Caroline Hewitt
History 106
December 3, 2016 My grandfather, Robert (Bob) Hewitt was born on November 2nd, 1934, in Paducah Kentucky. When he was drafted for the war in Vietnam, he was only thirty-two and had just graduated from Tulane Medical School. The need for doctors in Vietnam was urgent, so in December 1966, Bob was deployed. He had to leave behind his wife and two children, ages one and six and report to a surgical hospital in Pleiku, which was located in the highlands of Vietnam. He served as a Captain for a year with a specialty in general and cardiovascular surgery. Serving for the United States Army gave my grandfather a different, more understanding view towards the war in Vietnam than most Americans had. Also, serving overseas …show more content…
“The people were confused to why we were even in the war in the first place, because we had nothing to gain by being involved and the body count of our military was only increasing,” my grandfather explains. Johnson was elected into office just as the Vietnam War was going sour. The unpopularity of the war brought down Johnson’s approval rates, forcing him not to run for a second term due to his disapproval among Americans. “My opinion is that it wasn't that Johnson was a bad president, he was just elected into office at a bad time,” my grandfather says. To add to the fire, the Kennedys also begin turning on Johnson, encouraging the idea of him not running for a second term because they wanted Bobby Kennedy to have a chance at the presidential …show more content…
He explains to me that most of the time, he had to block out the tragedy he saw everyday so it wouldn't affect him doing his job. However, one of the things he still remembers vividly was getting out of an operation and seeing a young man on a gurney. The young man was breathing heavy, and at first, Bob was overwhelmed with anger at the fact the boy was not being assisted. After he observed the boy, he realized he had a gun wound in his head and he was lying there because there was no way he could be saved. He noticed the boy had a West Point ring on his finger. He was a young lieutenant who just graduated two years before. As my grandfather tells me this story, he began to tear up saying, “That moment really brought out my anger towards the war. I was angry at the American government for involving our men, and it really made me think about all the young lives we were losing.” This moment gave my grandfather a different perspective of the
History 106
December 3, 2016 My grandfather, Robert (Bob) Hewitt was born on November 2nd, 1934, in Paducah Kentucky. When he was drafted for the war in Vietnam, he was only thirty-two and had just graduated from Tulane Medical School. The need for doctors in Vietnam was urgent, so in December 1966, Bob was deployed. He had to leave behind his wife and two children, ages one and six and report to a surgical hospital in Pleiku, which was located in the highlands of Vietnam. He served as a Captain for a year with a specialty in general and cardiovascular surgery. Serving for the United States Army gave my grandfather a different, more understanding view towards the war in Vietnam than most Americans had. Also, serving overseas …show more content…
“The people were confused to why we were even in the war in the first place, because we had nothing to gain by being involved and the body count of our military was only increasing,” my grandfather explains. Johnson was elected into office just as the Vietnam War was going sour. The unpopularity of the war brought down Johnson’s approval rates, forcing him not to run for a second term due to his disapproval among Americans. “My opinion is that it wasn't that Johnson was a bad president, he was just elected into office at a bad time,” my grandfather says. To add to the fire, the Kennedys also begin turning on Johnson, encouraging the idea of him not running for a second term because they wanted Bobby Kennedy to have a chance at the presidential …show more content…
He explains to me that most of the time, he had to block out the tragedy he saw everyday so it wouldn't affect him doing his job. However, one of the things he still remembers vividly was getting out of an operation and seeing a young man on a gurney. The young man was breathing heavy, and at first, Bob was overwhelmed with anger at the fact the boy was not being assisted. After he observed the boy, he realized he had a gun wound in his head and he was lying there because there was no way he could be saved. He noticed the boy had a West Point ring on his finger. He was a young lieutenant who just graduated two years before. As my grandfather tells me this story, he began to tear up saying, “That moment really brought out my anger towards the war. I was angry at the American government for involving our men, and it really made me think about all the young lives we were losing.” This moment gave my grandfather a different perspective of the