Psychological Ramifications Of Vietnam War

“All's fair in love and war” can’t be true since war fails to prove it’s fair. Like any other war, nothing was fair in the Vietnam war. It had unfair, numerous psychological ramifications on the troops. Many of them felt obligated to go to war, they suffered from desensitization from serving, and faced hostility upon coming home from the war. These were unjust ramifications that not only impacted the soldiers during the war but after the war ended as well.
It all started with the draft. Chaotic doesn’t even begin to describe the response to the draft. Many protests broke out, many young people burnt their draft cards, and some people even claimed to be homosexual in order to avoid going to Vietnam. In addition, people called Draft Dodgers
According to Hearts and Minds, some troops would discuss comparing numbers of kills they had. One troop noted, “Every gook is an American trying to get out. We’re getting killed for these people, and they don’t even appreciate it.”(Davis). In Full Metal Jacket, a group of soldiers put a hat on a dead Vietnamese man, take pictures, and joke that he’s the guest of honor. At the end of the film, Private Joker kills a female Vietnamese sniper. Though she asks him to shoot her, it’s unjustified to kill a child. The troops just laugh after Private Joker kills the female sniper. Desensitization is especially evident in Joker; at the beginning of the movie he gagged around dead bodies and at the end he kills the female sniper without any
Some soldiers would nonchalantly point guns at innocent civilians for no reason. One troop notes how he was “Brainwashed into killing gooks.” (Davis). Some troops were even ordered to take the eyes out of dead Vietnamese people and place them in the back of their heads. In the same documentary, one troop notes how a small group of soldiers allegedly terrorized an innocent Vietnamese civilian by tossing him into a chopper and interrogating him. They threatened to throw him out of the chopper if he refused to cooperate. He failed to give them the desired answer so they threw him out of the plane. One sergeant totally disbelieves this story. Soldiers were taught that everyone was VC, including civilians who clearly weren’t. “They trained us to kill without question and to detest the enemy.” One soldier notes that at one point he didn’t even know who they were fighting for anymore. “I don’t even know who we’re fighting for over there.” In Full Metal Jacket, after a group of Vietnamese are killed, the character Rafterman remarks, “Well, at least they died for a good cause.” Animal Mother asks, “And what cause is that?” “Freedom?”(Kubrick). Dying a senseless death is not dying for freedom.
Another instance of soldiers dehumanizing the Vietnamese is during the prostitution scene in Hearts and Minds. The troops were talking to the Vietnamese prostitutes as if they are worthless