Vietnam War Interview Forum

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>in the novel it says:
>'to no man does the earth mean so much as to the soldier' can you relate to this? if so what was the relationship between you as a soldier and the earth. (i mean both the dirt on the ground, and our planet.)


Foot soldiers drop to the ground for protection when the bullets start flying.  Trenches, stand bags, and bunkers provide good protection from enemy bullets, mortors, RPG's, and cannon fire; they all are dug by the hands of the soldiers they protect.  It's dirty, sweaty, dusty or muddy work but it's worth all the effort.  Grunts sleep in the dirt, sit on it, eat on it, march and kill one another in the dirt.  Surrounded by the walls of a dirt bunker or fox hole, kids share their lives during moments of safety and shake with fear during enemy attacks.  Dirt smells wonderful when freshly dug, it can be stale and moldy with age or damp and miserable during the monsoons.  Soldiers bury their dead at one point and live in hand dug caves in another.  After weeks with no shower, dirt becomes a part of you, it can be an enemy by jamming your weapon, blinding with dust or sucking your boots into a quadmire. To the trained eye, dirt can show where the enemy has recently passed, where he has built fortificaitons or placed booby traps.  

>while serving in the war, did you notice the effects power has on man?


Most of the men I soldiered with were pretty humbled by the lack of control we really had over what happened at any point in time.  There were a few officers and NCO's who didn't seem to consider the high price in young lives their decisions cost.  At the company level they didn't last too long, our commanding officer wouldn't put up with anyone who didn't work with the team.  Higher ups were out of our reach.  


>did people strive to get more power... like becoming a corporal etc?


At the lower end of the command structure we were all just trying to survive.  A good seargent wouldn't order anyone to do anything he wouldn't do himself.  The ones who wouldn't didn't last long, the CO would transfer them out or they would be threatened to the point that they shaped up or asked to be moved out of the unit.

For Officers, combat always looked good on your resume but I didn't personally see anyone stepping on others to climb the ladder.

>did you notice yourself changing when battles began and/or ended in your sector?

Adrenalin would spike immediately, time seemed to slow down because the mind speeded up.  Decisions could be made quickly while considering multiple aspects of the situation immediately.  After a fire fight nervous energy would disapate in jabbering conversations, combat jokes, tending to the wounded or dead, numbness of emotions and exhaustion.
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>in general how do you feel about war?


War is a part of our human nature.  There will always be those who will take what they want from others until they are stopped by force.  Some will stand up and fight for justice at some point while others will take advantage of both sides for personal gain.  

A decision to unilaterally not participate in war does nothing to stop the aggressor.  Peace will never universally break out until the second coming of Jesus Christ.

War is a poor political tool.  War is supposed to be used to completely conqure an enemy.  Politics are used to reach a compromise solution that can be accepted by a majority of the participants.  Mixing the two gets real confusing.

>if you knew know about war -the effects during and after- would you still fight for your country??


Someone has to fight at some point.  I'd rather do my part than run away.

>feel free to skip questions if they make you uncomfortable. your response is greatly appreciated.
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