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Daryl Kamp Websight Designer Created April 2005 For History 399 |
The idea for this project began during the presidential election of 2004. Senator John Kerry was then running for President of the United States. During his campaign there was a controversy about his military service. This was sparked mainly by the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth who spoke out against him because of his participation in the Anti-War movement of the early 1970’s. I began this project by forming a proposal. I proposed that I would analize a variety
of resources for the purpose of determining what the experience of the Here is a quote taken from my original working agreement. “My question is, have these emotions and beliefs changed over the years in the lives of Vietnam veterans their neighbors friends and family, and most importantly in the next generation of Americans. I believe that this question can be resolved by looking at the facts of the past and the facts of todays world.” I was not absolutely sure how this study would end up. The final project is nothing like I pictured it would be. Initially I was planning on doing extensive interviewing to obtain my own oral history archive. In the course of the semester I decided not to pursue this avenue as strongly as I had originally intended. There are two reasons for this. First of all I was having a little trouble finding vets to interview. Secondly, many of the Vietnam vets that I know remember none or very little ill effects on their return home from Vietnam. Thus I wouldn’t have a wide base of opinions like I was hoping for. In an attempt to gain a glimpse into what the veterans of the Vietnam War went through I started watching movies that are centered on this war. At the recommendation of my professor I watched “Charlie Mopic.” This movie changed my perception. My original perception of the Vietnam War had been formed by reading autobiographical accounts of battles. I began to realize that the war was not just a endless barrage of shooting and bombing. The stealthy cat and mouse game that this group played while snaking through the jungle was an entirely different part of the war. I read the book Platoon years ago. After learning that there was a movie by the same title I watched it. This was a very graphic movie that made me thankful I have never had to go to war. I finally found a solid basis for my research in the accounts of veterans on a variety of different oral history projects and discussion board that were already in existence. I found that Vietnam vets have voiced their opinon about the war in large numbers through this medium. As a result of surfing pages and pages of oral history projects and discussion board accounts I obtained a stack of quality commentary by a wide variety of veterans. I believe that the accuracy of my reports are closer to the actual truth than they would have been if I had only interviewed veterans from the West Michigan area. Rather than submitting this project in the form of one long continuous report I have divided it into sections. The first section is an account that describes the anti-war movement throught the mouths of those that experienced it and were active participants in it. The second section is the largest and most substantial part of this project. This section is the story of many Vietnam veterans. I have divided it into four sub-sections. The first of these sub-sections is the story of the early 1960’s. It is told by veterans that entered the war early. This story relates the optimism that was evident early in the war. The second sub-section includes the story of the veterans experience during the long stuggle of the war. The third section is the story of the veterans after they returned from the war. In it veterans tell the stories of how they were treated at their return home. The final section is the story of those veterans that are still alive today. It relates their feelings and their vision for the future. I firmly believe that we have a long ways to go before the veterans of the Vietnam War have received the homage that is due them for their service. I never realized how brutal the anti-war movement was and how much these veterans have suffered over the years. This project is an attempt to get their story told to as many people as I can get it to. I have included it on my personal websight and I recommend further study into the experiences of these and other veterans like them.
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