I always wondered if any of my family members fought in any wars. If so, why had I not heard any great war stories told by them. To my surprise, I have had three family members, my uncle, my cousin and grandfather, who participated in the Vietnam War. The reason that I have never heard any great war stories from them is because there were not any. In the Vietnam War, soldiers experienced the worst times of their lives; thus, they were uneasy in talking about it. Fortunately, I was able to get my Uncle Harry to talk about his experiences in the war.

The Vietnam War was a battle between North Vietnamese communists and the government forces of South Vietnam, which lasted nine years (1961-1970). In an attempt to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam, the United States sent troops into Vietnam to immobilize it. Unfortunately, the United States' attempt to stop communism failed, and many young soldiers lost their lives or were mortally wounded in the war. In fact, 58,229 American soldiers died during the Vietnam War. To many people, the war was senseless. They really did not understand why America should try and solve foreign problems, when our country has problems of its own. This is still an issue today; many Americans wonder why we are spending so much money on the "War on Terrorism," while we still have misery in our streets. In my interview with my uncle, he told me many things about his experience with the Vietnam War, such as, my family's reaction to him being drafted, how he coped with being in Vietnam, his scariest experience while in Vietnam, and the affects of his participation in the war.

My uncle enlisted in January of 1966, and he was sent to the war in May of that year. My family was very sad, and to make matters worst, my cousin Jimmy had just been sent home, due to the fact that he was shot several times. Everyone cried; for they were in fear that this would be the last time that they would ever see their beloved Harry. In fact, he could remember the mood of his family as being very dismal. Aside from my family's reaction, my uncle was very scared of going to the war, for he knew that many American soldiers had already died in the war.

While in Vietnam my uncle experienced the worst time of his life: he was at the risk of catching malaria, he was very homesick, and each day he was in Vietnam, his life was threatened. There were times where they were attacked and my uncle had to fire back at the enemy, but none of these experiences were that treacherous. The time when my uncle's life was threatened the most was when the guerrilla troops destroyed his company's ammunition bunker. He was terrified, for he thought that his troop did not have any ammunition and they would be sitting ducks for an enemy's attack. Fortunately, his troops had enough ammo stored somewhere else to last him while he was in Vietnam.

 It was hard to cope with the dangers while in Vietnam; the only way my uncle was able to make it through his thirteen months stationed there was the snacks and letters from my family and his troop had formed a brotherly bond together. With these great things, my uncle's view of time was warped and the days and weeks went quickly. In fact, my uncle still keeps in touch with his army buddies.

My uncle's experience in the war left little psychological damage; fortunately, it is not as severe as others. The main things that he experiences now are bad memories and nightmares. My uncle's psychological damage does not compare to my cousin Jimmy's. Like mentioned before he was shot several times, unfortunately, he was struck once in the head. My cousin, as a result of being shot during the war, suffers short-term memory.

I am glad that I was able to inquire my uncle about his experiences in the Vietnam War. Since I questioned him, I now know more about my uncle and the Vietnam War. The main fact that remains is that many people feel that the war was unnecessary. To this day, my uncle still does not understand the reason for America's involvement in the Vietnam War. In fact, he said, " I didn't really understand the point of the war. In my opinion, nothing was accomplished from it". Unfortunately, America has not learned from this past experience, for we still are trying to correct foreign affairs.