Vietnam War: What I learned

  Today in English class, we were introduced to the Vietnam War because we had to have some background knowledge about the book we were going to read: The Things They Carried. The class students were asked to jot down some information about what they already knew about the War. I wrote that the War was against the North and the South, the North being Communists and that the United States entered the War assisted South Vietnam, stating that they wanted to abolish Communism. Also that the War happened during the 1950's to the 1970's. I knew the outcome of the Vietnam War as i have read some books about it. The result of this clash influenced America greatly as they had to drop out of the unpopular war. These are the facts I knew about the War.

  In class, i learned some very interesting facts about the tactics the Americans used to abolish Communism in Vietnam. One of the tactics I found very fascinating was the Agent Orange. This is a chemical that kills anything that blocks its path and was used to wipe out whole villages, killing many innocent lives. The way some Americans think is to me somewhat very sad as they think that if one thing happens the next will follow. For Example, the Domino Theory, which states that one country after one country while become Communists. This is similar to what they did to the Native Americans, thinking that if they have a particular land they get to conquer the rest of it. Another very amusing information is that the Vietnam War was the first "living room War"--people watched real footage of combat on the nightly news. Also that the majority of the soldiers in Vietnam were lower to middle class men. I never looked at the Vietnam War so deeply, knowing the  new information makes me wonder what other factors made America join the War.