The Things They Carried': How to Tell a True War Story Essay

It is no surprise that the Vietnam War, being the first war to be broadcasted, left a significant impact on all of society, enlisted or not, for generations to come. The Vietnam War, fought from 1964 until 1973 is a hot-button topic due to the murky reasonings behind our involvement, the anti-war movement surfacing in the United States, countless horrific casualties in Vietnam, and the price, both psychologically and economically, to stay engaged in such a volatile war. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War is examined through short retellings of experiences the author may or may not have gone through while overseas. It illustrates a very clear message that war changes people, whether or not they fight, in traumatizing ways.

Depending on the speaker, one may receive numerous conflicting answers regarding the roots of the war in Vietnam and why the United States government chose to engage. Those drafted did not fully comprehend the reasons behind their bloodshed, as depicted in chapter one of The Things They Carried; “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment” (O’Brien 21). Overall, it can be said that it was, to simplify it, an extension of the fear the government held when it came to communism. A dispute between Northern and Southern Vietnamese parties broke out following the end of French colonial rule, the dispute referring to how the groups wanted the Vietnamese government and society to be set up, either emulating the West or following in the footsteps of communist ideals. Under Eisenhower and later Lyndon B. Johnson following John F. Kennedy, the United States government supported the Southern Vietnamese due to them backing the idea that Vietnam should emulate the West because the US was in a time of crisis when it came to communism, ultimately scared of a domino affect letting communism take over, and the Northern Vietnamese were supported by and wanted to emulate the Soviet Union and China, which were communist nations. Attacks against the US in the Gulf of Tonkin stepped up the emphasis on communist prevention in the form of more US troops being sent to Vietnam. One may view this as an excuse to let loose in the fight against the Northern Vietnamese.

After bombings and overall military escalation by the US became intrinsic in Vietnam, Americans began feeling as though these senseless acts were unjust, sparking protests across the nation. Civil disobedience was not uncommon among Americans. Men burned their draft cards and dodged deployment, for example, the narrator in The Things They Carried talks about debating fleeing to Canada to resist being drafted, national marches calling for nonviolent action against the war broke out, and anti-war coalitions were formed in hopes that action would be taken to reduce the number of troops being deployed, and to end the war as a whole. According to the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, “A countercultural group calling themselves the Yippies staged innovative actions and guerrilla theater, radical priests raided offices of draft boards destroying records, and prominent veterans of the civil rights struggle, including Martin Luther King, Jr., became increasingly outspoken against the war.” (ICNC). This movement against the atrocities taking place overseas was at such high tensions with authoritative figures following the invasion of Cambodia along with built-up frustration after years of protests to no avail, when students at Kent State and Jackson State were gunned down on campus while protesting the war, the societal outcry against the violence occurring brought the nation to a standstill. Was this war worth the death and destruction impacting families everywhere?

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The Vietnam War, which in Vietnam was referred to as The Resistance War against the Americans, had detrimental effects on the people of Vietnam both during and after the war. On March 16th, 1968, led by William Calley, Charlie Company entered My Lai, a village in South Vietnam, in search of reported Vietcong soldiers. The US soldiers were given free rein to shoot anything that moved, raped, and massacred women and children, killed elderly men, and burned the people of My Lai’s huts to the ground. In the end, over 400 Vietnamese civilians were murdered. Far too frequent bombings under the name Operation Rolling Thunder took place after a resolution to the Gulf of Tonkin dispute was signed into law. These bombings, however, were not exclusive to Vietnam. “From 1964 to 1973, as part of the Secret War operation conducted during the Vietnam War, the US military dropped 260 million cluster bombs – about 2.5 million tons of munitions – on Laos throughout 580,000 bombing missions. This is equivalent to a planeload of bombs being unloaded every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years – nearly seven bombs for every man, woman, and child living in Laos. It is more than all the bombs dropped on Europe throughout World War II, leaving Laos, a country approximately the size of Utah, with the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in history.” (Legacies of War). Along with this, under the name Operation Ranch Hand, herbicides were used to get rid of the jungles Vietnamese soldiers took cover in, and the food crops they got their nourishment from. According to the Aspen Institute, Agent Orange, the primary herbicide weaponized by the US military, was sprayed “at up to 20 times the concentration the manufacturers recommended for killing plants.” This had a lasting effect on Vietnamese people, as it stayed in the soil for decades to come, caused disfiguring physical and debilitating mental birth defects in children, and was the source of several different illnesses amongst the people after the war had long been over. Vietnamese people in general, not excluding citizens, were mocked and tortured, called names, and treated poorly. In the chapter The Man I Killed from the aforementioned The Things They Carried, the narrator describes in great detail the life he had taken away, the growing and learning the boy had yet to do, and the man he had yet to become. When Azar sees the boy, he treats the situation with no consideration or respect, joking about how the narrator “laid him out like Shredded fuckin’ Wheat” (O’Brien 125). This shows the mindset of most American soldiers in Vietnam.

