Fighting in Vietnam: The Experience of The U.S. Soldier by James E Westheider

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Table of Contents

Similarities Between the Book and the Interview
Differences Between the Book and the Interview
Summary of the Book
Works Cited

The aim of this paper is to outline one of the major events that occurred in the past and which America got involved. The event that is discussed in the paper is the Vietnam War, which lasted more than 30 years (Westheider 1).

This paper compares facts from the book Fighting in Vietnam: The experience of the U.S. soldier by James E Westheider to the information given by a close family friend, who is a retired African American soldier who participated in the Vietnam War, during a family interview.

The paper provides similarities and differences between the information obtained from the book and that acquired from the interview. Lastly, the paper summarizes what is learned from the book.

Similarities Between the Book and the Interview

There are a lot of similarities between the information contained in the book and that obtained from the family interview. Firstly, both the book and the interview talk about the experience of the American soldiers in the Vietnam War (Westheider 3).

The two sources, the book and the interview, provide information regarding the miseries that the American soldiers underwent during the war. The soldiers faced problems such as unfavorable climate, rugged terrains, and worst of it all, attacks from enemies within and outside their camp (Westheider 7).

Secondly, the information in the two sources shows that a significant number of American soldiers were opposed to their countrys involvement in the Vietnam War. The American army was divided into two: there were those who felt that the service in Vietnam was Americas priority, while the other group was opposed to the countrys involvement in the war citing that the government was risking the lives of the soldiers without a proper reason (Westheider 34).

There was bias in the selection process, which saw African Americans constitute the majority of the soldiers sent to fight in the war (Kimbrough 31).

Thirdly, the two sources portray the war as an extremely brutal battle that was characterized by a number of inhuman treatments.

The sources mention that the American soldiers used deadly terrorist tactics to oppress their opponents (Westheider 69). It is also reported that close to 1000 soldiers were captured and turned into war prisoners. The captured soldiers were tortured and some of them died due to the serious injuries they suffered (Westheider 77).

Fourthly, the information from the book and the interview shows that there were serious racial and ethnic problems among the American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It is reported that the African Americans soldiers were frustrated at work by their white colleagues. The frustration prompted the African American soldiers to seek for democracy by engaging in racial violence within the American armed forces (Westheider 107).

Lastly, the two sources talk about the problems that the veterans had to deal with after the war. After the end of the war, most of the soldiers developed posttraumatic disorder and other psychological problems as a result of the distressing events they witnessed in the battle field (Kimbrough 78).

The soldiers also had to deal with the problem of rejection from the society and the lack of attention portrayed by the Veteran Affairs, which deliberately declined to accept that many soldiers had psychological problems and needed help (Westheider 160).

Differences Between the Book and the Interview

Although the information contained in the book seems to concur with that revealed in the interview, there are a few differences. Firstly, the interview does not talk about how the Vietnam War began and the reasons for Americas involvement, which are well explained in the book.

The book mentions that it was the Vietnamese communists who began war against the French colonizers. The book also shows that the main reason for Americas involvement was to prevent the spread of communism (Westheider 4).

Secondly, the information given during the interview does not show the presence of female soldiers serving in the Vietnam War, while the book mentions that the United States sent an integrated army, which comprised both male and female soldiers.

However, the female soldiers did not serve as combats in the war, but rather assisted their colleagues in service and support roles. A bigger number of the female soldiers were nurses and they offered health services to the male soldiers who got injured in the war (Westheider 34).

Summary of the Book

There are a number of things that I learned from reading the book. Firstly, the Vietnam War is one of the most controversial and unique battles that the United States has involved itself in. Americans were divided because of the war, with one section supporting the countrys involvement and the other opposing it as they thought it was not worth risking the soldiers lives.

Secondly, it is clear that the main reason for Americas involvement in the war was to curb the spread of communism. Thirdly, there were serious racial and ethnic issues among the American soldiers who went to fight the battle in Vietnam. The white soldiers frustrated their African American colleagues and this prompted the latter to form an opposition within the American camp.

Lastly, the American soldiers suffered psychological problems after they returned to their country. The problems were caused by the posttraumatic disorders they acquired during the war and the rejection by members of public who were opposed to Americas involvement in the Vietnam War.

Works Cited

Kimbrough, Natalie. Equality or Discrimination: African Americans in the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War. Lanham, MD: Univ. Press of America, 2007. Print.

Westheider, James E. Fighting in Vietnam: The Experiences of the U.S. Soldier. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2011. Print.

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Fighting in Vietnam: The Experience of The U.S. Soldier by James E Westheider

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