Student Practice Response

'War has a damaging effect on all those involved.' Do you agree?

In the text “Dear America”, edited by Bernard Edelman, he has put together hundreds of letters to and from home by the soldiers serving in Vietnam to their family and friends back at home in America. Throughout this text of letters it is shown that “the war has a damaging affect on all those involved.” It is seen that the war not only has a damaging affect on the American soldiers, but also the Vietnamese society and the friends and family of these soldiers serving in Vietnam and also the American society.

The letters home to America from these serving soldiers showed a great deal of “damaging affects” on their lives from the war. The letters show the devastation that the war has caused and show their loneliness and home sickness a great deal and their suffering of brotherhood when one is killed in action. These letters show a lot of courage and bravery through the way in which their soldiers handle their life experiences in Vietnam but the prejudice and discrimination between these soldiers and countries shows the damaging affect of those involved in the war and their need to write back to America out of concern for their loved ones back home. Allen Paul shows the damaging affect on his life from this quote saying “honey, I have never been so scared in all my life”, after he was involved in a full force attack by the Viet Cong.

This war also had a damaging affect on the soldiers loved ones back home in America. The suspense of not knowing whether or not your husband and the father of your children has been killed in action today or has survived. As you could just imagine the overwhelming of these soldiers partners and family when they receive a letter from their loved ones which shows they have survived another day or week in the war of Vietnam.

Both the Vietnamese and American societies also experienced the damaging affects of the war. As the war was held in Vietnam their country was invaded by these American soldiers and many Vietnamese soldiers were killed which also has a damaging affect on their familles and their society, and showed their increased amount of suffering. The American society also had a damaging and negative affects in the way in which they judged and treated the returning soldiers. As the American soldiers were not seen as hero’s they where not fairly treated on their return by the suffering of putdowns and criticism of their own society.

The overall damaging affect had an impact on the lives of all those involved in the Vietnam War. The devastation caused by the war was not justified by the reasons that the soldiers were there. The soldiers felt the need to write these letters out of concern for their loved ones and the way in which the soldiers handled and overcome their life changing experiences is now respected due to this text of letters edited by Bernard Edelman that showed the horrendous “damaging affects of all that were involved”.