Week Ten Open Topic

Ashleigh asked me the following question in response to my assigned topic and I felt I should answer it through my open topic:

What effect do you think the Vietnam War had on the generation as a whole and how has that now affected us? Each generation has a certain quality or trait that they try to instill in their offspring. And how do you think it affected the country? If the war ends and the men come back, bitter and cynical, how does that affect the United States as a whole and how does that affect the next generation?

As we all know, the late 60’s and early 70’s were full of protests and demonstrations for peace, many of which ended in violence. This was a reaction by the youth of the nation against the “establishment” and the people in charge, and it greatly affected us as citizens. And when these soldiers came home, they no doubt wanted to keep their children from ever having to go through such a hell. However, as we have seen time and time again, many veterans refused to talk about the war and their experiences in it. So while many children we raised hearing about how terrible war really is, some children simply heard nothing and were left on their own as to interpret what the war was about and how it affected us. This is similar to how Sam experiences the war in the novel. People are always telling her to stop asking about it, like when Pete tells her to “stop thinking about Vietnam” and to “just forget it” (136). Sam’s father never returned to tell her about the war, and her uncle never talks about it.

One of the most important impacts the war had on the country as a whole was how people viewed their government. Following World War II people trusted their government to make good decisions and to take care of them; that feeling was killed with the Vietnam War. People realized that their government felt it was ok to do things without the support of its citizens, simply because the government thought it was the best thing to do. This sentiment continues to this day, people are extremely wary of their leaders and the decisions they make.

On an international level, the war did show the world that we were not going to allow Communism to spread; even if we had to send our own sons and brothers and husbands to die. The real question is, was it worth it? The argument remains to this day, did Communism stop spreading due to internal conflicts in the Soviet Union or was it due to the actions of Western nations attempting to stop it? In my opinion, it’s some of both. So while failing in our primary objective of stopping South Vietnam from becoming Communist, and tarnishing our seemingly flawless military record, we did prove a point to the world. Was it worth it? That’s up to you to decide.