Reflection 2

Herr’s story of the Vietnam War brought to light many aspects of the war that I had very little knowledge about but what struck me most was how he described the war. His story not only enforced my belief that the war was horrific but his descriptions and narrative illustrates hell on earth. Every aspect of the war was brutal and harsh. The battles were sporadic and wicked. He describes that the soldiers and captains were always on the move because it was harder to hit a moving target. They also tried to be prepared for any situation that could occur but the irony was that with this constant movement, coupled with the cruelty of the forest, which Herr describes as almost alive, made it almost impossible to be prepared for everything and surprises happened frequently. Soldiers were also so exhausted from the war that it eventually got many of them killed.

What is horrific and what struck me the most was that this atmosphere was so terrible that it was almost guaranteed that all soldiers would “snap” at some point and go crazy. Herr describes an incident where a soldier placed a grenade on the door of an outhouse and it blew up once the next person used it. I think that these incidents occurred so frequently was because of the nature of the war itself. The constant carnage, the pure exhaustion and the constant moving would wear down anyone’s physical and mental strength. I enjoyed reading Herr’s article because he left nothing out and kept it raw, but that also made it hard to read knowing our soldiers had to go through it.