How Did Veterans Feel After the Vietnam War? Essay Example
Protestors called law enforcement ‘pigs’, and the veterans were told America had become a police-state much like Nazis. Many veterans were profoundly affected by the Vietnam war after they returned home. Veterans felt a sense of uncertainty, they had lost their sense of identity and perspective on society, and an alienation from themselves and from society. What has distinguished Vietnam veterans from most of their predecessors is that the public's detestation of the war seemed to be directed onto them, as if it was their fault. Thus, veterans returned to America not as heroes, but individuals whom were already labeled as rapist, murders, drug addicts, and evil men. Men who could snap at any moment.
Drugs and alcohol played a major role in the war. News that American soldiers were using drugs came back to the U.S., which result
...ed in immediate action by the military to suppress drugs, especially marijuana. After marijuana was banned, many soldiers turned to heroin in order to get their 'high', veterans used them to ease the stress and sometimes to forget what they saw on the battlefield. Since veterans had many problems adjusting to society, some continued to drink alcohol and do drugs not only to forget what they saw in Vietnam but to cope with the frustration and anguish of not being accepted into society. There are many psychiatric symptoms that veterans were diagnosed with from having flashbacks of war to difficulty sleeping to acts of violence or emotional breakdowns. In 1980 mental health experts gave this a formal medical name Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Veterans felt they had no place to turn to once these issued started. Society alread
had labeled them and their negative actions only reinforce public opinion, our government did not recognize they issues and help them, and their families were subject to their problem and most time direct recipients of their actions. Vietnam veterans being reject by society, the government, and their families led to many personal demonized internal issues and caused some to self-destruct. Mentally and physically veterans were unable to escape and still were having issues with conflicts encountered in battle. Vietnam veterans were unable to cope and deal with psychological issues, moral dilemmas of war, and social profiling which made them withdrawal from everyone and everything. The Vietnam War became a metaphor for American society that connoted distrust in the government, and the sacrifice of American lives for poorly understood and deeply divided values and principles. It was a clash of ethics, as much as anything else. Those Americans who decided to serve were now going through a living hell, all in the name of honor and serving their country.
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