Participating In The Vietnam War

The political instability in Vietnam from 1950 to 1975 between the communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam during the Cold War era has led to the United States’ inevitable intervention in Vietnam. The main motivators for the United States’ incremental decision to intervene and commitment in Vietnam can be viewed as an accumulation of socio-political, political and economic catalysts. In recognition that there were many other factors that may have contributed to the U.S’s involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, this essay will largely focus on these three factors. As the cold war resonates, the American’s crusade was propelled by the fears of the domino theory and perception of Communist threat and expansion affected the

Before being drafted into war O'brien was a peaceful, scholarly young man who had a bright future ahead of him. He obviously did not want to go fight in a war, but he especially did not want to fight in Vietnam. He thought, “...the problems of killing and dying did not fall within my spectacle province,” which shows just how unknowing and innocent he was when it came to war (O’brien 38). He even considered fleeing to Canada after receiving news that he was drafted into the war. O'brien chose not to flee, but to stay and fight after he had thought through all the percussions of fleeing.

After being drafted, several thoughts came to his mind. O’ Brien thought about how his life will be if he goes to war. He states, “I imagined myself dead. I imagined myself doing things I could not do- charging and enemy position, taking aim at another human being” (44). It seems that O’Brien thought about his principles and morals as a human being. He believes killing innocent people was not a heroic act; it was an act of shame. On the other hand, he clarifies that not all wars are negative, “There were occasions, when a nation was justified in using military force to achieve it ends” (44). He considered to fight only in the cases were war is necessary to achieve a significant purpose. O’Brien uses examples of Hitler, referring him as an evil and one of the reasons he would have validated a war, and even joined the military if it were necessary. Yet, he does not want to play hero in a war that had not sense. For that reason, he decided to run away from his draft.

Furthermore, O’Brien himself admits he went to war not out of courage, but out of embarrassment and cowardice. In the chapter “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien received a draft letter for the Vietnam War. He was in shock, “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it. A mistake, maybe—a foul up in the paperwork. I was no soldier… I remember the rage in my stomach. Later it burned down to a smoldering self-pity, then to numbness” (41-42). Obviously, O’Brien did not want to go to war. However, he was

Prior to learning he was drafted into a war he hated, we are told that he had recently graduated from college (38). O’Brien says, “I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong” (38). The previous quote shows his confusion towards the war, he then goes on questioning the war by saying, “Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression?” (38) which furthermore provides an example of his uncertainty towards the war. While facing confusion, O’Brien also believed he was “too smart, too passionate” (39) for the war, he claims his drafting was “a mistake, maybe— a foul-up in the paperwork” (39). Both of the quotes show man vs. society conflict. Since O'Brien had recently graduated and received a full scholarship at Harvard, he felt like he was on top of the world, like any other person would if a war was not going on then, society was focused on something he didn't believe so he did not want to accept the harsh reality that he had just been drafted. The narrator also faces man vs self conflict, O’Brien wants to get out of the draft but, he says, “There was no happy way out...my health was solid; I didn't qualify for CO status — no religious grounds, no history as a pacifist” (41). O’Brien knows that it would be illegal to not follow the law of the draft but he also knows that he does NOT want to

The Vietnam War had a life changing effect on the soldiers, including O 'Brien. They came into the war as boys as young as seventeen and left either in body bags made of their own poncho or they came out alive. But were they ever really alive? No, they had their innocence ripped out. They weren 't young boys anymore. Their young selves were killed out in that jungle and all that was left was a carcass of gruesome memories of the tragedy of war, the deaths of their fellow soldiers. They changed as people. O 'Brien came into the war as a young man against war. A young soul believing that the Vietnam War was wrong and there was no need for fighting or killing. However, toward the end of the book he tells us the story of how he got revenge on a fellow soldier. This soldier, while in the middle of war, took too long in treating O 'Brien for a bullet wound and also should have treated him for shock. O 'Brien almost dies on the field but fortunately

Over thirty years ago the Vietnam War ended, and the U.S. came back home with their tails between their legs and nothing to show for other than a high number of casualties, and a huge pile of debt. The U.S. underestimated the North Vietnamese army, and it was costly. Many believe that the Vietnam War was none of the U.S. business, but on the contrary, many believe we should have tried to stop the spread of communism. The long-lasting Vietnam War was unnecessary for the U.S. to be a part of; it put many people through unneeded stress and hard times.

