What Problems Did Vietnam Veterans Face Upon Returning Home?

Veterans coming home had to face many different situations. Most veterans who came home did not receive the welcome they had deserved. Some veterans were homeless and unemployed after coming home. An organization called the Vietnam Veterans against the War or the VVAW tried to help the soldiers coming home. The organization allowed veterans to talk about their experiences to them and also tried to get the veterans to talk to the public (Rivers 646-648). The VVAW helped the veterans throughout the war. Many veterans who came home had emotional trauma or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The United States citizens did not want to remember the war or the brave men who fought in it (Rivers 646-647). Very few people cared about Vietnam or the soldiers during the war because of the negative views toward the soldiers and the war.

This report aims to find and discuss about the problems that the Vietnamese war veterans face and at the end there will be ways that can help, how they were treated and viewed by their fellow countrymen when they returned back home. How did it impact Countries/governments and who protested against the Vietnam War. All these question will be answered on the main paragraphs bellow.

Imagine one day you receive a mail from the government that you been draft to go a war at a different country. How would you feel if you know that purpose of this war is unreasonable in any senses? Angry, anxious or even confused. Vietnam War was “a personal failure on a national scale” (Hochgesang). There are many videos, documents and movies about the Vietnam War that show different angles of the Vietnam veterans’ experience and how the war really changes their life. In “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien, he argues about how the Vietnam War affect the soldiers in many ways, not only physically, but more important is the psychological effects before, during and after the war.

Wars are a difficult place to be. “THE VIETNAM WAR transformed a generation” (Roberts 1). With all that happened during the war such as exposure to

The Vietnam War was perhaps one of the most controversial and disputed wars in American history. Initially sparked by a communist uprising in northern Vietnam, the war quickly became a scramble for the containment of communism by America and other anti-communist nations. After the communists in North Vietnam defeated the French and relinquished their control over the country, a now independent Vietnam split into two opposing sides, with South Vietnam fighting alongside numerous anti-communist nations in a struggle to prevent the spread of communism. During what seemed to be the final stages of the war, efforts were made to restore peace and temporarily appease North and South Vietnam until some more solid decisions could be made about the fate of the country. These efforts included the Geneva Accords, which were later thwarted, and the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

Many are called terrible names, spit on, and generally discriminated. Maurice Robinson commented on this time during a recent festival commemorating the Vietnam War. “No respect for what you did. Nobody wanted to talk to you or congratulate you- sometimes not even your family. So a lotta guys got rid of their uniforms, threw ‘em in the closet and went on with their lives. A lot of ‘em are still trying to get their lives together today” (Sherr 22). Veterans were not thanked for their service and many are looked down upon by their participation in the Vietnam War. This treatment had a huge impact of the Vietnam veterans and their families. Pervis Crowe reflects upon this in Vietnam: Homecoming. “If we’d come home in different circumstances than we did, my life wouldn’t be the way it is now.”

Even the RSL proved to be unwelcoming. Backlash and controversy spouted from veterans of earlier conflicts suggested that Vietnam was not a real war severely demoralised Vietnam veterans and caused a divide between former veterans and newly-arrived veterans from seeking comradeship and understanding of fellow servicemen. It wasn’t until the late 1980s before attitude towards the war and veterans had changed for the

This provision allowed, “states [to] administer programs for making loans to finance homes and farms” (National Ingratitude, p.122). Finally, programs were starting to be put in place for helping all veterans.

After the Vietnam War, the use of chemical warfare caused many post-war issues for American veterans. Many veterans had a direct experience on homelessness due to the immediate consequence of American military policies. Psychological symptoms were apparent, when veterans had phobic avoidance to society. Diseases affected veterans health conditions by making their skin bare to infections. Through the wake of the chemical warfare in the Vietnam War,veterans could not substantiate the long term impacts given through combat.

Home is not always a good place to be greeted from after coming back from a long, gory, and devastating war. The Veterans of the Vietnam War fought without a choice on the battlefield on Vietnam land. They were forced to hold back their opinions and do what they were told to do, which is to serve the country of America, home to them and many other Americans, in any way possible. Throughout their time in this war, they felt overwhelmed as horrifying events played out in front of them, such as the deaths of fellow soldiers. However, even as they were serving their country to the best of their ability, Vietnam soldiers were treated unfairly when they returned home from war.

Give them meaning” (Cleland).Once they get home , close to no one understands them. Their doctors, friends, and even family members can’t help them, so they end up getting alienated by the people they love most. Until we understand how to help the returning veterans, nothing will ever get better for them. Topic: war stays with veterans, and it always manages to find to mess with them

I plan to use this a launch point for my research paper that will allow me to examine the time period from both political views. It is only fair to point out that I do have a slight bias regarding this topic, as I do tend to lean towards the militaristic view of the situation. That being said, I do plan on attacking this research paper with an open mind. Most of my research will be conducted by looking through the vast databases listed on the Poudre library website as well as conducting personal interviews with Vietnam veterans from VFW posts 1781. I also plan on look into many news articles from this time period to get a better understanding of how the citizens in the U.S. were fed their wartime news. It is also crucial to point out that not all Vietnam veterans feel the same, therefore I feel that it is important to look into groups such as Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). I believe that approaching this topic from both sides will help me to get a more well-rounded idea of how and why the Vietnam veterans were treated so poorly, as well as how it affected their interactions with civilians. As I mentioned before I do have a bias favoring that of the Vietnam veterans, therefore, I hypothesize that the poor treatment of Vietnam veterans was more widespread than many may have us believe. This hostility shown towards our nation’s bravest warfighters had to have a lasting effect on their reintegration into

Historical facts reveal that veterans struggled with re-integration of life and communities they left behind and understood after the Civil War and other wars that followed. During pre-eras veterans were exposed to traumas that resemble those of the twentieth century e.g. trapped in post-war nightmares, injuries, shell shock, effects of depression, and long-term ramifications of psychological and physical health because of war experience (Martin, 2012, p. 12-15).

Ethics must begin at the top of the organization. It is a leadership issue and the Chief Executive Officer must set the example. The organization is a group of people that are essential to meet a goal. This would be my group the Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Organization. The purpose of this group would be to assist the Vietnam Veteran in adjusting to none military life. The members of the group will be the veteran and their family members.

I have always been interested in the Vietnam War and the results of “the longest war in America.” Therefore, I have decided to examine the social attitudes toward Vietnam veterans. Since I feel so passionately about the way that Vietnam veterans are viewed, the purpose of my paper is to inform others about the way that the veterans have been criticized and misrepresented. Personally, I hope to gain a further understanding of the attitudes and views towards Vietnam veterans, especially since my father is a veteran. After reading my paper, I hope that my audience will walk away with more respect and reverence for those that fought in the Vietnam War and gave their lives for their country. My