Vietnam War Research Paper

Ultimately the U.S. withdrew from the war in 1973. It overall was seen as a resounding failure for America, especially since Vietnam wasn’t unified as country until many years later. For many, the war had not produced a solid enough outcome; instead, America had spent millions of dollars, countless resources, and nearly twenty years in time fighting a pointless war that had caused the deaths of so many people.
It wasn’t just college students and young people that used their voices to vocalize their beliefs about the war. Several writers emerged during this volatile time period of American history, including those who both spoke in favor of the war and those who spoke out against it. The Vietnam war lasted from the mid 50s to the mid 70s, during …show more content…
Examples of Postmodern pieces of literature include Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. In comparison to previous literature, such as pieces written during the Civil War, war and fighting overall was depicted for the first time in a negative tone. Ever since World War I, the war to end all wars, people had begun to see military conflict differently. While the sheer number of deaths due to advancements in military combat was heartbreaking, fighting for justice was still seen as righteous cause (Rahn). Vietnam was not viewed in this angelic light. Instead of idolizing soldiers, the war was presented as dishonorable and immoral because for the first time, people were seeing war for what it truly was- a bloody and never ending hell. People saw the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam as foreign entanglement, the senseless and pointless perpetration of violence (Calloway). Tim O’Brien, Karl Marlantes, Philip Caputo, Lynda Van Devanter, and Frances FitzGerald are just a few of the thousands of writers that shared their stories during wartime. All these authors shared either first hand