Betrayal Exposed in Vietnam Perkasie, By Ehrhart Essay

The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war. Growing up, Ehrhart lived in a small town†¦show more content†¦Ehrhart thought â€Å"what more noble a cause can a man die for, than to die in defense of freedom† (Ehrhart, 9). He wanted to help his country and help the rid Vietnam of the growing communist regime. When he first arrived in Vietnam, Ehrhart was solicitous to see combat. He would prefer combat over the monotonous routine he was restricted to on the Marine compound. Life in war was completely unlike anything he experienced before, but he became accustomed to it. Even after being there, he felt he was fighting for a good cause. He detested the hippies back home who abhorrently demonstrated against the war. He would angrily exclaim, â€Å"We’re over here getting our asses shot off defending them, and what do we get for it? Goddamn traitors† (Ehrhart, 54). He felt the Americans were truly helping the Vietnamese people and could not understand why anyone would be opposed to such a cause. Though he was proud to be a Marine, he soon began witnessing morally heinous acts by his peers. His first introduction to the brutality that was occurring in Vietnam were small instances of civilians being beaten or kicked around. He regularly saw civilians brutally tied up and tossed around as if they were mere possessions and not human beings. His fellow Marines would kick and beat these people, and he saw no good reason for these actions. He quickly learned he was supposed to remain reticent about these