Viet Cong, communist soldiers hiding in South Vietnam set explosives in buildings, cars and military bases to harass the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies. These terroristic acts on the South killed soldiers and civilians all the same. The guerilla warfare did not stop on the streets. Booby traps in the jungle and falling down holes with pungi sticks impaling young soldiers were the fears of patrols, not actual gunfire contact. Soon, America knew that conventional warfare tactics with the communist guerilla fighters would not work.
“You never know who your enemy is.” I found this statement to be a reoccurring theme in “The Sniper” while reading. I believe this is a perfect theme because the sniper had no idea who was on the other side and would not have known if he didn’t look at the dead body. The main character in this selection was not officially named but was referred to as the sniper. In the selection the sniper had both an internal and external conflict. The external conflict was that he was fighting in the middle of the war and the only way to survive was to kill all the opponents.
Affield’s memoir illustrated the very real and raw aspects of war. Wendell’s personal account of life as a soldier started with the horrors of boot camp, eventually explained the terrors of war and finally ended with the rejection and ridicule that he and other soldiers endured on his return home. His detailed accounts helped readers better understand the situation and events that occurred during and after the war in Vietnam. Once Affield enlisted with the United States Navy he was originally stationed on a gunner Naval ship, USS Rogers, and traveled to Vietnam to aide in fighting the Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin. This West Pac cruise was difficult, yet it ended up being one of the least devastating assignments of his Vietnam experience.
However, Hudson pulled out a gun and shot all three, instantly killing Keilar. Whilst the nature and outcome of this conflict is tragic, it illustrates the extent to which an individual's strengths of character can be exposed through their response to conflict. The actions of the two bystanders perfectly displayed their bravery and courage. Reaction to conflict can expose character flaws. The My Lai Massacre, arguably the most shocking incident of the Vietnam War, was the mass murder of between 304 and 547 unarmed civilians, commuted by an U.S infantry platoon.
Soldiers can live up to all values and only maintain minimum standards or work to the minimum of their ability. The downfall of the Army Values is that it does not require soldiers to strive to be their best and push their boundaries. I propose an ‘E’ to be added to the Army Values making the acronym ‘LDERSHIP’ the ‘E’ standing for excel or excellence. Adding the ‘E’ would compel Soldiers to excel and strive for excellence in all of the existing Army Values as well as in the
The images that were broadcasted all over America did not please the public and before long riots and protests were being held in the streets to end the war. This was because hundreds of American soldiers had died in a war they thought was coming to an end. The Tet Offensive proved otherwise and caused a major disagreement between the public and the American government. Many people believe that this almost forced the government to end the war because without the moral support from their own country there would be no chance in another. On the other hand, the Americans actually won the fight and in doing so managed to kill thousands of Vietcong’s, unmasked Vietcong’s, which they had not been able to do very well until this point.
This means that the snipers motives were pretty much to kill his enemy, and defend himself at the same time. In this story, it states that his eyes had the cold gleam of a fanatic. That his eyes were were deep and thoughtful, eyes that were used to looking at death. A person who is not experienced when it comes to killing and stuff like that, wont get a sniper and go on a roof and start killing people with a different view on the independence of the British nation. Normally, only people who are experienced in the war field will engage in war activity.
Consider how far off the radar screen our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen. Both wars proceed, almost on their own, with too little awareness of their objectives, with too little urgency attached to reaching those objectives, and with too much ongoing misery and tragedy suffered by our troops and their families. These are wars that we don’t spend much energy thinking about, yet civilians continue to die and a whole generation of American soldiers is suffering impacts that, for many, will require a lifetime to overcome. Pauline Jelinek, writing for the Associated Press, describes the damage in a recent article entitled, “Morale sinks among troops in Afghanistan.” In terms of combat casualties, at least 1,468 American troops have
Unfortunately the United States went wrong when they decided to take over advantage by bombing areas that they assumed(taught) were Vietnamese supply lines. So they were killing thousands of Cambodian people for areas they taught were places were Vietnam stored weapons and such. Of course this would cause a country to become hostile. Who wouldn’t? If your friends with two countries and one country decides to take risk of your people and their mistakes kill off your people that would definitely cause you to become just as hostile as Cambodia.
There was even a UN force (UNAMIR) there, monitoring the ceasefire and were now obliged to watch as people were killed in the street by grenades, guns and machetes because they weren’t authorized to leave the country yet. It would be common sense for someone else to come into the country and bring peace, but people would prefer act blind and not do anything, to actually help. Aware from the start that Tutsi were being targeted for elimination, the leading foreign actors refused to acknowledge the genocide. In the end, they decided to help, and it was all