How did the Vietnam war affect soldiers?

How did the Vietnam war affect soldiers?

The Vietnam conflict impacted veterans in a variety of ways. Most combat soldiers witnessed violence and lost friends to the horrors of war. Some American veterans bore emotional and physical injuries that they would carry for the rest of their lives.

What was the average American soldier’s experience in Vietnam?

Fact: The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty.

Why was the Vietnam War hard for soldiers?

Explanation: Firstly most of the war was fought as a guerrilla war. This is a type of war which conventional forces such as the US army in Vietnam, find notoriously difficult to fight. The Americans, laden down with conventional weapons and uniform were not equipped to fight in the paddy fields and jungles.

How were soldiers treated after Vietnam War?

Some people who opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War treated U.S. soldiers and veterans poorly. These stories added to the soldiers’ resentment of the antiwar movement. Rather than being greeted with anger and hostility, however, most Vietnam veterans received very little reaction when they returned home.

How many US soldiers were bitten by snakes in Vietnam?

The United States Archives and other sources suggest that between 25 and 50 American soldiers a year were bitten by snakes during the war in Vietnam. Some 10,786 American soldiers died of non-combat causes, including 9,107 by accidents and 938 due to illness. Snake bites were not specified.

What difficulties did the soldiers face?

Not only did soldiers face the possibility of getting killed in battle, their daily lives were full of hardships. They had to deal with hunger, bad weather, poor clothing, and even boredom between battles. Soldiers were woken at dawn to begin their day.

Why do soldiers not talk about the war?

He is honestly fearful that his listeners are not prepared to hear what he has to say, nor prepared for how he has to say it. Killing is the business of war, and death is its consequence. Civilians do not like to hear about killing, and combat soldiers do not want to talk about it.

What was life like for civilians in the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War was a long, drawn-out, and pretty terrible war for everyone involved, particularly the Vietnamese civilians who were on the receiving end of much of the violence. Life was a mixed bag for the U.S. soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. Here’s what they experienced.

What was the average age of a US soldier in Vietnam?

The average age of a U.S. soldier dropped from 26 in World War II to just 19, not even old enough to vote at the time. Here’s what life was like for U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War.

What was it like being a black soldier in Vietnam?

Vietnam was the first major U.S. war in which black and white soldiers were fully integrated, but fully integrated did not mean fully equal. Black soldiers complained they were unfairly assigned worse details and that they received more frequent punishments and fewer promotions than their white counterparts. Only 2\% of officers were black.

Why were American soldiers in the Vietnam War so badly underestimated?

Many American soldiers were sick and wounded prior to any encounter at all with the well-hidden enemy or the booby-traps planted heavily throughout the jungle. The strength of the enemy was greatly underestimated.