WOW. That's what really sums up my impression from the Herr article. I knew before reading that it was going to be dramatically different and would be more graphic. But I when he talked about how he almost an EAR and a solider 'supposedly' licking his bayonet, oh man. There is obviously a huge gap between the Pyle and Herr article.
The difference I feel is due to not only the popularity of the wars but also the nature of the wars. WWII we lost more men, but Vietnam hit home harder because of the coverage it got not only by embeds like Herr, but Video. The body count every night after the evening news. WWII was a far thought in the distance, while Vietnam was in your face and there was no way to ignore it. Another major differences that I noticed between the two articles that you could feel Herr's emotions more and Pyle seemed to make everything lite and airy, probably to again keep the public involved and engaged with the war.
This article is a real representation of the time and really leaves no questions, Vietnam and any war is a real mess, regardless of intentions.
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I agree that the perceptions of WWII and Vietnam differed because of the popularity and the nature of the two wars, but I would also argue that Americans were more passionate about WWII because there was a clear reason to fight the war. The Vietnam War was not as clear in its intentions and many people may have felt separated from it because of this. Many people also may have felt this way because the efforts spent on the Vietnam War could have been used at home. I also agree that the differences in media coverage affected the public perceptions of the war. It is more difficult to deal with a war when you see its effects every night before you go to bed.
ReplyDeleteI definitely had the same reaction to the article and I was surpised by how drastically different Herr and Pyle's articles were. But I am also going to disagree that I'm not sure Vietnam "hit home harder" because like Amerique said, we had a clear reason to fight in WWII. We were attacked by the Japanese and also there was such a large injustice going on with the Nazis. I think they both hit home and Americans were extremely passionate about both, but for very different reasons. In WWII, Americans were passionate because they wanted to win and defeat those who had hurt them and other people around the world. In the Vietnam War, they were passionate because they didn't really believe in it and they wanted the soldiers to stop being killed and come home.
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