The Vietnam War: Frontline Soldiers and their Families

Levete, Sarah. The Vietnam War: Frontline Soldiers and their Families. 2016. 48p. ISBN 978-1-4824-3062-2. Available at 959.7 LEV on the library shelves.

The Vietnam War involved multiple participants and lasted over twenty years. When U.S. soldiers began to arrive to prop up South Vietnam following the French defeat in the 1950s, a regular conflict similar to the Second World War or Korea was expected. But the country’s geography and vegetation prevented large scale movements of troops and tanks, and instead benefited the guerrilla warfare the Communists had developed in their fight against the Japanese.

This book examines the impact Vietnam had on the soldiers of both sides and on their families, for every time a soldier died or was wounded, it was not only them who were involved, but siblings, parents, and relatives as well who suffered the consequences. For American families, it was being so far removed from this unpopular war that made it hard. The news from their soldiers did not seem to match what was being reported by generals and the White House. As more and more television newscasts showed the conditions on the ground, the war’s popularity dropped until a majority became opposed to it. Soldiers returning were then perceived to have participated in something that was wrong and were blamed.

For Vietnamese families, the impact was more direct. Their loved ones were hurt when villages were bombed. Soldiers died in battle and in prison. Whole areas were defoliated and destroyed, forcing more people into relocation camps. Wounds crippled many people, and left-over ordinances maimed more. The departure of American soldiers ended their participation in the conflict, but more repression followed as the South fell to the North and was united.