The American Of The Vietnam War

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War consisted of, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which had been engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Aiding the war effort came from countless small American town

“FIRE!” the captain screamed. The battle was at a draw with both the British and Americans firing volley after volley of lead at each other. The air was filled with smoke, the screams of dying men, and rumble of artillery near by. Then, all of a sudden the British pulled back and headed to their camp. The Americans were also heading back to their camp. The battle had started 2 days ago and both sides couldn’t break each other’s hold on the other. Both generals didn’t know what to do, but both vowed to never surrender.

It seemed as if he had found his place while in ROTC. The discipline along with the structure, it was as if he had found people who were like him. He had fallen in love with the Army and after forty years of service, he had retired. He was ask, what would have you done if you had not come in the Army? “I’d probably be a bus driver, I don't know."

Sitting next to his fellow soldiers in his jungle jacket, jungle trousers and his M1 helmet with two ammo belts laid across his shoulders and an m60 in his hands on a very humid and rainy afternoon in Southern Vietnam while surveying the land before they advance forward. He had a lot on his shoulders as a 19 year old kid that is halfway across the world from his family and risking his life for the betterment of our country and our lives. There he sits scared of what to come while he does not know what is in store for his future but not able to show it because if he does it could cost him his life. The Vietnam War has tremendously affected U.S. veterans and Gary Bjornberg has experienced this first hand. Starting with basic training for months on end preparing you to fight and protect yourself, then

The Vietnam War is a sore spot in the long arms of American History. Nearly 60,000 Americans died and estimated millions of Vietnamese. It was considered to be the longest war in American history as well. Many questioned the motives and causes of the war calling it an atrocity. Others say that it may have been a terrible effort to defend a noble cause, the spread of communism.

Irving Penn was born on June 16th of 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey and passed away on October 7th of 2009 in New York City, New York. He attended the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1934 to 1938 where he learned advertising design. Penn went on to become a renewed American photographer, known specifically for his fashion photography portraits and still life images. He was a master of both black and white and color photography. Over the duration of his career, Penn worked in prestigious brands such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. However, later on he uses television commercials to express his unique talent. As art critic. Amy Rule states, “Penn is one of the most imitated among contemporary photographers, his work has been widely recognized

LTC McDade’s battalion had just been through a rough three days of fighting and took a break along the route to LZ Albany. His Soldiers were eating,

In fact, Frank Lavin even describes the young boys in Carl’s high school as all wanting “to be part of the action” (Lavin, 9). Even though Carl’s parents were reluctant to his idea of joining in on the fighting, Carl eagerness got the better of him, and he was off to join the Enlisted Reserve Corps (ERC) the first chance he got (Lavin, 11). Being a volunteer was something that Lavin took pride in for the remainder of his life. By joining the ERC, Carl felt as if he was fulfilling his duty, both to his country and to himself. Like Lavin, many other soldiers felt inclined to serve in the military; this included all the veterans interviewed from the Big Red One unit. One particular veteran shares how he felt called to protect America’s democracy and that he believed the sacrifices he made for our country were worth it in the end (“Echoes,” 53:01). Another veteran responded that fighting in the war was the “job to fulfill,” and he felt he was the one to fulfill it (“Echoes,” 53:47). From volunteers to draftsmen, many soldiers would agree that in the end, fighting to protect the freedoms of our country was a duty that they felt honored to carry

In the recent decades since the Vietnam conflict there have been debates over whether U.S. leaders and military personnel or the common U.S. people had a greater impact on the outcome of the conflict. At first glance it may seem like the common people played a greater role in the outcome of Vietnam because the large number of antiwar protests put pressure on the leaders to withdrawal troops. However, when the situation is further examined it becomes apparent that the U.S. leaders and military personnel’s lack of knowledge about the North and South Vietnamese people and their use of poor military tactics ultimately made the war unwinnable. The unwinnable state of the war was not influenced by the ant-war protests held by the common U.S. people,

In the era between the Second World War and the Vietnam War, national unity in the United States and American patriotism began to disintegrate and morph as the nation progressed from the 1940s through the 1970s. During WWII, the United States military fought a foe that the American public, and the world alike, saw as an enemy to the human race, which caused Americans to unify in their efforts to fight in the battle. In contrast, US military actions in Vietnam were not fully backed by the American public or American allies, in which caused many people from the country to lose trust and faith in America. Wars have points that define them. In WWII, it was the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, which rallied a nation to come together and fight, citizens and soldiers alike. Where as, Vietnam it was the Gulf of Tonkin with North Vietnam, which left many Americans, and soldiers both, confused by the confrontation and unsure of what actions should be taken by their government. Both attacks prompted American officials to make decisions concerning the use of military force, but in each case the attacks appealed differently to American leaders and the American public. In the time period between the two wars the United States military had desegregated its forces. For the first time, African American and white soldiers fought on the front lines together and slept in the same barracks and this caused many African American soldiers to think about the Army differently. Although the

Over the years, millions of people have died for this country. Their character is challenge by the actions they have done in battle. In the Vietnam war, soldiers came back to US citizens calling them baby killers and being disrespected all because society in the US during that time thought they were blood thirsty killers. That is an attack of their character, but still fought for our country even though they are being criticized for their actions But then now when they get back from Afghanistan they are considered heroes and are honored. Society’s views have changed dramatically throughout the time of WW2, Vietnam War, and the Afghan War.

In the 1960s, Americans believed that the POWs in Vietnam were getting treated well. “Until Jerry Denton an American soldier had an interview and blinked torture in morse code”states Maureen Callahan. Jerry is famous because he did this, John McCain is also famous and spent five years as a POW at the Hanoi Hilton. For instance John McCain said“In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but like most young

A close family friend of mine, by the name of Federico “Fred” Garcia recounts his experience and memories of the Vietnam War era. Fred was born on September 11th, 1949 in Mission, Texas. He attended all four years of high school and two years of college before making his decision to join the United States Air Force, at the age of twenty one. He began his service to the Air Force on June 8th, 1970 until January 1993, a total of twenty three years, although the Vietnam War lasted five years until 1975 while he was in service. After the Air Force, Fred joined the United States Postal Service for years until he retired. The Vietnam War influenced Fred in

ON THE steps of the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, a guide recounts the final, dramatic moments of the Vietnam war. On the morning of April 30th 1975, two tanks of the “liberation forces” crashed through the gates of what was then the presidential palace of South Vietnam, in what was then Saigon. One of the tank commanders raced to the roof to tear down the flag of the American-backed regime and raise a communist banner in its stead, symbolically reuniting the two halves of the country and putting an end to 30 years of conflict.

They found a shallow cave and were able to retreat into it for the night. It would a long cold night, one man would have to be awake at all times. Lieutenant Peters and Sergeant Pace felt that the General shouldn’t have to pull a shift, but BG General Clayton wouldn’t have any of it. They were in the field and he would pull his fair share.