The Vietnam War has been over for more than 38 years, but the country of Vietnam is still in the process of recover. The documentary, “Vietnam HD” directed by Sammy Jackson, is a film that focuses on the first hand experiences of thirteen American soldiers and reporters during the Vietnam War. In the documentary, the filmmakers pinpoint that the war occurred because Vietnam had been divided in two: the communist North and the democratic South. The detailed history featured in the film describes the North attacking the South in hopes that the country becomes fully communist. US troops were sent in to help the South and there were many casualties and losses for both sides. The US then decided to pull out, which is when the North took over the whole country resulting in communism. This documentary helps uncover how US troops influenced the Vietnam War by using thirteen soldiers who illustrate their perspective of fighting in the war. In doing so, this convincing the audience that the US played a pivotal role in maintaining a non-communist state for the South. The documentary illustrates the confidence in their initial efforts for peace and the fact that their mission did not go as planned. The director uses ethos, pathos, and logos to convince the viewer that the choices of Americans were not suited for the conditions, which I will go into further as this essay proceeds.
The director use the persuasive technique of pathos by displaying the emotions and events occurred. It must have been hard for American soldiers leaving their families behind, not knowing they 'll make it back alive. But the director outs the soldiers to uncover the emotions of going to war. When the Americans arrived to start helping the South Vietnam army, the emotion of being surprise comes into play. The North Vietnam Cong (NVC) made an initial attack on the American air base on November 1st 1964 killing 4 Americans and days after a second attack occurred, which
Cited: sairagon1988. “Vietnam in HD - E01: The Beginning (1964-1965).” Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 25. Mar. 2013