The documentary film, Hearts and Minds, by Peter Davis; illustrates the brutal nature and different perspectives of the people involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is considered as one of the longest and horrific wars in American history.
American soldiers involved in the War have diverse reactions of their experiences and encounters during the war. The Vietnamese believed that, “Americans were evil and the Vietnamese simply were fighting merely defensively”. These factors will demonstrate how the film, Hearts and Minds, helped encourage reform during and after the War.The Vietnam War is considered one of the longest and horrific wars in American history. The Vietnam War started in 1959 and ended in 1975.
The war lasted over 16 years unofficially; many considered the war to be a continuation of the French Indochina War. The French Indochina war occurred in the 1945-1954. The major conflicts that occurred to start the war was the French controlled a large portion of Vietnam. The Vietnamese fought for decades to win their independence from the French. In southern regions of Vietnam people wanted their freedom desperately.
Many groups opposed the current Vietnamese government and their policies.Several groups emerged to seize back land and rebelled against the government and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which was an American formed organization use to maintain order in Vietnam. As conditions worsened and the fear of a communist state began to develop in Vietnam. To ensure that communism rule did not spread in Vietnam, civil war commenced between the South and North of Vietnam; The French controlled a large portion of Vietnam and enlisted the help of the United States to help overcome the Vietnamese conspiracies. The United States funded eight percent of the war and sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Vietnam.
Approximately, fifty-eight thousand American troops lost their lives, opposed to the two-seven million, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao’s fatalities. The outcome of the war was devastating, about eight hundred thousand youths were left parentless and ten million Vietnamese were left homeless. American soldiers involved in the Vietnam War have diverse reactions of their experiences and encounters during the war. The United States government used propaganda and negative media sources to convince the general American public, which war was necessary.
In the film, Hearts and Minds, many soldiers were interviewed about their occurrences during and after the war. At the beginning for the war, there is an illustration of troops singing gleefully as they’re departing to Vietnam. The Troops felt as though they were fighting to protect all Americans and the prevention the spread of Communism. After the fighting started, the soldiers had a tremendous time speaking about what they saw, what happened to their fellow patrons, and the other unsightly experiences war brings. Slowly as the film progressed, they begin to open up about their feelings on the war.
The soldiers spoke about, “ the blood shed on both sides and the unnecessary torture imposed on the enemies”. Many soldiers felt betrayed by the United States Government. The soldiers in the documentary started to question, why they were at this War? Veterans returning from the war, talked about how their lives will never be the same after the war. Many United States Veterans returned with limbs missing and having to wear prosthetic alternative, to somewhat feel normal again. Soldiers were talking about the outrage and concern they felt and how they would let the world know everything; and hold nothing back.These factors illustrate how different soldier’s experiences different on the topic of the Vietnam War.
The Vietnamese believed that, “ Americans were evil and the Vietnamese simply were fighting merely defensively”. For several decades the Vietnamese fought boldly to win their freedom from the French. Many rebellious groups formed to win the freedom for Southern Vietnam. American troops could not identify were exactly the enemies were located in Vietnam. The United States used several tactics to gather information from sources and intelligences.
In the film, Vietnamese peasants spoke intensely about the injustice surrounding the war. The local inhabitants of the villages spoke about the deadly tactics employed to kill innocent farmers and families. They spoke about how eight to nine hundred children were killed by the many toxics elements distributed by the planes and the several hundred tons of bombs dropped on a daily basis; to exterminate the Vietnam population. The villagers spoke about how their loved ones were killed right before their eyes and there was nothing they could do.The documentary shows soldiers entering villages, burning homes down, and killing civilians.
They show the torture being inflicted by the soldiers. The documentary film, Hearts and Minds, by Peter Davis; illustrates the brutal nature and different perspectives of those involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is considered one of the longest and horrific wars in American history. The Vietnam War started in 1959 and ended in 1975, the war lasted over 16 years unofficially. The United States funded eight percent of the war and sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Vietnam.Approximately, fifty-eight thousand American troops lost their lives, opposed to the two-seven million, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao’s that lost their lives.
The outcome of the war was devastating, about eight hundred thousand youths were left parentless and ten million Vietnamese were left homeless. Many United States Veterans returned with limbs missing and having to wear prosthetic alternative, to somewhat feel normal again. In the film, Vietnamese peasants spoke intensely about the injustice surrounding the war. The local inhabitants of the villages spoke about the deadly tactics employed to kill innocent farmers and families.
