Berger Matt Everything We Had Six Soldiers Representative of Viet Nam 1) David Ross, Medic 1st Infantry Division, Dec. 1965-July 1967 David Ross writes about an incident that he witnessed while "hanging loose" in front of the main hospital building in his camp. He recalls watching some soldiers who had just gotten to Viet Nam and were waiting to get their medical records checked. They were unsure of what was to come and as a result they were "Joking, smoking cigarettes, playing grab-ass in line...". Ross continued to watch the new soldiers when four helicopters flew up, dropped bags, and flew away without ever touching down. One of the bags broke and a barely distinguishable human body rolled out. Every new man that was present stopped talking and some even vomited. To end the passage Ross writes, "I said to myself, ,,Welcome to the war, boys." This line embodies a right of passage that every combat soldier goes through, that of a harsh reality check. Every new soldier seems to laugh and joke until they see death for the first time; and it is then that they realize war is real. 2) John Muir, Rifleman 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines This mans story is an excellent example of the Marine Corps sense of esprit de corps and the kind of action a frontline soldier saw in Viet Nam. The USMC has a reputation for the close bond formed between Marines, and the rescue mission that Muir is part of shows exactly what this bond meant to them. Muir was part of a team that needed to help another Marine division that was taking heavy fire. As they were helping their Marine comrades, he noticed "little puffs of smoke", which were actually mortar rounds, exploding around them. They only registered in his mind as puffs of smoke because all he could think about was the task at hand and making sure his buddies were safe. This passage also shows the dangers and problems faced on the frontline. Muir writes about how the radio unit he was carrying saved his life from a bullet and comments on the lack of support and professionalism exhibited by the ARVN soldiers. 3) Thomas Bailey, Interrogation Officer 525th Military Intelligence Group, Jan. 1970-Aug. 1971 In Thomas Baileys short passage "The Prayer Wheel", we can see an element of the Viet Nam war that tends to be overlooked, and that is the interaction between pacifists and soldiers. Bailey was assigned to interrogate a Cambodian Buddhist monk in order to find out where an American helicopter had crashed. There was a ring of people and, in order to find out what the monk was saying, Bailey had to ask the person to his left a question and have the question travel all the way around the circle to be translated, with the answer being given to him at the end. When Bailey asked the circle what the monk did after he saw the chopper go down, the whole circle laughed at the monks reply. The monk simply said, "I offered up the appropriate prayer." This reply shows that even with a war being waged around him, the monk was not bothered and only did what he would
have done if a peaceful Cambodian had died. Despite the barbaric nature of war, the monk continued to believe that all people are good; a seemingly alien concept to Bailey and most soldiers who fought in Vietnam. 4) Jonathan Polansky, Rifleman 101st Airborne Division, Nov. 1968-Nov. 1969 I chose Jonathan Polanskys story because it represents the tragedy of war and the effect it had on the natives of the country. Polansky falls in love with a Vietnamese woman and allows the one good thing about being in Vietnam to temporarily relieve him of the horrors of war. As he becomes attached to this woman, he gains compassion for the Vietnamese so people, when he is offered a job teaching English to kids for three months he accepts. When he returns to the village where his love is waiting for him, he finds the place destroyed and burned. Every man, woman, and child were killed and the houses burned. This story made me hate the effects that war has on those who are innocent. Those Vietnamese who were killed in the village did nothing wrong except for being friendly to Americans, and because of it they lost their lives. 5) Jonathan Polansky, Scout 101st Airborne Division, Nov. 1968-Nov. 1969 This passage by Polansky shows how war dulls emotions and hardens mens hearts. Polansky was on a scouting mission near the Laotian border when he wandered onto the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He found underground hospitals, roads built into the mountains, and caves storing American equipment that the VC had stolen. He expresses sincere amazement at the work that these seemingly simple people had accomplished without the use of machinery. Then, without skipping a beat he tells of how they ordered in B-52s to bomb the place. It confused me when I read it the first time because I didnt understand how in one breath Polansky praised the Vietnamese and in the next he ordered everything destroyed. This shows how so more horror can make a mans emotions seem inhuman. (pg 168) 6) Samuel Janney, Recon 1st Infantry Division, July-Nov. 1968 Samuel Janney illustrates that bond that is formed between soldiers that keeps them sane and safe in times of war. Janneys passage is about the first time he got stoned with his new platoon. He had only been in his unit for two weeks, so he was still feeling like an outsider, but one night a few soldiers asked if he wanted to smoke pot with them. He joined them and woke up the next morning feeling out of it from all the pot they smoked. Despite this he was happy because he felt like he had bonded with the other soldiers and that he now was one of them. He writes, "It makes a big difference being part of the group. They definitely initiated me." This feeling of being part of a group of family is found in every branch of the military in every war we have fought; without it many men would not make it through the war. Six other stories 1) Luis Martinez- showed how the USs priorities were misplaced, spending billions to fight someone elses war yet leaving domestic problems on the back burner.
2) Gayle Smith- A female nurse gives her account of being a woman in a war with only men. She feels the same as the men do, showing how difference of gender does not always mean a difference emotion. 3) Brian Delate- Brian writes about returning to home and being changed because of his experience. People who did not endure war could not relate to those who had. 4) Lynda Van Devanter- Another female nurse in a mans war, but this woman does not speak of her concurring opinion of war. Rather she comments on the renewal of her hope; that "there was still life coming," amidst so much death. 5) David Ross- (Dominoes) Ross speaks of the moral conflict that is felt by soldiers when a war is over. They dont know whether to celebrate that they made it, or mourn because of the lives lost. 6) George Lawrence- This last individual is the least representative of the names on this list, but I felt it was important to include him because his story illustrates an important truth about war. No matter how much suffering is occurring in a war, there will always be havens, completely detached from the war and untouched by its horror. These six names are all American militants who served bravely in Vietnam. Their stories, while not the most representative, still illustrate some of the themes of the Vietnam War.