The Vietnam War was the first American war in which its troops were fully integrated, a development that was supposed to turn the page on a ghastly history of … A gay soldier’s story of Vietnam and after Mar 13, 2020 | 0 Larry Sanders writes about serving in the army, where he could have been arrested for being gay during a very unpopular war ". The other agony is much like the 9/11 survivors experience. By 1971, 10-15% of lower-ranking troops were returning home as addicts, and over 1,000 were returning as criminals, having been charged with heroin-related crimes. Ehrhart teaches literature at the Haverford School. Nguyen’s book draws on 54 oral history interviews with veterans of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) and their relatives. "The land itself could kill you," remembered Tim O'Brien. I had a rude awakening. But after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the racial violence that had been bubbling up in cities across America finally reached Vietnam. For the Americans, every casualty, every dollar spent, and every anti-war protest back home chipped away at the conviction that this could ever be a winnable war. They fought together and returned home to build lives, families, and communities across the country. American troops didn't know if the villagers were aiding the Viet Cong, harboring enemies, or laying traps that could kill American troops. But in Vietnam, it was the most sought-after goal of every soldier, the beacon of light at the Soul Shaking Experience It was August 1968, and I had been in Viet Nam less than 20 days with no idea how quickly my life was going to change. But many others were poor or working-class teenagers who enlisted or were drafted into the military right out of high school. African American Sergeant Lewis B. Larry … NBC journalist Frank McGee, who spent nearly a month living with soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division recalled that "Nowhere in America have I seen Negroes and whites as free, open and uninhibited with their associations. The 52-year-old Duckworth will tell of her life from her childhood in Southeast Asia and Hawaii to her 23 years in the Army... © Copyright 2020 Philly.com. Between the rain and the sweat the grunts were never completely dry. Soldiers on both sides faced many difficulties and challenges during the Vietnam War – including climate, terrain, the complex political situation and unclear military objectives. What's New > Overcoming PTSD: 3 Vietnam War Veterans’ Stories. Instead of being stationed on the front lines, they might be assigned a support detail on one of the rear bases. According to the New York Times, African Americans were drafted at a disproportionately higher rate than whites, representing more than 16% of all draftees and 23% of all combat troops, despite being only 11% of the civilian population in 1967. The use of pharmaceuticals to artificially suppress combat trauma may have contributed to the explosion of post-traumatic stress disorder cases among Vietnam veterans after the war. " he said. The veterans had returned. the Vietnam War, historians have found varying answers to questions about the war. Check it out here. What's New > Overcoming PTSD: 3 Vietnam War Veterans’ Stories. But they ultimately couldn't defeat the guerrilla fighters. Men like Troyer had to deal with several frustrations particular to the war in Vietnam. Soldier Recalls Vietnam War Battle Experiences U.S. veteran Caesar Smith gives a first hand account of the fighting conditions in Vietnam. Although our military has better military conditions than many other countries, it would be entirely incorrect to say that our soldiers didn't have it … Soldiers on leave with their wives and children made up a large chunk of Hawaii's hotel room traffic during the Vietnam War. In Vietnam the task force had no sense of defeat. Since World War II, little research had determined whether amphetamine had a positive impact on soldiers’ performance, yet the American military readily supplied its troops in Vietnam with speed. "I spent three weeks in the hospital," he says, "and then went right back.". When he told his parents, they were livid, not for any ideological reasons, but because of concern that he'd be hurt or lose his life. Dileo was shot in the head. The seemingly endless war, fought by American GIs thousands of miles away, had lost whatever sheen it might have had in 1955, when Americans at the height of the Cold War, committed to the Western ideals of freedom and democracy, were determined to stop the spread of communism in Asia. