The Tragedy Called Vietnam

            Any day a war begins may be described just as our President in 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt avowed in a speech to Congress, it was “…a day that will live in infamy.” As stated in regards to the attacks December 7^th on Pearl Harbor: Bear in mind though that since neither country proceeded correctly, this quote is characteristic of many wars today. The songs that blare through our stereo systems and embed themselves in the deepest sectors of our minds, images and videos spoon-fed to us by “The Man,” and even the plethora of political articles written across the vastness of cyberspace we call the Internet all mold the miry clay that is our perspective of the Vietnam War, the War in Iraq, and war as a whole.

            To begin with, the Vietnam War was from 1959 to 1975, but one modern movie is exemplary of multimedia influence, Full Metal Jacket. The movie conveys strictly the war, and takes no side for or against the Vietnam War: So the director claims, but take a closer look, and you will notice that it is antiwar; a plethora of negative events occur to persuade the viewer that we should not go to war. Toward the begging of the movie Gomer Pyle doesn’t even make it through boot camp. He ended up killing himself over being treated unethically. In society one perspective is that war is wrong, and that people just can’t take bear the burden presented. Due to the way soldiers and Drill Sgt. Hartman are portrayed, viewers gain also the perspective that leaders of war are draconian, or severe: If the leaders are having to teach discipline or so harshly that a man commits suicide, should we as citizens go to war? These are questions provoked by movies such as Full Metal Jacket. The viewer also sees the trickery of war later in the movie when a man is killed by a booby trap. The rap was a teddy bear attached to a land mine, as to shield its ominous and true identity. The obdurate, yet concomitant, soldier was murdered because of a “cheap trick.” These evidences generate a negative opinion about the war, while at the same time society takes note to how things like that must come to an end nonetheless. In the 2005 movie called Lord of War, viewers will receive an inside look at what “real” deadly counties are like, and why we should fight to end this suffering. One scene in the movie shows how the Warlord murders people for no reason at all when he tests his newly acquired .357 magnum on a fellow soldier. Later, the movie shows the prostitution that occurs in Africa in order for women to make money all because the leaders of the country are power hungry and greedy for money. These scenes show the viewer that we should go to war in order to thwart the atrocities constantly taking place in a plethora of areas around Africa.

            Furthermore, songs also take a great leap into the concaves of our mind to spin a web of perspective for us all. One antiwar song really hits home for people in America during the Vietnam War’s end: “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. The song was released in 1970 on the album Paranoid. The song says “Generals gathered…like witches…” This is a reference to how the war is pointless killing. The reason is that this is a reference to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The trials had many people killed over a spook from two young girls, Betty Parris, and Abigail Williams. The reference is how the generals are fighting for nothing, and are just absentminded, controlled, and misguided little girls. In contrast, “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue” by Toby Keith supports the ideals of war. A quote from the song says “My daddy…lost his right eye…flew a flag…until the day that he died…” This really tells people that even though there are losses in war, and it is not all fun and games that, however, you should be thankful for the rights you have because of the fighting going on behind enemy lines.

            In addition, another way that perspective is affected by “the man” is through the political articles so conveniently available at most citizens’ fingertips. A political writer named Paul Joseph Watson states his antiwar beliefs in an article called “Rogue U.S. Troops Knowingly Bombed British In Iraq.” A quote from the article is as follows: “Ethnic cleansing, maimed children and thousands of dead American soldiers are a small price to pay because for the Globalists the end always justifies the means and untold bloodshed and misery and bloodshed won’t stand in their way.” Watson is remarking on the fact that many of the power holders in America do not care if an abundance of innocent people die, or that there is “bloodshed” in war. The quote shows how the controllers want everyone to conform to their standards, and if people must die in order for the “correct” end, then it is a “small price to pay.” Contrarily, Michael Yon takes a war supporting photograph captioning it: “A US Soldier comforts a child fatally wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.” This caption tells you enough that you don’t even need to see the photo; a child is being saved and comforted in the arms of a US Soldier, showing how the peoples of other nations need our help, and therefore we should wage war across seas.”