Music as a Weapon During the Vietnam War

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Footnotes

Introduction

Music has been used in various fields of life as it is a form of expressing how people feel concerning a certain situation. In the military, it is believed that it has been utilized for a long time to mainly boost the soldiers’ morale on the battlefield. Even bands have been created among troops for the same purpose and more. For instance, the original examples of such are thought to go back to the thirteenth century. Traditionally, they would play songs to motivate the people participating in the warfare. Additionally, drummers would summon males from land and farms to ask them to service. This played a critical role during battling by offering particular instructions to the individuals. This paper highlights the impact of music on soldiers’ lives during the Vietnam War.

Discussion

For marines at Khe Sanh and more than three million other males and females serving in Vietnam, the art of music offered release from the isolation, uncertainty and, at times, terror. The sounds provided more than a simple pass time or a hobby. Music to the soldiers was a lifeline linking them to the families, homes and parts of them that they thought had left. It acted as a glue that bounded the communities formed in the battlefields, base camps, and secluded stations from the Mekong Delta to the DMZ (demilitarized zone)’s ravines¹. The troops claimed that the songs they listened to made sense of the circumstances they believed to be alone with no chance of going back home. For the fortunate individuals who reached home after surviving the war, music echoed through places they stored stories and memories they did not share with loved ones for many years.². It was their path to healing and key to survival, the focus of a person’s story that has been lost often in the haze of politics as well as misinformation with regards to Vietnam.

With the vital exception of combat circumstances, music was everywhere on the battlefield during the Vietnam War, reaching the soldiers via cassettes, tapes of radio shows and albums. They played songs on the bases, over headphones in planes and helicopters, or on top of the line tape decks. They were sometimes performed live as the troops sang Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan songs at base camps.³. There were times that the music played was life, for instance, soldiers participating in karaoke and singing songs from artists such as Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan at base camps. On the one hand, troops in remote places moved their transistor radios in an attempt to listen to the weekly countdown of top stateside hits. On the other hand, radio aided helicopter crews in filling non-activity hours crisscrossing the air routes above the endless rice paddies and forests.

The music consumed by soldiers in Vietnam was the same one friends and families were listening to back at home, thus, connecting all of them. This is in spite of having different meanings as the troops thought of the songs as carrying a deeper implication. A song titled These Boots Are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra, soon after being released, became a minor anthem to them humping endless miles while patrolling. It was nearly impossible for any individuals in a college dorm room listening to Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix to associate that title with the smoke grenades’ color used to guide helicopters into landing areas.⁴. However, when loved ones communicate through letters and the soldiers discover that they are listening to similar shows and songs, they feel a sense of togetherness.

Music to the soldiers in Vietnam acted as a tool to remind all troops of the responsibility that they had taken by being on the battlefield. The stories and songs that constitute the chorus at the center of We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War are intensely personal. Collectively, the songs unite in a common story of what the art of music meant to the men as well as women who shouldered the nation’s burden.⁵The majority of them belonged to an era that was defined by art more than any other generation. This group mainly listened to and enjoyed songs from artists such as The Beatles, James Brown, Johnny Cash, and Aretha.

Music for the soldiers in Vietnam acted as healing for all the trauma that they underwent, including losing close friends during the war. Similar to other members of their era, those that served participated in the warfare shaped the art they enjoyed to suit their personal needs, a procedure that remained after returning home. When an individual has undergone traumatic events in their life without proper care, it is difficult for them to remain sane. The majority of the troops that return after battling for a considerable time find it hard to cope. Some have to part ways with family members and spouses, while others are taken to mental health facilities to protect them from self-harm. The music of the 60s and 70s offered the younger generation a scheme for feeling, thinking, discussing, and dancing out the anger and pain issues.

Music led to the creation of a platform used by soldiers to discuss issues that affected the rest of the world. It is important to note that the music did not deliver a pre-ordained collection of meanings to the soldiers. Still, instead, the songs gave overlapping fields for sharing, making and sometimes refusing meaning. Together with styles, they signified something specific to a single group and another different to a second grouping. The tensions are particularly clear concerning soul and country music, but they continue to show from time to time.⁶. The meaning behind the songs usually changed for vets whose political and personal viewpoints underwent seismic shifts in the years after the war. Being involved in such matters made them feel still part of the communities they had left, as their opinions could impact society differently.