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. Continue Reading Below. Soldiers who landed mechanical or logistical support roles had a much different experience in the war than those in combat zones. However, because of the way the draft was set up, men assigned the lowest numbers were more likely to be drafted than those with higher numbers. "War is hell" declares the handwritten slogan on a young GI's helmet in one of many famous photos of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American service members and wounded more than 150,000. Veteran Stories . Regardless of what you thought about the Vietnam war, the fact is 2,709,918 Americans served in Vietnam, representing almost 10% of their (very large) generation. Neas, 68, who lives in Rahway in Union County, recently retired after running his own telecommunications company. Civilian casualties were common, and many local villages were disrupted, if not outright destroyed, by the arrival of U.S. soldiers, so it's no surprise that locals often viewed American soldiers with distrust and hostility. Caesar Smith was a career military officer who served two tours in Vietnam. Dileo looks back at the war with some melancholy. They walked with heavy rucksacks, carrying everything they would need to survive in the difficult terrain. They carried food rations, flak jackets, rifles and ammunition. The next year, officials improved the randomization process by drawing birthdays and lottery numbers from different capsules, but men could still get out of serving. The land was a dangerous enemy by itself, but its biggest threat was the dangers it concealed. The ways we remember the Vietnam War concern more than just the past. Even the front lines were punctuated with periods of inaction. ... An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It Show More Show Less 6 of 7 ONE-TIME USE ONLY ... in Vietnam … Our focus is on friendly, helpful advice and great service for every customer. Regarding your father's viewpoint of American soldiers, I have written a post about the truth vs. reality of popular depictions of Vietnam War era American soldiers. Vietnam War Veterans share a common bond. Nov. 12, 2006 Updated: Jan. 11, 2012 3:23 a.m. ... in Vietnam that he got to see in our … But many others were poor or working-class teenagers who enlisted or were drafted into the military right out of high school. Here's what life was like for U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. Rick Duggan (far left) and fellow soldiers from the First Air Cavalry's Bravo Division with a bottle of Rock and Rye in hand. The belief that the antiwar movement was antagonistic toward Vietnam-era soldiers still has a deep grip on popular memory and political culture. Ironically, one of the most agonizing parts on the Vietnam War for many soldiers, including my husband, was returned home – the long, shameful walk through the airport as strangers shied away in quiet judgment. John "Chick" Donohue in 1967, on his way to Vietnam (inset). But many faced challenges back home, and some still do today. During the war in Vietnam, soldiers faced intensely extreme conditions, including hunger, disease, and of course, having to see close friends and other soldiers die. The American Soldier in VietnamMore than 2.5 million American men served in Vietnam during the war. Now, 40 years later, we must try to understand. 40% to 60% of those were either in combat, provided close support or were regularly exposed to enemy attack. By the end of the war, more than 58,000 brave service men and women had perished in Vietnam, and 304,000 were wounded during this longest American war. Anyone who experiences trauma, usually life life threatening, can have PTSD. And after seeing the images of the Vietnam War on television, after seeing the pictures taken by war correspondents, and after hearing accounts of war atrocities, most of the American pubic in the 1960s was inclined to agree. They carried the fear that at any moment, a surprise attack could kill them. While drinks and companionship were always a draw, recreational drug use skyrocketed during the Vietnam War. For Cohasset, Mass., 1969 held the worst eight months of the Vietnam War, when 5 of the town’s soldiers were killed in action. They used Agent Orange to raze the tropical foliage, destroying the environment that the Vietnamese were using against them. After returning home, Vietnam War veterans experienced PTSD in record numbers. But this was the first city we were fighting in. This article was written by Tirdad Derakhshani from Philly.com and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Nowhere is the heaviness of the presidency clearer than in Obama's descriptions of deciding to authorize military action. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 30% of soldiers who saw combat in Vietnam experienced PTSD in their lifetime. One thing soldiers didn't have to take their mind off things — the one thing that was almost impossible to come by — was a good, hot meal. The Vietnam War helped shape a generation of Americans, none more than the 2.7 million who served in Southeast Asia. The army headquarters at Long Binh boasted such amenities as a go-kart track, swimming pools, weight rooms, mini golf, an archery range, an amphitheater that frequently hosted live shows, and even a brothel — officially unsanctioned but well-trafficked. NT: You grew up in the shadow of World War II and served in Vietnam. SOLDIERS TELL TRUE STORIES OF THEIR WAR. B: John William Baber