Vietnam

Why are we here? What are we fighting for? These were two very common questions coming from the American troops as well as the American public during the Vietnam War. Unlike other wars where the troops new what they were fighting for, the Vietnam War didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to the American troops who were over there fighting. In both World Wars, the military felt like they were fighting for a purpose and the people back in America honored them for their courage, but in the Vietnam War, the people in America felt like the actions taken place by the military over in Vietnam, such as massacres, were vicious and absurd. Through the political news, America felt like their troops were not protecting the America society in an honorable way and they didn't see the Vietnam Veterans as the Veterans that returned from previous wars.

The American people probably saw many things done differently in Vietnam War than other wars in the way that their military fought. Beginning with the draft, most of the men sent over to Vietnam to fight were just kids out of school, ages 18-20. With many of them not knowing why they were over there, they did their best to serve their country by following orders given to them by higher officials. Some of the orders that these young men were given were inhumane and had never been done in any other war. The people in America were aware of these orders, such as massacres, through the politics and news that circulated throughout the United States. The military officials felt that they needed to show their people back home that they were winning the war and they did this through a body count, so the orders given to the troops were to kill anyone who looked Vietnamese or talked Vietnamese. Some of the massacres that took place were so horrific, such as the My Lai Massacre, to the American public because innocent lives were taken from the Vietnamese, anywhere from infants to elders. Such killings