The dynamic was complex by music’s unique status as both cultural or political resistance as well as a testament to American technological capability. Historians argue that music was part of the hip militarism developed to minimize the disruptive prospect of generational conflict in the later years of war. Those that accepted the contrary statements of the James Brown or Jefferson Airplane at the same time recognized their position in the highly technological commercial culture that described the United States society. However, instead of solving the tensions, the surroundings usually became more intense⁷. Additionally, the art did not reach the bases of an unmediated status. This means that even the most politically provocative or emotionally direct songs belonged to an industry delivered via technological channels that designed responses.

Music during Vietnam showed the soldiers how they had their different journeys in life despite fighting the same war. The soundscape in Vietnam unfolded in different movements, military and musical. As the warfare altered, the songs changed with it and vice versa. Nevertheless, without question, personal comprehension of the art changed over time during battling. One song such as The Last Train to Clarksville by Monkees with a line that states “…I don’t know if I’m ever comin’ home…” meant that someone was saying goodbye to their loved ones⁸. However, the song sometimes had a different definition of a marine who had ensured twelve to eighteen months away from home. Similarly, the sound of the guitar or the artist’s voice that evoked a link with comrades before while in Vietnam could lead to intense feelings of sadness after returning home. As most vets claim, art has the ability to unearth buried painful memories of the past.

Conclusion

The paper has highlighted the impact of music on the lives of the soldiers who participated in the Vietnam War. During such an event, many individuals lose their lives, and to continue battling with the same energy they came with initially, troops find ways to motivate themselves. Songs produced during those times ensured that even as the individuals remembered their fallen brothers and sisters, they still had faith in their capabilities to win the war. Music can have different meanings for people, especially when the circumstances are different. A ballet dancer who is preparing to compete may use a song that makes them happy so that they can entertain viewers. A boxer listens to one that maintains their focus and gives them confidence about their skills in the ring.

For a soldier, music can have multiple meanings depending on the situation. A soldier on the battlefield wants to listen to one that empowers them against the enemy and reminds them of the bigger picture. For instance, one heading to war for the first time enjoys a song that gives them confidence in coming back or tries to challenge their faith in returning home. On the battlefield, people are usually hurt, and when they lose sight of the end goal, it is easy to quit. However, during wars such as the one in the discussion, the American soldiers had to remind themselves of who depended on them and what a win would mean to the world.

It is easy for an individual to feel isolated in base camps, but when there is a connection in such a manner, they develop a sense of belongingness still to the world. The paper has revealed as well that the soldiers during the war listened to radio shows as they connected them with loved ones at home. Friends and families calling the radio stations and wishing them victory every time gave them a chance not only to hear their voices but a source of motivation.

References

Addington, Larry H. America’s war in Vietnam: A short narrative history. Indiana University Press, 2000.

Bindas, Kenneth J., and Craig Houston. “”Takin’ care of business”: Rock music, Vietnam and the protest myth.”The Historian 52, no. 1 (1989): 1-23.

Caldwell, Nicole. “Spokesmen for Speechless Sufferers: An Analysis of Trauma and Division in World War I Poetry and Vietnam War Protest Music.” (2019).

Jackson, Emma, and Michael A. Davis. “The Multiple Meanings of Rock Music During the Vietnam War.” (2021).

James, David E. “9. The Vietnam War and American Music.” In The Vietnam War and American culture, pp. 226-254. Columbia University Press, 1991.

Footnotes

Addington, Larry H. America’s war in Vietnam: a short narrative history. Indiana University Press, 2000.
Addington, Larry H. America’s war in Vietnam: a short narrative history. Indiana University Press, 2000.
Jackson, Emma, and Michael A. Davis. “The Multiple Meanings of Rock Music During the Vietnam War.” (2021).
James, David E. “9. The Vietnam War and American Music.” In The Vietnam War and American culture, pp. 226-254. Columbia University Press, 1991.
Caldwell, Nicole. “Spokesmen for Speechless Sufferers: An Analysis of Trauma and Division in World War I Poetry and Vietnam War Protest Music.” (2019).
James, David E. “9. The Vietnam War and American Music.” In The Vietnam War and American culture, pp. 226-254. Columbia University Press, 1991.
Caldwell, Nicole. “Spokesmen for Speechless Sufferers: An Analysis of Trauma and Division in World War I Poetry and Vietnam War Protest Music.” (2019).
Bindas, Kenneth J., and Craig Houston. “”Takin’ care of business”: Rock music, Vietnam and the protest myth.” The Historian 52, no. 1 (1989): 1-23.

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Music as a Weapon During the Vietnam War

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