War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Service Location: European Theater Theme: First, Serve: Athletes in Uniform Joe Baca War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Service Location: United States; Vietnam Theme: Patriotism Theme: Voices of War John Philip Baca War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Service Location: Phuoc Long Province, Vietnam But the success was short-lived. There was a glimmer of light on the horizon for bored, anxious, hungry soldiers in the field, and that light was their annual R&R. The Americans fought back with bombing campaigns that laid waste to villages, and sprayed napalm that burned the skin off fighters and civilians alike. Some Viet Cong soldiers were uniformed and highly trained, however, most were volunteers and reservist farmers who received only occasional training, if any at all. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. And for the men who served in Vietnam … "It was such a waste of life on both sides, such a waste of youth. I stood on the spot where I had been shot, but it's so different now. The average age of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, nineteen, was three years lower than for American men during World War II and Korea. Upon hearing the news of MLK's death, some white soldiers paraded around the base at Cam Ranh Bay in KKK robes, openly cheering the news. In 1969, doctoral student David Stodolsky recognized the problem and sued the government. Rations were dismal. Be the first to submit a tribute honoring a vet from the Vietnam War! Three Vietnam War Veterans Share Their Stories, Special Forces Vet Brad Taylor Takes on China in Latest Novel 'American Traitor', Enjoy Discounted Military Movies from Vudu and Stay Home This 2020 Holiday Season, The USO's 2020 Holiday Tour Is Going Virtual, and You're Invited, Novelist John le Carre, Who Probed Murky World of Spies, Dies at 89, Barack Obama's Memoir Offers Insights Into Administration Military Policy, A Decade Later, this Afghanistan Special Operations Story is Finally Coming to the Screen, Memoir by Iraq War Vet Sen. Tammy Duckworth Coming Out March 30, Here Are the 10 Best Military Movies of 2020, 6 Urban Legends About Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, How the Air Force Went All-In on End-of-the-World Thriller 'Greenland', 5 Best/Worst Christmas Movies With Questionable Military Plotlines. The Vietnam War helped shape a generation of Americans, none more than the 2.7 million who served in Southeast Asia. Soldiers were tasked with the job of winning over the hearts and minds of the local Vietnamese population, convincing them that Western liberation from communist forces would improve their lives. The average age of a U.S. soldier dropped from 26 in World War II to just 19, not even old enough to vote at the time. All rights reserved. Marijuana was cheap and easy to come by, but commanders were more concerned with the surge of heroin usage among enlisted men, which reached epidemic levels by 1971. Far from returning as conquering heroes, they returned home to a stagnating economy, scarce GI benefits, little government support, and an unwelcoming populace. Today, he is surprised at his sophisticated response. In honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29, signed into law in 2017 by President Donald J. Trump, AARP spoke with six veterans of the war about their most vivid memories — and about what they want Americans today to know or remember. In contrast to World War II, American soldiers in Vietnam served individualized tours of duty rather than remaining attached to their units throughout the war. We've got an advance excerpt from the 15th Pike Logan novel. I was overwhelmed to be back. On the military's dime, soldiers could fly to any number of exotic locales in search of beaches, bars, and a good time. He had been to that very same battle [at Huế﾿]. Drug use had taken its toll on troops. Learn the stories of the brave soldiers whose names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Upper-class men could afford to stay enrolled in university or get a doctor's note from a hometown physician to obtain a get-out-jail-free card that poorer men couldn't access. Via Cat-uxo.com. “ From The Misogyny of the Vietnam War Article Sometimes the US soldiers would sneak into the villages and kidnap pretty looking Vietnamese. 