Uncertainty In The Vietnam War

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The premise that uncertainty equals weakness is unequivocally mistaken. Although in some cases, showing reluctance might me detrimental, there are many cases in which a reexamination of facts is beneficial. Compelling arguments for this proposition can be found in history.

As demonstrated by the experience of Michael McKenna, an attack helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, uncertainty can save lives. Michael was patrolling the sky when his commanding officer told him to eliminate a group of Vietnamese soldiers travelling towards a US base. When he arrived over the group, he felt uneasy about shooting them and asked the base to confirm the identity of the combatants. It turned out that the soldiers were in fact US soldiers and his uncertainty

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literary scholars have struggled with the “truth” in one of O’Brien’s most famous works, The Things They Carried, a collection of twenty-two tales on the Vietnam War that stand alone just as strongly as they tie together. Although O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran, unwillingly drafted in 1968 and serving until 1970, he purposively fictionalizes the war experience throughout The Things They Carried while simultaneously insisting that the essence of the work is true, a notion that many scholars question…

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American soldiers to serve in Vietnam was at the forefront of American men’s minds. When O’Brien was selected for the draft, he heavily weighed the idea of evading conscription entirely and fleeing to Canada. O’Brien’s explains his hesitation toward fulfilling his enrollment when he says that “certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons”(O’Brien 173). These “uncertain reasons” prompted O’Brien to consider the purpose of his service if he were to go to Vietnam and fight a war he knew little about.…

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