The Vietnam War The Vietnam War is truly one of the most unique wars ever fought by the Unites States of by any country. It was never officially declared a war (Knowll, 3). It had noofficial beginning nor an official end. It was fought over 10,000 miles away in a virtually unknowncountry. The enemy and the allies looked exactly the alike, and may by day be a friend but bynight become an enemy (Aaseng 113). It matched the tried and true tactics of World War Twoagainst a hide, run, and shoot technique known as "Guerrilla Warfare." It matched some of thebest trained soldiers in the world against largely an untrained militia of untrained farmers. TheUnited States’ soldiers had at least a meal to look forward to unlike the Communist Vietnamesesoldiers who considered a fine cuisine to be cold rice and, if lucky, rat meat. The Vietnam Warmatched the most technically advanced country with one of the least advanced, and the lesseradvanced not only beat but humiliated the strongest military in the world (Aaseng, 111). When thewar was finally showing signs of end, the Vietnamese returned to a newly unified communistcountry while the United Stated soldiers returned to be called "baby killers", and were often spatupon. With the complexities of war already long overdrawn because of the length of the war it isno wonder the returning solders often left home confused and returned home insane. Through anexamination of the Vietnam War, in particular an event know as the My Lai Massacre, and thepeople involved with both, it can be proven that when the threshold for violence of a person ismet or exceeded, the resulting psychological scarring becomes the most prominent reason for warbeing hell. Although officially, the Vietnam Conflict had neither a beginning nor an end, for thepurpose of this paper it can be best examined through the decade the United States was involved:February 6, 1965 - August 30, 1975. During World War Two the French had been a ...
