Vietnam War: a War Without Victory

Vietnam War: a War Without Victory

Vietnam’s details are often left out. A war without victory and a high death toll is not something most like to boast about. Those sixteen years hold millions of untold stories, many because their narrator did not survive to share it. For twenty black veterans of ‘Nam the tables have turned as they get to share their stories with as many people who care to listen. Wallace Terry’s Bloods provides an oral history with vivid details of a life consumed with discrimination, brutality, shock, psychological issues, spirituality, and “why?”.
For most of the veterans in this oral history their stories are amazingly similar. The most common is probably the brutality which can also be linked to the shock and psychological issues faced by many of the young soldiers. Reginald Edwards is the first to explain. He tells a story of his first kill and how ecstatic His sergeant was, others even came up to him and congratulated him. He started “freaking out” inside (page 9). Harold “light bulb” Bryant tells the story of the actions of the white men raping women. He said it “freaked me out” and “it surprised him to see this guy get off”(page 27). Seeing these kinds of things and living in guerilla warfare everyday obviously will take its toll and it did for Bryant. He explains that even today he constantly thinks about the war and walks differently down the streets (page 27). He “hears things people can’t hear” and like many has flashbacks and dreams of the war days (page 27). Charles Strong explains how ‘Nam took a toll on him “ I started to love seeing someone dead”. Strong was also one of many who struggled with drugs. Again in Robert E. Holcomb’s story brutality shows its face when his commander decided to drag the VC around the village to warn people of what could happen to them if they do not cooperate. He also explains how drugs were abundant and that it took a toll on every soldier and the way they took many drugs together was “devastating”. Holcomb was also one ___ by...

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