Lance Najera

Professor Howe
Vietnam War and Its Aftermath
3/20/15

Perspectives of the Vietnam War

It is one thing to learn about the Vietnam War by reading textbooks, but it is
another thing to learn from individual people who were actually there. In textbooks, they
only inform the reader of dates, events, and names of significant players during the
Vietnam War. Textbooks are a great resource for getting an overview of various parts of
history, but they do not provide stories of first hand accounts from people who were a
part of that history. First hand accounts of people who experienced the war, whether they
were enlisted soldiers, commissioned soldiers, journalists, or civilians present in Vietnam
are the people who can provide information of what happened that you can not learn from
textbooks. Depending on what status or background these people come from will
determine how they personally perceived the war, and the individuals I will be discussing
about all have unique backgrounds that influenced how they perceived the Vietnam War.
I had the pleasure of getting to know an incredible individual who has a first hand
account of what it was like during the Vietnam War and what it was like to be in Vietnam
as an enlisted soldier. Michael Diaz, or Mikey for short, grew up in a Hispanic family
with a military background, his father and uncles being veterans, so he established the
idea that serving your own country is honorable and being called to duty is a glorious
opportunity. He explained that his race might have had something to do with his familys

belief in joining the military with honor, but that was just a general belief for people who
grew up in the WWII era.1
At the time the Vietnam War was beginning to take off, Mikey was actually aware
that Russia and China had become an issue after WWII, given the fact that Russia had
great influence in turning North Korea into a communist government, and the U.S.
getting involved to fight against communism in Korea. Growing up, he had learned from
both school and at home that communism was a bad thing, and he grew up believing
what his superiors told him. He knew that President Johnson was paranoid about Russia
and China, and that he wanted to keep the domino effect from happening. Mikey
explained to me that he had a feeling the U.S. would eventually go to Vietnam and
combat the North Vietnamese Army. When the Gulf of Tonkin incident happened, and
Johnson declaring that he was sending troops to Vietnam to combat the NVA, Mikey
knew it was only a matter of time that he himself was going to get drafted and fulfill his
familys honor of going to war.2
Mikey was 19 and attending college when he found out that his girlfriend was
pregnant. He explained that at the time if you were to get a girl pregnant there were three
options, either you kill yourself, run away from home, or marry the girl and take care of
the baby. He chose to marry his girlfriend and take care of his daughter. If he were to get
drafted in the future, he could get a deferment for being the father of a newborn child.
However, he chose to enlist in the Air Force because he needed a job to provide for his
family and felt he was obligated to go to war because his family expected him to.3

1 Michael Diaz, interview by Lance Najera, January 23, February 6,13, 2015.2
3
Ibid.

Ibid.

He enlisted into the Air Force at because aviation was his greatest passion, and he
did not like the idea of becoming joining the army because he did not want to be where
the action was. He was 19, and when he was state side, his superiors in Strategic Air
Command reminded him again that they were fighting against the communist forces, and
preventing the domino effect from happening, He knew containment in Vietnam was
vital. When the war continued on, and more and more people began to object to the war,
Mikey and his family were not swayed to what people back home had to say, and he felt
that he was doing a good thing in Vietnam by stopping communism.
Mikey was 20 while in Vietnam, and most of his fellow enlisted comrades were
about the same age. Mikey understood that his age group is what the government was
wanting to select for the draft, and that the commissioned soldiers tended to be older due
to the fact that they made a career out of the military. He explained that commissioned
soldiers had somewhat negative opinions about the enlisted soldiers because they felt that
they were in it for quick way to earn some money, and were able to leave in a year. The
commissioned soldiers felt that they were there for the wrong reason, while they were
there for the long haul to fight the enemy. In Mikeys case, he didnt want to make a
career out of the military, and he himself felt he was doing a good thing serving one year,
while making money to provide for his family.4
It was not until Mikey got home that he started to feel that maybe the U.S. should
not have gone to war because of how different the lifestyle was returning home. After the
My Lai Massacre and the Tet Offensive, the war became more unpopular, and because of
that, it affected his life coming home. People were ill to the Veterans coming home, and
he himself was mistreated at times for being a veteran, so he learned to keep quiet about
44 Ibid.

his life in Vietnam. The work field of law enforcement was open to accepting veterans,
which is why it was easy for Mikey to work as a police officer until he retired.
I asked Mikey if he felt that the U.S. government and his family were right about
going to Vietnam to fight communism, and he said that at the time he felt it was the right
thing to do, but when he looks back at it, he feels that the U.S. should not been involved
because the war was just a lost cause. Vietnam became communist anyway after the war,
and the domino effect did not happen.
Michael Herr, the author of Dispatches, is another individual with a first hand
experience of the Vietnam War. However, his interpretation of the war was from the
perspective as a journalist. He was a noncombatant in his late twenties, and was a
correspondent with Esquire Magazine to report the Vietnam War. He was able to cover
two major operations, which were the siege of Khe Sahn and the recapture of Hue, with a
couple other operations.
When reading Herrs book, the reader may understand that he has great respect
and admiration for the soldiers for fighting in foreign place that is dangerous. He explains
that the other correspondents did not find the marines to be worth noting for story
material, but Herr sees all of them worth writing about because they all have a story.5 As
a noncombatant and journalist, it is understandable why Herr wanted to zero in on the
soldiers because if the other correspondents did not write about what the soldiers had to
go through, then who would? Herrs willingness to record the events he saw allowed
people back home to see the day-to-day life of a soldier in Vietnam. His book gives a
whole new perspective of what happened in Vietnam, rather than watching the news on
T.V. to hear what events that were taking place at the time.
55 Michael Herr, Dispatches (New York: Knopf, 1977), 29.

