Vietnam History

Vietnam History

In the last years of the Vietnam War and into the 1970's, American popular culture frequently presented Vietnam veterans as crazies or criminals, dysfunctionals who never quite succeeded in putting the war behind them. The vets rightly resented such portrayals and to counter them pointed proudly to the successful among their ranks. Recent polls have shown the successes to be far from uncommon and have suggested that fewer veterans failed to adjust to life after Vietnam than media stereotypes indicate. But if the stereotypes exaggerated, evidence still suggests that many Vietnam veterans have had difficulty in coping with their wartime experiences.

The most troubled among them suffer from a debilitating condition, labeled post-traumatic stress disorder, whose victims relive the war in dreams and flashbacks. The war also haunts many for whom such clinical labels are inappropriate—even some of the "successes" counted in the polls. Studies reveal that numerous factors contribute to postwar stress—the personal background of the soldier, the intensity of combat he experienced, the type of community to which he returned, and the personal support he received from friends and family. Yet such variables would be involved in the return of veterans from all wars; of the factors offered to explain the peculiar difficulties of the Vietnam veterans' problems, two predominate: the unique character of the Vietnam War and the welcome home or, more accurately, the lack of a welcome home, the veterans received when they returned.

Those who attribute postwar troubles to the unique character of the war dwell on its brutality, its lack of established lines, and its confusions over who was friend and who was foe. They also point to the soldiers' youth and pattern of service. Almost seven years younger on average than his World War II predecessor, the Vietnam soldier found himself suddenly delivered, ...