Draft Letter Going to War in Vietnam

It was a very hot and humid day. I will never forget that awful day. I just had gotten home from work; the traffic that day was horrible. The mail was in top of my dining room table, and there it was on top of all the mail, the only thing o saw on the envelope was draft and I was the addressee. My reaction was “Oh My God”, my heart was pounding very heart it felt like it was about to jump out of my chest, my ears were burning. All I could think was that we are told that we are helping people and fighting for our freedom. Instead innocent people are being killed; I have lost most of my freedom. What options do I have, leave the country, or hide for the rest of your life. Or go to war not only means serving your country, but helping people along the way. What were my advantages or disadvantages? None of those options were good, at that point I was in shock, and I just could not believe that this was happening to me, till this day I do not remember ever opening that letter. The advantage I saw was, if I went to war the money I will be getting. With that money I could help my family, have a better future, and it can help me open a lot of doors. The disadvantage is that I can get killed, injured, my family would be devastated, but at the same time they would feel proud. To some, including me the Vietnam War was a crime, an attempt by the United States to suppress a heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement that had driven French colonialism out of its country. To others, the Vietnam War was a forfeit, a just war needlessly lost by timid policymakers and a biased media. For many including myself, the Vietnam War was a tragic mistake brought about by U.S. leaders who exaggerated the influence of communism and underestimated the power of nationalism. Another advantage would be that I would come back as a hero, either alive or in a box. I will still be considered a hero, that is, if I live in a community that is very patriotic. But in my case I do not live in a community like that. The disadvantage would be that my community would not even know that I have gone to war. All I could think was that the draft discriminated against the poor, the less educated and ethnic minorities. Many of us were drafted into the Army against our will nearly all of us are kept in its grasp against our will all in order to carry out this illegal, immoral, and unjust war. We are forced to fight and die in a war we did not create and in which we don’t believe. There are advantages and disadvantages in every war that can either be minute details or change the whole course of war. I would go to war even knowing that I may get killed, injured. Morally is the right thing to do. As a citizen we have a duty to this country whether or not we believe in the cause of war. Initially, people going to Vietnam bought the domino theory. They willingly went because they were defending freedom and democracy and the American way, those who were sent to Vietnam knew that they did not have the support of the American people, knew that they were there in support of a failed policy, and knew that they were not defending freedom or democracy, but were pawns in an ongoing political struggle. My conclusion after writing this is that never think for a moment that you are the only one side that is suffering you might be physically safe from the effects of war. But war is an insidious enemy and all the more damaging when it is implications reach you, others through a dead and suffering.