Herr explains that the war takes away the youth of young men because of all the
death they have to witness that most people never have to experience. In one instance, he
jumps on a helicopter full of dead soldiers, but none of them are in body bags. They are
just covered with ponchos. One of the coverings blew off and the sight is disturbing to
the gunner because the face off a dead soldier is revealed, and they forgot to close his
eyes. The gunner yells at Herr to cover his face, and he does what he asks. When they
land the helicopter, the gunner thanks Herr for doing what he asked. The gunner could
not handle the sight of the lifeless face, and the sight of the dead was demoralizing him.
Im sure he had to witness many dead bodies on that aircraft, and because of that, his
youth was taken from him. This is an instance in Herrs book that gives a revelation to
American people back home about what war is like, and the things that no one should
have to experience. Not only is it opening the eyes of the American people back home; it
is opening his eyes too as a noncombatant U.S. citizen.6
A major theme that can be taken from Herrs book is that war is hell. Throughout
the book Herr mentions many ways a soldier can die, such as walking on a mine, bullet
wounds, shrapnel from artillery, and falling into a spiked pit. Not only are the soldiers
wounded physically, they are wounded mentally as well. In a couple instances, the
soldiers that Herr encounters question him as to why he would put himself in danger
when he had the choice to leave anytime he wanted. Soldiers would tell him he has balls,
or that he is beyond crazy. He doesnt understand whether or not they were joking or
judging him. He then realizes that it was because they hated him. They hated him because
he was an individual who was playing with his life. He could leave Vietnam whenever he
wanted to, yet he chose to stay, and that was so irritating to the soldiers. In one instance, a
66 Ibid., 17,18.

marine said to Herr and a correspondent, I hope they die.7 In Herrs position, he wholeheartedly wants to capture the lives of these men, and he is doing so when he does not
have to.
His story and perspective of the war completely undermines what can be found
within a history textbook. He becomes real personal with the lives of many soldiers, and
is explicitly describing what the soldiers are experiencing, how they are acting, and how
they talk while in Vietnam. The books details are so foreign to me, and what read
convinces me that if I were to read about the Vietnam War in a history textbook, I highly
doubt that I find information on soldiers using illegal drugs, the gruesome deaths of
soldiers, their crazy behaviors, and prostitution.
A man by the name of Harold G. Moore, who was a commissioned soldier, was
one of the first people to experience what it was like to fight against the NVA soldiers and
the Viet Cong during the battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November, 1965. In 1964, he
was selected to command a battalion in the newly developed airmobile tactics called the
11th Airborne Test Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. He spent almost an entire year
helping with the development and tactical employment of the newly formed airmobile
tactics. The 11th airborne was renamed to the 1st Cavalry Division, with Moores unit
known as the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.8
Hal Moore has mentioned why the battle of the Ia Drang Valley was successful,
and it was because they understood the people, tactics, and history of the area in Vietnam.
Moore knew who he was fighting, and knew that they were going to be facing a tough,
and determined enemy. He had read the history of the French that had tried to seize
77 Ibid., 209.8

Command Posts RSS.

control of Vietnam. Hal Moore was fully aware of the situation with the communist
powers, Russia and China, because he himself fought in the Korean War. He knew that
Vietnam was influenced by China to become communist, and that things were escalating
regarding U.S. involvement.9
When it came to his relationship between his troopers, he was an inspiration and
a true leader. Before leaving to Vietnam, he gave a speech to his troopers saying, When
we go into combat, I will be the first to step off the field, and I will be the last out. And I
will leave no man behind. By keeping his men mentally strong, he was able to give
commands on the battlefield and his junior officers were able to execute his orders. His
proudest accomplishment in two wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, was that he
never lost a single man MIA or as a POW. After the battle, Hal Moore knew what the
North Vietnamese soldiers were capable of and that the U.S. military was not prepared
fighting against such a threat.10
All three men are great first hand accounts of what they experienced in Vietnam,
and all three of them perceived the war in a different manner, whether it was because they
had a different family background or job occupation. They showed courage and were
willing to accomplish what needed to be done.

Bibliography

"Hal Moore and Battle of Ia Drang." YouTube. Accessed March 21, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82LqvxhuFEY.
99 History Engine10

Hal Moore and Battle of Ia Drang

Herr, Michael. Dispatches: New York: Knopf, 1977.

History Engine, Accessed March 20, 2015.
https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/5269.
"Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore." Command Posts RSS. Accessed March 20, 2015.
http://www.commandposts.com/author/lt-gen-harold-g-moore/.
Michael Diaz, interview by Lance Najera, January 23, February 6,13, 2015.