2. When the grunts weren't walking or being shot at or eyeing the locals with suspicion, they were waiting around for something to happen. "I wanted to be a Marine for all my life," he said. And you lived through the maybe the closest thing this country had, even if only for a few short years, of being at peace. As time went on, civilian casualties continued, American soldiers grew increasingly frustrated with the locals' reluctance to help, and suspicion and mistrust increased on both sides. The most common loophole was the college student deferment policy, which excused any man enrolled in college or graduate school. "I didn't have any political views either way. If they wanted recreational drugs, most Vietnam War soldiers didn't have to go farther than their military doctor. phase of war and young American ales intent on asserting their superiority, their potency, their manhood…raping a woman in a combat zone is something a man has to do, needs to do, has the right to do. "When you're 18, you think you'll never die. While the symptoms of trauma were suppressed in the short term, the effect was something like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. My brothers were both in college, they were doing their thing, and I felt this was my own thing to do.". The Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans was prepared by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA). Usually, it was in the jungle, where you had to look for ambushes. That idealism faded away as the war progressed, as the U.S. sent more troops, more resources, and more money overseas, as more and more young American men failed to come home in one piece. In June 1970, a group of American soldiers stationed in Vietnam huddled together to write a letter to an antiwar newspaper in Berkeley, California, called the Ally. Some of these men were career military officers. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 30% of soldiers who saw combat in Vietnam experienced PTSD in their lifetime. They walked without a bath, a hot meal, or a good night's sleep. The American Soldier in VietnamMore than 2.5 million American men served in Vietnam during the war. The draft wasn't the only problem. And they were young men. "Not bad for a 17-year-old," Ehrhart said, laughing. ", Neas was shot in the back. Echoes of Conflict by Lachlan Wilson Read an overview of the Vietnam War from the AWM, here and more detail from the DVA here. Although the official goal of the war was to prevent communism from spreading into South Vietnam, American soldiers felt they had reason to mistrust everyone, North and South Vietnamese alike. The building at 727 Tran Hung Dao in Ho Chi Minh City – also known as Saigon – was a building that housed American service members for much of the Vietnam War. "To be honest, I wanted to know what it was like to shoot at someone and have someone shoot at you," he said. For most this ethos seems not to have changed. Heroes of Vietnam: The Stories of Fallen Soldiers. Their goal was to locate and defeat the Viet Cong, but often it felt like there was no real goal except providing human bait to provoke the guerrilla fighters into revealing their positions. According to James Fallows, these loopholes "were designed to allot American talent in productive way," but resulted in "the starkest class division in American military service since the days of purchased draft deferments in the Civil War.". ‘Last Draftees’ details experiences of Vietnam War veterans Three Vietnam War veterans from Las Vegas say the draft should be abolished. Drug use had taken its toll on troops. The Vietnam War was Wallace Terry, a black war correspondent for Time, described seeing "thousands of Americans who found their common humanity on the front, where they shared the last drop of water, where they gave their lives for each other. In a war where morale was already weakened by unclear objectives and uncertain outcomes, unfriendly encounters with the Vietnamese civilians they were ostensibly liberating only made matters worse. All three were interviewed for Bowden's book. HANOI, VIETNAM—Forty years ago, on April 30, 1975, Nguyen Dang Phat experienced the happiest day of his life. But that's the only way you had a hot meal.". "The bullet hit the top of my helmet, and it shattered into fragments," he said. If they weren't miserably wet or miserably hot, they were miserable hacking through the jungle brush and elephant grass with leaves so dense and so sharp they drew blood. Unsurprisingly, this did not sit well with black soldiers, and discord only worsened as the war dragged on. About 75% of the 2.5 million soldiers fighting in Vietnam worked in support roles as clerks far away from the front lines. Although the war in Vietnam caused a lot of grief and unrest in our nation and the war left lasting effects on its veterans, not all were affected negatively; many were able to grow from their experiences in Vietnam, learning about themselves and gaining a new respect for … For "Huế﾿ 1968: A Turning Point of the American War In Vietnam," Mark Bowden interviewed more than 100 men and women from both sides of the fighting. ", Brooklyn native Eddie Neas was eager to be a Marine. "I quit high school at 16, and on my birthday in 1966, I enlisted. Both the government that had drafted them and the public that resented their participation in Vietnam abandoned the men who had served their country, leaving them few options to cope with the aftermath of all the trauma they had experienced and caused. Contact Us Contact Us Most crucially, they carried mosquito repellent and dry socks. Soldier's Stories. Our focus is on friendly, helpful advice and great service for every customer. 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