Known as one of the worst conflict in U.S. history, Vietnam conjours up thoughts of our men wading through swamps while the Viet Cong lurk in the distance to watch their traps execute with lighting speed precision. The history behind the history starts with the Communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In 1945 Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh movement organized resistance against the Japanese occupation of Vietnam, and declared Vietnam an independent republic. The U.S. feared Ho Chi Minh's communism and supported the restoration of the French rule.
Frustrated and angry because of the governments idea of defeat, Americans were slow to heal. They rejected their veterans because they represented defeat in a war that most people thought was a mistake.
In the movie Rambo: First Blood Part II, John Rambo says to the colonal "I want what they (the POW's) want, and every other guy that came over here and spilled his guts and gave everything he had, wants. For our country to love us as much as we love it. That's what I want."The number of soldiers killed during its twenty year reign were three times higher than the amount of U.S. bombs dropped over both theaters during WWII. The cost to America was $150 billion.
In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C.. This memorial sought to heal the wounds from a recovering nation. It gave us all a chance to finally reconize the veterans and thank them for the sacrifices they made. Americans need to remember that these soldiers went over there to serve our country. They did not then, nor do they need now, the indigntion that only hipocracy brings. Those that are quick to criticise are generally the ones that were't there. It's time that we heal our hearts.