The Psychological Effects of the Vietnam War

Grey Reames March 1, 2012 Period 7 Dr. Tarkington “With Liberty and Justice for ALL?” Purpose: To highlight the battles after the war that Americans faced as evident through Ron Kovic’s Born on the Fourth of July and Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone. Thesis Statement: Moreover, The brutal awakening to the value of human life and the numb hearts that returned to the States throughout the war, left a debilitated generation with the task overcoming the past along with the rejection of a bias American society as depicted in Ron Kovic’s Born on the Fourth of July and Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone. Plan: 1. To introduce the argument and give a general overview of the landscape of the war and its brutalities, the Veterans frustrations and views 2. To describe and illustrate the physically degrading health effects of chemical warfare and physical injuries of war and how Kovic and other Veterans were affected 3. To express the horrors in PTSD and the battles veterans face after war, Kovic and his wheelchair 4. To illustrate the acclimation back into society for veterans and the radically new lifestyle changes that were forced to be made due to the war, Tim O’Brien’s loss of hope, motive and Kovic’s new radical views that lead him to the steps of Washington 5. Conclusion, putting in end to the argument/purpose I. Introduction A. Background on the War 1. Purpose of the War 2. Numbers (Wounded and Killed) i. .7 percent of Vietnam veterans died of injury or factor from the war, number still rising with agent orange and other long term effect 1.8% had to go to hospital due to their injuries. ii. About 1,830,000 were in the war, not all US. Large number were physically wounded. 3. Buzz of the war i. War hadn’t always been dreadful, volunteers signed up B. What made Vietnam Different? 1. Was it more stressful? i. Much more stressful, hard to determine