Hearts And Minds And The Vietnam War

One of the longest and bloodiest conflicts in American history, was the Vietnam War. Fighting in Vietnam continued for decades before the Americans eventually interfered. Between the neighboring Chinese and the colonial French, the Vietnamese have continuously fought off foreigners with tenacity and fearlessness. Over 3 million people died and Vietnam become a communist nation, despite American intervention(Vietnam War, History). Due to these disastrous results, it would be expected that most Americans would understand the fault in the conflict. Pete Davis’ 1974, Oscar winning documentary Hearts and Minds showed the historical fact that the invaders always see themselves as the rightful side. Davis shows the brutality, the ignorance, the misconceptions, and the downward spiral that left thousands of American’s dead and wounded in the name of freedom. …show more content…
They display no regrets, and see no fault in the years of death brought on in southeast Asia. Davis seeks to press them on the strategy applied in the war, as well as the general intent of the American government in its decision to intervene in what was a civil war. With simple and basic questions, all Davis had to do was sit back and listen as highly respected and powerful American officials displayed primitive views on life and war. One of the worst offenders in the documentary had to be General William Westmoreland, who’s only criticism of the war seemed to be that America was holding back to much and withdrew without pursuing victory. (Hearts and