Although
the war in Vietnam was the most photographed in
history, there is a human side of the conflict that
the camera has largely overlooked. It is that of
young men coming of age on the battlefield in the
midst of the emotional confusion surrounding
America's longest and most controversial war. My
photos and stories are an effort to shed some light
on that experience. Almost none are of the
"blood and guts" variety so often
associated with the Vietnam War. They chronicle the
day-to-day events--some inspirational, some
hilarious, some tragic, some heartbreaking--that
changed so many a youthful idealist into a
disillusioned outcast.
The
U.S. serviceman in Vietnam dealt with the same
stresses that his father and grandfather endured
before him in their wars: paralyzing fear,
loneliness, animalistic living conditions and the
constant exposure to death and needless brutality.
Unlike the wars of his father and grandfather that
rallied unprecedented levels of patriotic support at
home, the war in Vietnam became virulently unpopular
with the American public, dividing it more deeply
than anytime since the Civil War. Although the 58,132
Americans killed in Vietnam is considered low by the
standards of earlier wars, few Vietnam vets escaped
the crossfire from warring factions of American
society. Society's disgust with the war was, more
often than not, directed at the men in uniform. The
Vietnam vet was the first American serviceman to
return home not to a hero's welcome, but to
harassment, ridicule and open hostility.
This
was not a war that America's future was dependant
upon winning. To those doing the fighting, and many
back home, its purpose became more and more elusive.
Was the war in Vietnam nothing more than the
machinations of the "military industrial
establishment" President Eisenhower had warned
about only a few years earlier in his farewell
speech? The war lacked any clear-cut goals. Territory
and positions would be taken at great cost and loss
of life, only to be abandoned months, weeks and, in
some cases, just days later. Washington, fearful of
provoking the Russians and Chinese, ordered Generals
to halt bombing missions just as they were about to
achieve their goals. Numerous other restricted rules
of engagement seriously hampered military commanders
in the field. To ease the financial impact of the war
on the American taxpayer, captains of industry were
brought in to run the military in a more
business-like and cost effective manner.
Unfortunately, they often failed to heed the advice
of seasoned military leaders and made decisions that
proved very costly on the battlefield.
Junior
officers and enlisted men increasingly felt like
pawns in a deadly game of questionable purpose, with
their safety and well being at best, secondary.
Furthermore, it soon became apparent that the
Vietnamese soldiers they had come to assist were
cowardly and incompetent and the government they were
sent to support, hopelessly corrupt. The American
public back home began to regard them as "baby
killers" and the realization that even their own
government would rather sacrifice their lives than
provoke the Russians left many servicemen in Vietnam
feeling betrayed and abandoned. The only ones they
felt they could still trust were those around them.
It is a real tribute to the character of the
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who fought in
Vietnam that, out of profound friendship, so many
continued to risk their lives to protect the lives of
their fellow servicemen even though most felt the war
was useless, being fought incorrectly and unwinable.
Steven
Curtis
