Personal Narrative: My Vietnam Experience
History 2200
April 9th, 2014
My Vietnam Experience
The sudden noise of a dog bark, doorbell, loud noise, or a certain smell can trigger the flashbacks from the war. The flashbacks can take me back to a helicopter ride by a small inhale of diesel, or the smell after a tank explodes. Loud noises can trigger memories of my nighttime guard duty and fights against our enemies. These noises and smells would make a “normal” person just jump or not even notice a common smell, but for me, a scare or smell instantly transports my memory back to my experiences in Vietnam. The images I thought I left behind in the war torn land of Vietnam soon become unraveled and vivid in my mind, as real as they were when I experienced them as a 19 year-old boy. …show more content…
The war was carried through many presidencies. The official dates of the war were 1959-1975 but many believe Vietnam talk and planning began long before this. It is said that we first started training forces in South Vietnam in 1956. France had just left Vietnam and our government saw this perfect opportunity to intervene and make it look extremely necessary to the American people. Communism was a huge threat to our life style in the states and we couldn’t risk Southeast Asia being a communist area because there were resources there that we wanted (Farber). This war was the United States aiding South Vietnam from being engulfed by North Vietnam and their …show more content…
and South Vietnam. Tet Offensive began January 30, 1968. This day was in fact considered the most important holiday in Vietnam. North Vietnam bombed and attacked several cities in South Vietnam on this day. The main communist operation began the next morning when Vietcong troops attacked hundreds of cities in Vietnam. The Vietcong was the communist North Vietnam (Farber). The attacks were taken by surprise but the South was quick to fight back (The Things They Carried). Johnson and the administration were too confident that we would win this war, but this backfired. This shattered all notions that the war was nearly won (Johnson). It killed many soldiers and it was a devastating military setback to the US. It was a surprise attack that shocked the US and ignited fury. That March Johnson withdrew from the presidential campaign (lecture). He pretty much knew it was doomed (lecture). Nixon was then elected president and slowly pulled our troops out of South Vietnam, for the war was hopeless in
April 9th, 2014
My Vietnam Experience
The sudden noise of a dog bark, doorbell, loud noise, or a certain smell can trigger the flashbacks from the war. The flashbacks can take me back to a helicopter ride by a small inhale of diesel, or the smell after a tank explodes. Loud noises can trigger memories of my nighttime guard duty and fights against our enemies. These noises and smells would make a “normal” person just jump or not even notice a common smell, but for me, a scare or smell instantly transports my memory back to my experiences in Vietnam. The images I thought I left behind in the war torn land of Vietnam soon become unraveled and vivid in my mind, as real as they were when I experienced them as a 19 year-old boy. …show more content…
The war was carried through many presidencies. The official dates of the war were 1959-1975 but many believe Vietnam talk and planning began long before this. It is said that we first started training forces in South Vietnam in 1956. France had just left Vietnam and our government saw this perfect opportunity to intervene and make it look extremely necessary to the American people. Communism was a huge threat to our life style in the states and we couldn’t risk Southeast Asia being a communist area because there were resources there that we wanted (Farber). This war was the United States aiding South Vietnam from being engulfed by North Vietnam and their …show more content…
and South Vietnam. Tet Offensive began January 30, 1968. This day was in fact considered the most important holiday in Vietnam. North Vietnam bombed and attacked several cities in South Vietnam on this day. The main communist operation began the next morning when Vietcong troops attacked hundreds of cities in Vietnam. The Vietcong was the communist North Vietnam (Farber). The attacks were taken by surprise but the South was quick to fight back (The Things They Carried). Johnson and the administration were too confident that we would win this war, but this backfired. This shattered all notions that the war was nearly won (Johnson). It killed many soldiers and it was a devastating military setback to the US. It was a surprise attack that shocked the US and ignited fury. That March Johnson withdrew from the presidential campaign (lecture). He pretty much knew it was doomed (lecture). Nixon was then elected president and slowly pulled our troops out of South Vietnam, for the war was hopeless in