The Vietnam War was a devastating war for both America and Vietnam. The Vietnam war was between Northern and Southern Vietnam due to the communist government in Northern Vietnam. The United States began the war simply sending aid to Southern Vietnam, but soon got much more involved. Many Americans opposed America’s involvement at all because they were not directly involved in the war, causing citizens and soldier to be unsure of their reason for fighting and not aware of the actual struggles and difficulties that came along with war. In the movie Platoon, directed by Vietnam War veteran Oliver Stone, the main character Chris Taylor, is a soldier in the Vietnam War and his experience symbolize the real experiences of a soldier in the Vietnam
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This caused the soldiers to lose their morals and commit war crimes. One example of this the My Lai Massacre. During the war, in 1968, an estimated 300-500 innocent, unarmed villagers were brutally killed by the American soldiers. Chris Taylor’s experience mirrors this event when Chris Taylor and his troop marched into a village of innocent people in Southern Vietnam. They killed, tortured, raped, injured, and simply threatened to kill innocent, unarmed villager including men, women, and even small children. Not only did they kill them, but they killed them brutally causing them to die painfully like beating them to death. This event shows exactly how low the moral is at the height of the war because not only is killing unarmed villagers morally wrong, it’s a war crime. Because this was, in fact, a war crime, if anyone found out about it, the Sergeant who lead the massacre, Sergeant O’Neill, would have effectively been charged with committing the war crime, but the only one who was going to say anything about the killing was Ellias. So, in efforts to make sure no one found out about the war crime, Barnes shot and killed Ellias. Similar events took place in the war. One example of this is how soldiers purposely would throw grenades in efforts to try and kill their Generals. Killing soldiers …show more content…
In the beginning, both Chris Taylor and America were unsure of their reason for being in the war. Similarly, in the height of the war, the soldiers had a very low sense of moral and ended up committing war crimes. By the end of the war, as seen in the movie and throughout history, the war ended leaving soldiers traumatized by the events that took place, eventually leading to America’s withdrawal from the war. Chris Taylor 's experience helped viewers have a sense of what war was actually like for the first
This caused the soldiers to lose their morals and commit war crimes. One example of this the My Lai Massacre. During the war, in 1968, an estimated 300-500 innocent, unarmed villagers were brutally killed by the American soldiers. Chris Taylor’s experience mirrors this event when Chris Taylor and his troop marched into a village of innocent people in Southern Vietnam. They killed, tortured, raped, injured, and simply threatened to kill innocent, unarmed villager including men, women, and even small children. Not only did they kill them, but they killed them brutally causing them to die painfully like beating them to death. This event shows exactly how low the moral is at the height of the war because not only is killing unarmed villagers morally wrong, it’s a war crime. Because this was, in fact, a war crime, if anyone found out about it, the Sergeant who lead the massacre, Sergeant O’Neill, would have effectively been charged with committing the war crime, but the only one who was going to say anything about the killing was Ellias. So, in efforts to make sure no one found out about the war crime, Barnes shot and killed Ellias. Similar events took place in the war. One example of this is how soldiers purposely would throw grenades in efforts to try and kill their Generals. Killing soldiers …show more content…
In the beginning, both Chris Taylor and America were unsure of their reason for being in the war. Similarly, in the height of the war, the soldiers had a very low sense of moral and ended up committing war crimes. By the end of the war, as seen in the movie and throughout history, the war ended leaving soldiers traumatized by the events that took place, eventually leading to America’s withdrawal from the war. Chris Taylor 's experience helped viewers have a sense of what war was actually like for the first