With Vietnam being the second-longest war in history, it is to be expected that such a war takes a toll. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 8,744,000 members of all Armed Forces served in the Vietnam War, with 3,403,000 deployed to Southeast Asia. Almost 60,000 American soldiers died, and many more were left with intense psychological damage, as well as cancer and many other diseases from exposure during the war. Vietnam veterans, upon returning to America, were met with hatred and distrust, and at the time, veterans' benefits post-war were not available at the level they needed to be. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was a huge issue among returning soldiers and continues to affect Vietnam veterans more than veterans of other wars. “Another reason why Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD more than Korean veterans was because of systems used to decide when to bring back the soldiers. In Korea, they used the point system. After an individual accumulated a certain amount of points, he was rotated home no matter at what stage of the war. In Vietnam, they used the DEROS system in which an individual was rotated home on a specific date. The absence of a warm welcome home parade can be attributed to this rotational system because it returned veterans from the war in an individual and isolated manner. Thus, the Vietnam War became an individualized event for each man. His war began the day he arrived and ended the day he left. Because of this individualism, unit integration suffered because strangers were sometimes transferred into units whenever an individual's rotation was completed. In past wars, unit cohesion acted like a buffer for the individual against the stresses of combat.” (Stanford). Vietnam was incredibly expensive, and according to The Balance, “The Vietnam War cost $168 billion or $1 trillion in today's dollars. That included $111 billion in military operations and $28.5 billion in aid to South Vietnam.” This describes in total, how much the Vietnam War took from America and its people, in almost every way.

Decades after the Vietnam War ended due to political outcry from Americans, exhausted soldiers, and a lack of funding, the effects are still felt today. By examining The Things They Carried as well as multiple reputable sources, one can learn so much about this topic without having any involvement whatsoever.

Works Cited

1. History.com Editors. “Vietnam War.” HISTORY, 18 Sept. 2019, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history#section_11.
2. Hochgesang, Josh, et al. “The Psychological Effects of the Vietnam War.” The Psychological Effects of the Vietnam War, web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/war_peace/media/hpsych.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.
3. O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, 1990.
4. Ray, Michael. “My Lai Massacre | Facts, Map, & Photos.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/event/My-Lai-Massacre. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.
5. Suthinithet, Santi. “Land of a Million Bombs.” Legacies of War, Hyphen, Issue 21, 23 Dec. 2010, legaciesofwar.org/resources/books-documents/land-of-a-million-bombs.
6. “The US Anti-Vietnam War Movement (1964-1973).” ICNC, 6 Mar. 2019, www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973.
7. “VA.Gov | Veterans Affairs.” Vietnam, Office of Academic Affiliations, www.va.gov/oaa/pocketcard/vietnam.asp. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.
8. “What Is Agent Orange?” The Aspen Institute, 18 Dec. 2018, www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/what-is-agent-orange.