Was the Vietnam War traumatizing?

Recent studies have found a high prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Vietnam War veterans. Even decades after the war, there are still approximately a quarter of a million Vietnam Veterans that are suffering from PTSD symptoms.

Was Vietnam more traumatic than ww2?

While PTSD veterans reported more distress than non-PTSD veterans, Vietnam veterans reported greater distress than WWII veterans.

Was the Vietnam War brutal?

The fighting was intense and the results, the former soldiers say, were especially brutal. Villages were bombed, burned and destroyed. As the ground troops swept through, in many cases they gunned down men, women and children, sometimes mutilating bodies -- cutting off ears to wear on necklaces.

What were the psychological effects of the Vietnam War?

Veterans who served in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos during the Vietnam War have a higher prevalence of mental health issues, particularly PTSD, compared with both other Vietnam-era Veterans and non-Veterans, according to an analysis of data from the Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE-HEROeS).

How did most soldiers feel about the Vietnam War?

Letters from soldiers abroad often described confusion and guilt about their military service. Other soldiers expressed feelings of betrayal by their own country. They asserted that soldiers deserved more support since they were dying for the idea of freedom and doing their duty as Americans.

Night Wars: The Nightmares of Vietnam Veterans

Why was Vietnam such a brutal war?

Why was the Vietnam War so Controversial? In March of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the first U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam to fight the spread of Communism from North. The casualties of this long war, from both sides, were extensive and brutal due to guerilla warfare and the use of chemical weapons.

Why were Vietnam vets called baby killers?

Etymology. The Vietnam War veteran usage stems from the My Lai massacre, in which several civilians, including infants, were massacred.

What were the horrors of the Vietnam War?

The brutality has been well documented: American soldiers raped, mutilated, and tortured the villagers before killing them; families were dragged from their homes, thrown into ditches and executed.

How were soldiers treated after Vietnam?

Many Vietnam veterans claim that most people treated them with indifference and seemed uncomfortable listening to their stories from battle. Some people, however, saw returning soldiers as dangerous, violent symbols of an increasingly futile and terrible war—much like the individual Wowwk encountered.

Did the Vietnam War cause PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as having flashbacks, upsetting memories, and anxiety following a traumatic event. It was first officially recognized as a mental health condition in 1980, only five years after the end of the Vietnam War.

How were US soldiers tortured in Vietnam?

Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which demanded "decent and humane treatment" of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as waterboarding, strappado (known as "the ropes" to POWs), irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement.

How awful was the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War was a disaster from its bad beginning until its tragic end. It killed four million Vietnamese and over 58,000 Americans. Millions more, Vietnamese and Americans, were wounded by shell or shock and the war came close to ripping our country asunder.

What was the most brutal battle in Vietnam?

The 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh was the longest, deadliest and most controversial of the Vietnam War, pitting the U.S. Marines and their allies against the North Vietnamese Army.

What was the most traumatizing war in history?

World War One and Vietnam are the wars most closely associated with post-traumatic stress - but it was also a huge problem for the combatants in World War Two, and one that may still be affecting their children and grandchildren today.

Which war had the most PTSD?

Approximately 30% of Vietnam veterans have had PTSD at some point in their lives. New findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study show that about 271,000 veterans who served in Vietnam still suffer from PTSD and other major depressive disorders.

Why did people not like the Vietnam War?

Many Americans opposed the war on moral grounds, appalled by the devastation and violence of the war. Others claimed the conflict was a war against Vietnamese independence, or an intervention in a foreign civil war; others opposed it because they felt it lacked clear objectives and appeared to be unwinnable.

Why are Vietnam vets so traumatized?

Many mental health professionals in Psychiatry attribute the high incidence of PTSD in Vietnam-era veterans to a lack of “decompression” time.

What was the deadliest day in Vietnam?

The deadliest day of the Vietnam War for the U.S. was 31 January at the start of the Tet Offensive when 246 Americans were killed in action.

What it was like to fight in Vietnam?

Vietnam War soldiers endured many hardships and faced many problems. Combatants on both sides faced physical challenges posed by the climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. They also struggled with logistical problems and the complex political situation in Vietnam.

What was the worst atrocities in the Vietnam War?

The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968.

What was the deadliest job in Vietnam?

Overall, the U.S. military used nearly 12,000 helicopters in Vietnam, of which more than 5,000 were destroyed. To be a helicopter pilot or crew member was among the most dangerous jobs in the war.

What was the deadliest week in Vietnam?

May 5 - 11, 1968 marks the deadliest week of the Vietnam War. More than 600 U.S. service members were declared dead or missing in action. Their names are inscribed on Panel 54E through 58E of The Wall. Dan Gross and 856 others like this.

Did US soldiers commit war crimes in Vietnam?

During the war, 95 U.S. Army personnel and 27 U.S. Marine Corps personnel were convicted by court-martial of the murder or manslaughter of Vietnamese. U.S. forces also established numerous free-fire zones as a tactic to prevent Viet Cong fighters from sheltering in South Vietnamese villages.

What was the most controversial war?

The Vietnam War is arguably one of the most controversial events in American history.

What atrocities were committed by US soldiers in Vietnam?

In 1968 US soldiers murdered several hundred Vietnamese civilians in the single most infamous incident of the Vietnam War. The My Lai massacre is often held to have been an aberration but investigative journalist Nick Turse has uncovered evidence that war crimes were committed by the US military on a far bigger scale.