Trapped In Vietnam

The Vietnam War was one of the longest wars that went on history. It lasted from November 1955- April 1975. According to Historynet, 58,200 members of the U.S. military were killed in the Vietnam War. All for what exactly? In my own opinion, I do not think the U.S. should have gotten involved. Our country is always concerned with being the “big brother” to all countries. When in all reality, this war was no concern of our own. It was between South Vietnam, and North Vietnam. This war goes down in history as the only war the U.S. has yet to lose. All of that could have been avoided, had we just stayed out of others controversy.

Wars are fought for freedom and independence and usually when soldiers come home we receive them with open arms ready to praise them and thank them for putting their lives on the line. If you were asked to describe a soldier, you’d probably say heroic, brave, courageous, or honorable. After the Vietnam War, parades weren’t the welcoming soldiers got; instead, they were shunned and booed at.

As I rose from bed, I could hear my wife starting to make breakfast. Today was going to be quite a day, mainly due to a fast coming winter and the need to harvest the squash and corn was increasing each day. I proceeded to change into my work attire and brown maroon felt hat I had bought myself last week. I walked out of my room and went into the main room where I had my breakfast every morning. I walked over to the table and sat in a hand carved chair made by the finest carpenter in Saybrook where my porridge awaited me. After sitting down at the table with my two sons and wife, I blessed our porridge and had my younger son read a Bible verse. Reading the Bible is a crucial part of being a Puritan since if one could not read the Bible they

“James, JAMES!” My mom screamed. I stared at my alarm clock, 8:15 I thought about it, And ran downstairs and hid in the stairwell under the basement. They've come for me again, my mom has hidden all the boys in my family for 10 years. Every year the interdimensional travel police come looking for boys on the summer solstice to recruit for the war of the multiverse.The war for the ownership of Earth 1. I am from the original earth. But we had to leave. Earth is known a battlefield of the war. One day I would like to see my home. My family believes the war is pointless, mostly because everybody just wants control over Earth 1. As I walked out of the crawlspace and see the soldiers and walk towards them, their armor is shining a black and frightening

Question One: Describe the community you lived in, or what your hometown was like? Did you notice any change after the war began?

Currently I am the acting Section Sergeant in Bravo Troop 1-73 Cav, 2nd BCT, 82nd ABN DIV. I began my career October 2009 and was stationed at Ft Richardson AK, with 3rd Battalion 509th Infantry. In my tenure there I served in positions spanning from the assistant gunner to squad leader, and also the Fire Direction Center (FDC) check and chief. While serving as a gunner/ team leader we deployed to Eastern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I was attached to Chosen Company 3-509 and in December 2011 we landed in Bagram, the following week I was slowly pushed out to Combat Outpost (COP) Herrera. COP Herrera was a small outpost located in the Jaji District, East Paktia, and the surrounding villages were known Taliban strongholds.

All of my problems began and ended with a book and a statue. I was currently surrounded by dozens of giant carnivorous lizards. This explanation may be slightly confusing for you, so please allow me to tell my story.

The United States wanted to end communism around the world and at the time it was Vietnam. They thought Vietnam could be the new Korea. They believed in the domino theory. This is when a country falls under communist control and other countries followed. The U.S. worried about South Vietnam falling under communist control. This theory is the main reasons the U.S. entered the war. South Vietnam was in trouble and needed help from a communist takeover. At the time, the U.S. thought nothing of this but turned out to cost the country a lot more than we expected. America lost millions of dollars, thousands of American lives, and the perfect reputation it had.

Something strange happens to me whenever I fly into Beirut airport, which I have done several times in the past twenty years. My heart beats faster and I get butterflies in my stomach. I begin to recall Lebanon’s history and the horrific events that took place. Lebanon, a country that has suffered from civil wars as well as invasional wars, continues to overcome and recover from all the past scars left behind. One particular war in which Beirut and several other cities were affected is the 1982 war with Israel, also known as Operation Peace for Galilee. This war has been of interest to me since I was young because my mother would not stop talking about it every now and then. She describes her startled feelings as a young girl experiencing a violent and disastrous war.

It all started in February of 2003 when the Commander in Chief, Jeorge W. Hush initiated the threats against Saddam Hussein. It was my first unit, the first time I got to experience what the “real” Army was like outside of a training environment. We were the “The Deuce,” 542nd Maintenance Company. Things were hectic leading up to this point, and we’ve done a lot of training within our units. We were ready for war, or so we thought. All we had to do was fly.

Upon arriving to theater, the news spread out quick that one of our engineer platoons was hit

I wish that there was a cure for the war, and I wish that time could freeze and no more innocent people could be suffering or put in anymore graveyards.

Many reasons contribute to the lost war in Vietnam. One reason was the lost of motivation amongst the soldiers in Vietnam. The lost of motivation in part was because the government also believed that the war was a lost cause. “The North Vietnamese could see that American interest in the fate of South Vietnam was diminishing; with American troop levels falling from 550,000 in 1969 to 4000,000 in 1970 and to 3000,000 in 1971” (Brands 149). Another reason was the misleading of information by government advisors who stated that everything was fine in Vietnam when in reality it wasn’t. The United States kept deploying troops but the Viet Cong kept doubling their troops. The United States army was not familiar with the area and the geographical

This day was just another ordinary day in Vietnam. The UH-1 Helicopter crew consisted of the Pilot CW2 Baez, Co-Pilot WO1 Rawlinson, Crew Chief Martinez, and Door Gunner Kephart. They assigned them an “Ash and Trash” mission to resupply a unit 8 miles outside the village of Pleiku. The Ash and Trash missions, designed to resupply units with food, water, ammo, mail, clean clothing, and replacement troops along with taking trash and Soldiers going on R&R and sick call. When this crew woke up on April 1, 1967, they had no idea it would be an unforgettable day for all involved.

Due to my lack of knowledge on Vietnam I did not understand some the main ideas that Doung Thu Houng addresses in Paradise of the Blind, such as the importance of family. The interactive oral helped me understand the reasons why Que and Aunt Tam had altars to honor their ancestors.