Soldiers Who Fought in World War II

¶ … soldiers who fought in World War II and Vietnam. The writer illustrates many of the differences as well as similarities in the two war soldiers and uses movies and book sot underscore the point. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

The life of soldiers during times of combat has often been compared. It seems that many people believe all experiences of war are identical and if a soldier is in one war, then his experiences were identical to the experiences of a soldier in a different war. At first glance there is some merit to this mind set. Many experiences are the same without regard to the war in question. Soldiers who have to kill, and those who go through boot camp have similar training. While there are many similarities in the soldiers of war and their experiences there are also many differences. These differences are founded in the political climate at the time of the war, the cause of the war and even the strategic moves being made within the war. Two wars, World War Two and the Vietnam Conflict present a classic example of how wars can differ for the soldiers who are charged with carrying them out.

The common brotherhood of soldiers who find themselves in combat is well documented through the box office profits as well as the bestseller list. Movies such as Platoon and Saving Private Ryan illustrate the soldier's lives. They also contrast the differences in that brotherhood that were experienced in each war. In Saving Private Ryan the soldiers have a bond that is closer than blood. No matter what was done, life or death they were in it together. The movie is centered on the locating of one soldier whose brothers had all been killed at the front lines (Rodat, 1998). The government sent a squad in to find this solider and bring him home so his parents would not lose every child. The solider not only refuses to leave, but the squad sent to find him refuses to leave him there. They stay and they fight a final battle that they know they will die in. It illustrates the very bond that the soldiers of World War II often experienced (Rodat, 1998). The movie shows the men's willingness to die not only for each other, but also for a soldier that they had never met until that morning. It is a touching illustration of how close they were bonded through their loyalty to the government and its causes and each other. When the soldiers returned from WWII they were greeted and treated like heroes. They were given parades and offered jobs that they did not even have to be qualified for. They were given business loans based on the fact that they were veterans. Because of the treatment that they received and the support that followed their tours of duty it helped the returning soldiers work through the horrors and grief they had experienced. In addition the return to the states created a deeper bond as veterans swapped stories and helped each other's families in times of need.

The Vietnam Conflict was completely different in the way the solders were bonded. The lack of public support form the United States residents caused many soldiers to feel they were doing something wrong by carrying out the orders given to them. The soldiers in the Vietnam Conflict often got spit on and booed when they returned home. Instead of being the Grand Marshall of the parades they found themselves as targets for protests and anger (Stone, 1986). In the fields there was often the same type of bond that the WWII soldiers experienced but there were also more problems among the soldiers. One of the things that interfered with the bond developing was the soldier drug habit (Stone, 1986). The Vietnam war brought drugs to the forefront of the public eye (Stone, 1986). Soldiers were given access to opium, heroin and other drugs that were easily located across the sea (O'Brien, 1990). The drugs that interfered with the minds of the soldiers also interfered with their ability to bond. The movie Platoon illustrates the difference between many Vietnam soldiers and many WWII soldiers.