The Vietnam War In American Memory Analysis
In her article, “The Vietnam War in American Memory,” Marilyn Young discusses that the Vietnam War “happened among Americans.” What Young is saying is that there was a war going on in Vietnam, but there was also animosity between the American soldiers and citizens. It was a horrifying and devastating time in American during the Vietnam War and Young even describes it as, “American civil War.” Young inquiries the government on why America got involved in this war in the first place. In the film Platoon and the article “What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy,” there is a discussion on how to interpret the Vietnam War.
In Platoon, there are scenes where it is exposed that government did not one hundred percent agree with the war which created conflict between the soldiers and their government. Chris Taylor, the main character in the film, left his cushy life in America, dropped out of college, and enlisted in the military. Most of Taylor’s peers were avoiding the war by attending college and because they were generally wealthy for the time. Taylor could have attended college but instead he dropped out because he wanted to become a man and a hero. The other soldiers in his platoon were drafted into the war and were lower class and did not have the opportunity to attend college like Taylor did. This immediately caused conflict between Taylor and his fellow soldiers because they did not comprehended why he was fighting if he did not have too. The lower class soldiers had no choice to be in Vietnam, but Taylor did. Taylor realizes that originating from a well off, advantaged, privileged background has kept him from being drafted, and that just poor people, ethnic, and lower class natives are required to battle for the United States.
In Platoon, there are scenes where it is exposed that government did not one hundred percent agree with the war which created conflict between the soldiers and their government. Chris Taylor, the main character in the film, left his cushy life in America, dropped out of college, and enlisted in the military. Most of Taylor’s peers were avoiding the war by attending college and because they were generally wealthy for the time. Taylor could have attended college but instead he dropped out because he wanted to become a man and a hero. The other soldiers in his platoon were drafted into the war and were lower class and did not have the opportunity to attend college like Taylor did. This immediately caused conflict between Taylor and his fellow soldiers because they did not comprehended why he was fighting if he did not have too. The lower class soldiers had no choice to be in Vietnam, but Taylor did. Taylor realizes that originating from a well off, advantaged, privileged background has kept him from being drafted, and that just poor people, ethnic, and lower class natives are required to battle for the United States.