FREE ESSAY ON REFLECTONS IN THE TIMES OF VIETNAM

REFLECTONS IN THE TIMES OF VIETNAM

Reflections in the Times of Vietnam
The time is spring, the year is 1961 and president Kennedy has sent 400 special forces
into South Vietnam. This was the start of a new era in United States history as well as
the beginning of a literary revolution. A time when books had powerful views, and songs
were of peace or of governmental corruption, and plays or movies were about gruesome wars
in strange jungles. This was a time to express reality in words. Then came the press. All
of the governments' secrets and lies were exposed. "Only a free and understanding press
can effectively expose deception in government." [Justice Hugo L. Black 1] on the release
of The Pentagon Papers. The people were torn. Some wanted to know, and some liked their
own worlds of denial. Still even today there are people who say that we never entered
into the Vietnamese conflict. Others are living proof, walking aftershocks in the form of
P.O.W's and victims of the chemical agent orange. All of these people were changed
forever. People who wake up in fear due to flashbacks of seeing their friend shot and
killed two feet away from them. This is Vietnam, and these are reflections of the times.

One of the most influenced areas of literature is drama. Movies that show portrayals of
the conflict in Vietnam flood the box offices. For instance 1995's Dead Presidents
depicts the gruesome truths of the war. All the drugs and deaths are shown in raw,
uncensored reality. This movie paints a picture of how people were turned into killers,
boys fresh out of high school forced to kill or die. This is as dark as it gets in
American history. Another look at Vietnam is Winston Groom's movie Forest Gump (1994). It
illustrates how many people entered the army thinking that it was all fun and games. They
come to realize that it is much more than that. The characters are shown spending their
days cleaning out foxholes and roaming through the fierce jungle. Also demonstrated in
this movie are the aftershocks of war. There are hospitals filled with people wounded by
bombs and tree snipers. The captain in the movie, who is also Forest's friend, is
transformed into a vagrant alcoholic after losing his legs in an ambush. It is not as
intense but still true to form. Some movies that would not usually be considered
literature are in fact some of the most powerful insights into the brutality of war.
Aside from the shame and guilt caused by the Vietnamese War, people can still show
well-deserved pride in two nationwide achievements. The primary accomplishment is the
anti-war movement that so many Americans have joined in. The second achievement is the
literature created by the war; literature of which Vietnam veterans have became the main
creators. A few of such veteran writers include poets Bruce Weigl, John Bakban, W.D.
Ehrhert, Marilyn McMahon, and Yusef Komunyakaa. Also fiction writers Larry Heinemann,
Tobias Wolff, Elizabeth Ann Scarberough, Gustar 
Hacford (Author responsible for the book that the movie Full Metal Jacket was based on).
One of the most widely known is Tim O'Brien. O'Brien had an active role in both the
anti-war movement and the literary revolution. During this period he also wrote fiction
as well as nonfiction pieces. "His contribution to the literature of the war has been
exceptional" (Bruce Franklin internet). It started in the beginning with the book If I
Die in a Combat Zone (1973), an autobiographical look at the lives of soldiers in the
war. Present throughout all of his work is a strong focus on the government's denial of
the war. This denial has been the base of many of O'Brien's work. One of the most intense
chapters in If I Die... is called "Escape." It shows how the author knows that if he
kills anybody he will be compromising his own soul and beliefs. The only reason he
participated in the war was because he was a coward. "I am afraid of running away ...I
fear what might be thought of me by those I love...I fear the loss of my own
reputation...I fear being thought of as a coward. I fear that even more than cowardice
itself" (O'Brien in Going After Cacciato). Casting himself as the character John Wade, he
has strong recollections of the war he was so against.
The final area of literature to be enriched by the Vietnam War is poetry and song.
Appearing all over the world are emotionally fueled poets and songwriters...poets like
Bruce Weigl who writes in his poem "Rapture,"
"Near Khe Shan by the quang Tri river 
I mounted a highland hill
in dubious morning light
and watched a priest
through the war fouled air
lift his white sacrosaint 
sleeves in prayer,
before the kneeling."
Poems like this offer a look at what it was like to be on the front line. Different kinds
of poems share different feelings about the war. " ...Men were returning in plastic bags
from Vietnam...this poet was in the war dreaming of his own bloody death." (Antler)
Another well-tapped region is song. Songs like "Rooster" by Alice in Chains, or "Wake Up"
by Rage Against the Machine, even older songs like "For What it's Worth" by Buffalo
Spring Field. They send a message to the generations about America's dark past. The songs
by Rage are so high powered and emotionally charged and front man Zach de la Rocha wasn't
even alive then. It just shows how if enough people believe in something strongly enough
it can stay alive for decades.
Vietnam - one of the most violent and extensive wars in American history. It was also one
of the most influential. It has spawned over thirty years of songs, books, movies, and
poems. Literature about scandal, death, peace, and love from a people eager to become
enlightened and know the truth. This is a brief summary of their legacy.