Racism in Vietnam
...ickness that you would get in your stomach. The captains and commanders warned their soldiers not to have sex or do any thing oral with the local women because many of them had STD’s and were dirty women who had been with many men in their lives especially the hookers they were very dirty. They also warned not to use any local remedies because many of the stuff used could make you sick. While on camp it almost made you forget that you were involved in a war but the thought of safety would only be in your camps. “First it was the heat, then it was the smell. Both the first and last experiences that you had in nam if you survived your 365 and a “wake up” that's what being in country was like for most folks who went there. That, and to stay alive (King “Blacks in America”).” Outside the walls of your camp it was no holds barred any thing could happen. In the heat of battle all the men would put aside their differences and come together and fight with and for each others survival. Many bad and scary things happened over in nam. Many men did not come home alive to their families, others were declared as Missing In Action (MIA). Once fire opened everything on the battlefield became hectic and confusing. Strategy was key in dealing with a larger enemy. The Vietnam war really set the modern standards for all new and modern wars. “It was our first truly technocratic war in which rationalized planning supported by immensely destructive fire power (King).” In the war they used many strikes to clear out the dense jungle it was thick woodsy areas where many battles took place. Life out on the battlefield could get confusing and crazy. Once shots started toward you, you immediately looked for cover and returned fire. It became a case of either I die or he (the enemy) dies. The Vietcong's were ruthless warriors. Not only on the battle field was the life crazy, but also when the units went out to patrol near by villages it was also very dangerous. The small villages were full of regular people trying to go on about the day with their regular business. They were not safe grounds. The Vietcong's would come in to the villages and kill all the people who lived their because they were friends of the americans. Women, children, and older people were murdered for nothing. Then our troops would come back to the towns to find it in ruins and try to help the survivors and search the village for any enemies. Many times the Vietcong soldiers would hide in the huts and when a solider came in they would attack and try to kill the soldiers. The war was a very cruel place and there was no place in this war for the weak of heart or the weak of mind. The sources of transportation in battle were not the greatest or safest, but it was used to move our troops in to battle or move positions. The most used way of transportation was the helicopter transport. The troops would hop in to these steel birds and hope that they would not get shot down. The main issue with the helicopters was that the helicopters could not transport to a hot Landing Zone (LZ). Hot meant that they were under heavy fire and that would compromise the loss of the chopper and its crew. Also this brought up another problem if the LZ started to pick up heat the choppers would pull a non touch down landing meaning the soldiers would have to jump like 5 - 10 feet out of the chopper to the ground. The way that soldiers were moved from base to base was truck. The men jumped in to the back of a big truck that when loaded up was very hot and smelly they would close up the hatch and they would cover up the back. Then the truck would speed out of the base and take the bumpy dirt roads and the soldiers were in the back. The problems with this is that if the truck were to get ambushed the soldiers would not see it coming and the Vietcong's would have the advantage. Also another common problem was that if the truck were to hit a mine the whole thing would flip and blow up compromising the lives of the people being transported. Everyone's chances of dying became greater as soon as you stepped out side of your base. The other common way of being transported was to walk, If your platoon got stuck in a hot LZ and your platoon had to move out then you had to walk while walking constant awareness was nessacary. One wrong step could end up in death or body disfigurements. Land mines were a common booby trap and if you were not careful to listen to the woods and did not listen for shots you would have a serious disadvantage, especially because the Vietcong's would have snipers in holes just waiting for the opportunity to kill a American solider. While out in the battlefield the countries problems didn't matter it was to ensure that the team would try to make it out alive. When there were the protests against the war and riots for violating the blacks rites no one cared the fact was that no one wanted to die and no one wanted a friend to die. The music of the times reflected the public dislike for the war. Bob Dylan represented many protesters feelings and thoughts. Jimmy Hendrix represented the blacks that were getting discriminated. Music during the time period was about love and peace an almo...