entered the war having set a bench-mark for themselves, already sure that they would be the one in a million, the soldier who could remain untouched physically and emotionally from the torment of Vietnam. Bernard Edelstein’s anthology, Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam, captures exactly that.
“Today I am swimming washing and taking in the sun”
“I wish every day was like this, then I wouldn’t have any problems while being here
“Actually I’m writing now because I have to, or I’ll go out of my mind”
“When I read your letters I’m a normal person, not killing or being killed”
“Whether or not I get a letter determines if it’s a good day or not”
President Johnson asks congress for power “to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression”
Going to kill “needlessly, untold numbers of American boys, and for nothing”
Men had to go through training before
“no sense of trying to fool ourselves, we’re going for sure. The only thing that makes me mad is, how do they expect you to tell your parents”
“I don’t mind going, but there are some guys here who just wont make it, I don’t think they will make it out alive”
“Tell mom not to worry, it’s nothing I can’t handle”
March 8, 1963 The first 3,500 American combat troops arrive in Vietnam, in the coming months 100,000 follow suit,
“The price for victory is high when life cannot b replaced, but I think it is far better to fight and die for freedom, than to live under oppression and fear”
“Well in 360 days I’ll be home, try not to worry too much about me, I know that will be difficult,