Aaron,
Contrary to how you have interpreted it, I think Chicky’s letter is more of a demonstration of anti-war sentiment rather than pro-war. His letter was dated October 1969, after Nixon, who promised to end US involvement in the Vietnam War, was elected president. Sergeant Ramos mentioned that “things are picking up” and that American soldiers were training the Vietnamese to take over (Edelman, Kindle 3647)—these were precisely the so-called Vietnamization processes that helped the US military to withdraw. Sergeant Ramos described how the ordinary Vietnamese were tired of the fruitless war—“They do not want to fight, they’re tired of suffering, and they’ve finally realized this is more a political war with no gains for the common people”…show more content… The US faced two enemies—not only the well-equipped NVA with “helmets and new assault rifles and body armor” (Edelman, Kindle 1278), but also the guerilla-style VC, an “elusive” enemy that hid underground during the day and ambushed during the night. Contrary to what many Americans may have expected before they went to war, local Vietnamese trusted and cooperated with the VC. Gary Panko smelled something fishy when several rockets landed on US facilities while the locals were not present—“all the waitresses left the base at 8 p.m. last night. Also, there were no fishing boats out in the harbor. I tell you, Mom, all these so-called friendly forces and civilians are all in cahoots with the VC.” (Edelman, Kindle 2665) Avoiding direct conflict with the US troops, VC opted for the mining tactic. In his letter, PFC Raymond C. Griffiths seemed to have foreseen his eventual death in the mine field. He wrote: “I’m going to an operation next month where there is nothing but VC and VC sympathizers. The area is also very heavily mined. All of us are scared cause we know a lot of us won’t make it.” These soldiers were wasting their lives fighting an impossible war, and that’s why I’m standing by my position that the US should never have