Tim O'Brien is confused about the Vietnam War. He is getting drafted into it, but is also protesting it. He gets to boot camp and finds it very difficult to know that he is going off to a country far away from home and fighting a war that he didn't believe was morally right. Before O'Brien gets to Vietnam he visits a military Chaplin about his problem with the war. "O'Brien I am really surprised to hear this. You're a good kid but you are betraying you country when you say these things"(60). This says a lot about O'Brien's views on the Vietnam War. In the reading of the book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien explains his struggles in boot camp

In the beginning of “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien condemns the idea of heroism because he feels that it is unfair that he is forced to fight in Vietnam when he doesn’t find the true purpose of the war. O’Brien is flabbergasted when he receives news of his nomination from the draft to fight in Vietnam: “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything” (39). When O’Brien claims to be “too good, too smart, too compassionate,” he emphasizes the inherent unfairness of the draft process. Even though he has the

O’Brien thought the war was unjust because he didn't feel the need of America being involved with Vietnam, he had spoken with the Chaplain and told him that he believed human life was very valuable, they know good from bad and should pursue what is good.(56) Chaplain responded to that by telling o'brien that by saying that he's basically betraying his country and told him to have faith.(57) He was drafted away from his family and went through intense training, he would also visit the library very often in order to learn the terms the other soldiers would

17. O’Brien’s ambivalence peaked as a result of his belief, considering he had his whole life ahead of him, that would only be tarnished by the barbaric ways of war. O’Brien has worked tirelessly to become a renown student with a scholarship to Harvard. Participating in the war would deem all his successes and work as obsolete. O’Brien as well didn’t consider himself a brute and morally capable of killing another being, let alone capable of withstanding the treacherous conditions of war. Furthermore, O’Brien would also miss his old life, constantly picturing his inevitable demise. He would miss all the joyous memories and old life prior to the

I do not have a family member who served during the Vietnam War, but I did get to talk to a Veteran who served during the Vietnam War. He had some mixed feelings about the Vietnam Veteran Wall being built. He thought that some of his fellow Veterans groups criticized the lack of patriotic or heroic symbols often seen on war memorials and complained that it apparently esteemed only the fallen and not the living veterans. Some of them claimed that the memorial wall is an compensation for their service since the war; to the families and friends of those who died, it is an formal acknowledgment of their grief and an opportunity to express sorrow that was not previously approved; to others, it is either a deep antiwar statement or an opportunity

O’Brien was always persuaded that the Vietnam War was wrong. It was not right that people were dying as a result of it. It was evil. He argued that human life is very valuable because humans were the only creature on the world that are able to separate between good from bad. All men should pursue the good and not the bad. Some good action on the one hand might cause bad side effects for others. A man was most a man when he followed his understanding of good and when he tried to act on a reasonable way. Therefore he thought that a man can never be a man until he acts fully in the purist of goodness. O’Brien concluded that in his opinion the Vietnam War was bad, so he should not fight in it.

O'Brien tells of his objections to the war and his desire to escape the draft and cross into Canada. But , as O'Brien ponders his options, he is faced with the potential consequences that would accompany his refusal to join the War. He considers the reaction of his parents and fellow citizens, and he feels embarrassed when he considers how disappointed they would be if he went to Canada. O'Brien develops the theme of shame by outlining his inner struggle: when he finally comes to a decision about joining the War, he is ashamed again, because he knows he is betraying his moral judgment.

“Hell no, we won’t go!” was a slogan that many of the drafted soldiers chanted all over the United States. This slogan was a way for American people to stand up to the government by stating that they will not kill for a cause they do not support. However, many of the soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War were not sympathetic about the cause, nevertheless, they were forced to attend this gruesome war due to the pressure put on them by their government, family and peers, one of those soldiers is Tim O’Brien. O’Brien was pushed to doing actions he would've never thought of committing until he entered this war. Moreover, O’Brien had to kill a young vietnamese soldier to ‘protect’ himself and his platoon, which shows