Taking a look at the glorification of combat through the Vietnam War
In new media, constant reminders of military action and pride are recurring. Whether it is visible through a likeable action hero from a blockbuster movie, or through a lesson taught in history class, mass media has made the prominence of war visible in our culture.
Undoubtedly, soldiers who are seen in uniform walking around in public command respect. Their posture and presence is felt from all corners of the room, and they are often congratulated and thanked for their service. The issue with this kind of attitude towards war is not whether or not that particular soldier deserves respect and gratitude, but rather in the uninformed and irrational way which we come to see war and violence.
Perhaps one of the first widespread cultural moments to really demonstrate the grim realities and darkness of conflict was the war in Vietnam. With the emergence of movies like The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, the blind violence and darkness created by war was brought to national attention shortly after the end of the Vietnam War. Multiple American soldiers, many of whom were as young as 18, were sent off to a foreign land to fight a war they knew nothing about.
Journalist Michael Herr, author of the pivotal book Dispatches, discussed his first hand experiences of living and travelling alongside many soldiers in Vietnam. His raw and edgy text, published shortly after the war in 1977, thoroughly looked at the way violence and war affect the human mind. What Herr ended up illuminating most was not the influence of war itself, but rather a culture adopted by soldiers which perpetuates praise for killing and violence against other humans.
Herr’s book is crucial because it provides a first-hand insight towards the machinations of war. The book, at times painting horribly gruesome and realistic pictures of events that transpired, demonstrates how the context of war allows for a socially-acceptable domain of killing. A lot of the young soldiers drafted to Vietnam, who knew nothing about combat, were being told by authoritative figures to commit acts of violence without even blinking.
While discussing a particular kind of attitude some soldiers had, Herr wrote, “They were insane, but the war hadn’t done that to them. Most combat troops stopped thinking of the war as an adventure after their first few firefights, but there were always the ones who couldn’t let that go, these few who were up there doing numbers for the cameras… We’d all seen too many movies, stayed too long in Television City, years of media glut had made certain connections difficult.”
America’s involvement in Vietnam, in a way, created a socially acceptable context for violent acts to be committed and carried out. The heroic culture and glorification which emanates from uninformed notions of the realities of war can be attributed to its prevalence in mass media. Movies, TV shows, action figures, and even some historical documentaries provide a sense of patriotism which often showcases and prioritizes violence rather than the realities of war and the terrors therein.
As a result of the Vietnam war, some American citizens, specifically university students, became further aware of the negative impacts war was having on soldiers. Political organizations such as The Students for a Democratic Society (at its height in 1968) helped influence the perception of the Vietnam war with anti-war demonstrations and, among other factors, ultimately contributed to the attempt at illuminated the darkness of war in new media. With the emergence of movies and texts such as Apocalypse Now and Herr’s Dispatches, it is important to note the need to be educated about unconventional aspects of war. While a lot of cultural representations of war acknowledge the glory of soldiers in combat, it is important to remain aware of the realities of war which are often neglected.
Undoubtedly, the courageous people who fought and were affected by the outcomes of war deserve respect for their bravery. What remains consistent within traditional representations of the culture of war is the failure to depict both the good and bad aspects of war. By making present an evocative conception of war in mass media and mainstream culture which factors in the grim realities faced by soldiers and those affected by war, our understanding of their actions becomes more informed and realistic.