Assignment: Quiet American and the Vietnam War

Dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West he was determined O do good, not to any(prenominal) individual only to a country (Greene, 18). He believed preventing the spread of communism would be beneficial for all. Based in the mysterious Asian country as a secret agent, his excogitate was to import weapons and set up attacks through turn up the country. One incident describes that day all over Saigon innocent bicycle pumps had proved to contain bombs which had g sensation mutilate at the stroke of eleven. It was fall in from their point of view to let people assume that the bombs were communist (Greene, 18-135). To stir up anti-communism the U. S. Litany put the blame for noncombatant casualties on the rebellious Viet congou, giving a impelling reason to the American people for why they must be stopped. Bloods states how the United States went to Just about any extent to prevent the Domino Theory The Communists taking South Vietnam and then the Philippines and m arching across to Hawaii and then on the shores of California (Terry, 156). Consequently, government officials promoted cultism with the Second Red Sc atomic number 18 to incite their citizens to fritter a stand against the further spread of communism. American troops were placed in Vietnam up until dancing 1975.Between that time American troops were let loose in this foreign country. Not only was there a huge culture shock, but excessively language played as a barrier. Little efforts to understand the Vietnamese culture became an issue in the war. One of the soldiers said, this old man was running the like back towards his crib I think people said halt but we didnt get it on no Vietnamese words and so they shot him (Terry, 7). other case of miscommunication was when a soldier told a girl to did did AMA and her lack of effort to to why she remained on the road she couldnt get through traffic or could not understand his Vietnamese.America showed no mercy and was brutal to any thing ND anyone that stood in the way. With their endless supplies of artilleries if something moved in front of you. You fired at it (Terry, 157). Lots of the poorly educate solders were blind in the Jungles of Vietnam, especially at night, aimlessly shooting to any noise. Americans treated the people of Vietnam poorly as well, women especially. Some of the captives were women and while being unified they were abused. One of the African American hospital corpsman from the Navy was explaining how he saw a Vietnamese woman get a lit flare shoved in her during questioning (Terry).Pyle never hectically harassed a female, but saw Phonon (his Vietnamese lover) as an object. Disregarding her input, he was going to bring her to America as his wife (Greene). Poor interactions with the Vietnamese people, a negative ambiance was left behind by the Americans. Americans believed they were sincerely helping the Vietnamese. When in reality the people of Vietnam did not see the need for their in tervention. A soldier explained, I spent a great deal of time discussing the problem of Vietnam with the Vietnamese people, and what they thought about Americas involvement.I erudite right away the AR was not the right thing to from the peoples point of view (Terry, 67). The people of Vietnam could have cared less if they were getting military support from America. In particular they did not like the war that was happening on their homeland. They want one day to be much the same as another. They dont want our white skins most telling them what they want (Greene, 86). They want to go back to their daily simple lives before any war began. Their way of life is agriculture of rice patties not whether they have a communist or democratic government.Pyle was getting lectured about hat the Vietnamese people wanted, do you think peasants sit and think of graven image and Democracy Weve brought them up in our ideas (Greene, 87). Before intervene from America, people of Vietnam were not thinking of which government is suitable for them. Neutral Vietnamese said, However win is the one we go with. The Americans are the ones that are crazy cause they not gain anything. They lose their lives and their money here(Terry, 67). America did not gain anything directly from this war. thither were no significant natural resources and hundreds were dying everyday.As he war got dragged even Americans began to question their intentions of being in the war. While men were fighting for a better government, there was trouble back at the home front. Racism was a big factor still in the United States and that custom was brought overseas. Men of trick were grouped together and were chiefly put on the front end. An African American war veteran said, more blacks were dying in combat than whites, proportionately, mainly because more blacks were in combat- oriented units, proportionately, than whites (Terry, 167). White folks were still seen inferior to lacks.There were times were the whole squad would be of black men (Terry). This prevented white Americans from getting hurt during the war. Even though there was inequality, African-Americans were still treated better then in the States. While enlisted, they could hold some kind of power. There werent legion(predicate) opportunities for Where else could a black go and get that label Just like that? (Terry, 221). African- Americans enlisted as an escape of racism and segregation because in the war zone they are all fighting together under one cause, democracy for the Vietnamese.One big issue in both books for the reason why they lost the war to the Viet Congo was the inability to establish who the enemy was. It was Vietnamese fighting Vietnamese- like the civil war. White folks could not identify whom to shoot, It wasnt suppose to be nobody out at night but the marines. Any Vietnamese out at night was the enemy It was easy to get killed by an American (Terry, 7). The soldiers were trained to take down Vietnamese enemy. Everyone looked like the enemy to them. This became problematic of many innocent lives being killed. For this reason,Americans are seen as mechanical beasts across the globe and will sorb at ease in order to win. Americans played different roles in the two books due to the time frame, but had the same goal of fighting for democracy. In The Quiet American being European or white was favorable. An advantage of this war was that a European face proved in itself a bye on the field a European could not be suspected of being an enemy agent (Greene, 42). This is why Pyle was able to sneak around Vietnam with bombs. No one suspected Americans (whites) behind the attacks. Things were a lot more useful for Americans before they sent troops over.Once the military got involved, it was non-stop gunshots after gunshot. It got to the point where soldiers did not know why they were shooting, they were Just told to. Around this time, university students also began to question the government along with the upraising of segregation. Congress had a hard time dealing with upset citizens over the exsanguine of Martin Luther King and the questioning of when the war will end. In the efforts to help Vietnam have a better life under Democracy, America suffered from the high death toll, expenses on weapons and supplies, and the extended years spent overseas.