Victory; an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or competition. But with every conflict, there is not always a clear victor. After suffering the loss in Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of soldiers returned back to their homes each suffering a wound, either physical or mental. Philip Caputo, an author of
A Rumor of
War states, “None of us was a hero… our only victory” (pg 337). These “heroes” returned home from war facing just as much adversity here as they did overseas, for enduring a war they had no power to prevent.
When Caputo first enlists into the war, he follows the majority of men at that time, directly out of school and into war, ¨I joined the Marines in 1960, partly because I got swept up in the patriotic tide of the Kennedy era but mostly because I was sick of the safe, suburban existence...¨ (pg4) The 1960’s were a time of patriotism that proved to be a false reality for many people including Caputo himself. Many citizens like him pursuing delusions of grandeur were willing to blindly follow what their government told them, in this case; enlist for war. With blinding pride millions of american soldiers rushed into battle, only realizing the reality of their actions upon arrival. Vietnam is an inhospitable region, and no amount of training could prepare the soldiers for what they’d have to endure. Vietnam had the peculiar ability to change who people were, for better or worse, they’d show their true colors. Most were living each day by day, hoping only to make it to the next; hoping the viet cong would miss their shot. Some wished the opposite. With blistering heat, intense rain, and Viet Cong snipers at every turn, just surviving through the night was all one could hope for. Vietnam changed you, it sapped
the emotion from you, and if one was lucky, they could hope to leave with their former conscious intact, though for many this was already asking too much.
The Vietnam war, like everything, once came to an end. America had decided they had enough and refused to accept a true “defeat”. One would think that like in the past, the veterans would return home as triumphant heroes, having earned the admiration of all, but this wasn’t the case. Returning home they were greeted only with disgust and bitterness by protesters or in some cases, their own family. The government made the decision to go into war, and instead of them facing the repercussions, the soldiers did. They had done things no man should have to, all at the command of the country they
