Blog Assignment: Vietnam

Whoops....long weekend......forgot!

Video 1: Vietnam War Through the Things They Carried

That was a hard video to watch at times. There was a picture of a Vietnamese women with a gun pointed to her head. Another picture was of one Vietnamese soldier shooting another Vietnamese soldier, I believe that was the picture that was the one discussed in class, the one that turned the Americans against the war. The picture that I thought said the most was the one of the soldier standing at the Vietnam Memorial with the flag in his hand and he was leaning up against the wall, it says a lot about the experience of the war.

Some of the stats also caught my attention. I was unaware of two of them for sure. The first was that I was unaware that there were over 9,000,000 Americans on active duty during the time. The second was that the total cost of the war was over 2 billion, all for a war that was never declared.

Video 2: Dear America; Parts 1 and 2

After watching the first video I felt it was unnecessary to watch the second. The first video was about a letter from a soldier to his parents. It was about the death of one of his friends in Vietnam and how he had a hard time coping with it. The symbolism of it raining all day was quite dramatic, it was like he said, the sky cried for him.

Part 2 was a letter from a mother to her son fifteen years after his death in Vietnam. I found this video hard to watch without getting choked up. I can't stand listening to someone cry. The whole video was set to the backdrop of the Memorial, images of soldiers appeared on the wall. One thing I must see in this lifetime is the Wall, I can't imagine the profound effect it must have on people who see it.

Video 3: All's Fair in Love and Police Actions

When you post a link to a video and express that it may be the most offensive thing you have seen, I can't help but to watch it, in fact twice! I have to say that I should go watch Oprah or something to get back in touch with the part of me that cares. That was truly offensive, yet quite amusing. I love it when he offers Timmy a smoke, and Timmy responds by saying only if he can pay for it, he doesn't need a fucking handout....oh my god! Some of the other things said in the video I can't repeat with a good conscience. I do feel that often sarcasm is needed to get a point across, and the point was not lost in this video. That said I feel like I should go take a shower after viewing it.