Vietnam Veterans Coming Home Research Paper

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Joseph Maxwell Cleland, a former Vietnam War veteran of the United States Army once said, “within the soul of each Vietnam veteran there is probably something that says: Bad war, good soldier”. The Vietnam War has left a remarkable memory that almost everyone wanted to forget. The United States had suffered loss, horror, guilt, hatred, and separation as a result of the war. Throughout this paper, the challenges faced by the Vietnam veterans coming back home and the antiwar movement during 1965 to 1975 will be explored. Staying alive in Vietnam is one thing, and overcoming the obstacles that confronted these veterans is another. Some returning veterans were welcomed by their family and fellow Americans as they came back, but for the most part, they faced a nation weary of war and troubling questions raised by that war. Coming…show more content…
There were no powerful leaders who can lobby for their interests and concerns. Veterans felt that it was necessary for the truth to come out directly from the source. When the Vietnam Veterans Against the War was formed by six recently returned Vietnam veterans marching together in an antiwar demonstration, the organization created “a spiritual home for a lot of lost souls” and supported those who “have gone through the war [and would] like to feel [that they] have come out with a certain truth” (Lifton, 1973, p. 313). These veterans joined the antiwar movement because they citizens of the United States first before they became soldiers. The killings at Kent State intensified their desire to join and support the movement. They aimed to save the honor and humanity that was left and wanted their brothers in Vietnam to come back home. There was a growing support for the antiwar movement in Vietnam from veterans of other wars as well as activist groups. It only suggests that they were still fighting for the democratic ideals that they fought for during those wars (Moser,

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