The Horrible Conditions During The Vietnam War

War brings out the worst in human nature. Soldiers pinned against one another, and for what purpose? Justice, life and freedom? No, all these luxuries can not be afforded by the dead. Those soldiers who have survived this “clash of ideas” , and have been captured by the enemy, have seen a fate worst than death. The American soldier captured and held in camps endured many horrible conditions which, were caused many deaths. The horrible treatment of the American P.O.W (Prisoners of War) reached it peak during the Vietnam War and WW2 since most or all soldiers were always in danger of executions, starvation, mental abuse, beatings, involuntary participation in undocumented experiments, and the unsympathetic treatment from the opposition. Many
During WWII the Japanese both physically and mentally harmed the prisoners. “Life as a POW meant many forced marches in subfreezing weather, solitary confinement, brutal punishments and attempts at political “re-education” (Marsh 4) ”. Thousands were abused to a point of no return and many suffered from post traumatic stress after the war. During the Vietnam War, soldiers who had been captured, were treated as objects, and not humans.
From the very beginning of the war, North Vietnam were “war criminal” who had committed crimes against the North Vietnam
-ese people in the course of an illegal war of aggression and that therefore the American prisoner were not entitled to the privileges and rights granted to prisoners of war (POW) under the terms of the Geneva
Soldiers that had been blessed with more appealing physical features were sought out by the Japanese as targets. “ The Japanese seemed especially ill disposed towards tall men, whom they obliged to bend to receive punishment, usually administered with a cane ” (Hasting 2). Those soldiers that had been given this advantage through heredity, had their gifts turned into a disadvantage in time of captivity. Many Japanese ships that carried American prisoners in WWII had been unmarked and many died when a ship had been sunked. “ The Japanese made no attempts to identify ships carrying POWs. At least 10,000 perished following allies attack ” (Hasting 2). Those thousands soldiers, who were traveling on those ships, were” walking into their own funerals ”. Many executions were carried out by the Japanese as public demonstration. “There were so many arbitrary beheadings, clubbings and bayoneting that is impossible to dismiss these as unauthorised initiative by individual officers and men ” (Hasting