Please read my report about the Vietnam War to correct any mistakes!?
John was drafted when he was just 20 years old. He is currently now 64 years old, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has been teaching the English language to children and adults for most of his life in many different countries and states in the U.S. John was stationed in Chu Lai, Vietnam when in combat.
When the U.S. got into the war with Vietnam, they wanted to stop the spread of communism. John commented that there were other reasons too. “It was feared that if North Vietnam were to win, then the communist government that came to power there would use overt and convert means to make other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia communist led, as well as the domino theory.” In 1963, John was drafted and entered the Vietnam War. In the beginning, he thought the populace in Washington State was confident with what they were doing, but after a brief time in Vietnam, he understood that the Vietnamese were strongly opposed to the intrusion. “I started thinking that after all, they had the right to decide their own form of government and that we really had no business being there.” John was affected by the war in both good and bad ways for many years. “I drank heavily for a long time afterward and I was bummed around with no direction and no ambition for about five years. I guess that could be called a “nervous breakdown. The healing process took quite awhile, but eventually some good came out of it. Thanks to what Id done there and what happened to me afterwards, I gradually realized that we’re all a part of one another. When we hurt someone else, we hurt ourselves as well, and when we help another, we are helped too.” The Vietnam War changed John’s life in a positive way too. “It changed the way I look at the world and at my fellow humans, and I think it made me a better person.”
The most abrupt effect of the Vietnam War on the U.S. was the death toll of Americans. The war took about 58,000 lives and left tens of thousands wounded. The war also killed several of the innocent Vietnamese. John stated “I think it may have been the end of innocence for many of us.” Prior to the war, the majority of people trusted the U.S. government and fully supported the information they were given. After the tragic war, several people were uneasy and questioned the actions and views of those in power. John is not so sure whether the Vietnam War had a great impact on the world. “Who can say how the world might be different today if what happened to them had never taken place? Chaos theory helps explain why answering this is impossible. Everything’s connected-the beating of a butterfly’s wings in the Brazilian rain forest can cause a hurricane in Florida. There are simply way too many variables involved to let anyone say how the world was affected.” John believes the U.S. should not be praised nor condemned. He feels that we should not have gone to war. Policymakers really thought they were right, when they were really not doing the right thing. Too many people died and there was not much accomplished for the greater good.
After interviewing John slattery, it seems that American did not belong in Vietnam. There were no winners, just losers. Many soldiers and civilians lost their lives and were left wounded in combat. Some soldiers were emotionally depressed form what they saw. America got into the war to prevent the spread of communism but was not ready to take on their upcoming challenges. The Vietnamese used an alternative strategy called the guerrilla warfare. American was not prepared for this type of battle. As communism spread like a disease, people started to panic about who to trust. The government became questioned and doubted whether there were communists within. In the end, communism spread to South Vietnam, uniting the North and South as one.
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