Assignment 1                                                 HST195                                  Barbara Lay

Part 1

George Watkins really took my heart to hear his tale. This man had every reason to be bitter over what happened to him, yet to me it doesn’t sound like was. What a terrible thing to lose both eyes and both legs. It seems so amazing that this man is capable of taking care of his personal needs. You have to give much credit to his sister for taking care of his house and meals all those years. What a close and courageous family this is. Perhaps part of this man’s courage comes from the determination he saw in the Vietnamese people while in the Que Son Valley. After being driven out of their villages in the valley, the people would return to the burned out homes and try to rebuild with little of nothing that was left there. He said in his interview that he does not hate them, but yet he still has a sense of humor being able to laugh when stated, “Although I would like to get ahold of that one that set the booby trap.”  I would only hope I could still have a sense of humor under the same circumstances. Would his attitude have been different if the other two soldiers would have been killed during that explosion?

Part 2

I was most disappointed in Malcolm Browne’s story, not directly about any of the events he witnessed dealing with the war, but about his encounter with John Wayne.

John Wayne disappointed me the most with his attitude while at the officer’s club. Here was an American legend, drunk and shooting up the officer’s club. I have always been a fan of John Wayne, but here was Malcolm Browne, and ex-soldier-turned-reporter. The reporters had a very important and dangerous job during the war, putting their lives on the line also in order to send the reports off on the war. John called the man a “pantywasted liberal.” This man had been over in Vietnam as a soldier, and now as a reporter. Malcolm deserved respect from John Wayne.

Most of the people in this book telling these stories, wished the war had never happened, and what seems amazing is they don’t seem to hold resentments towards each other’s countries. They were just doing what was needed at the time, even having to kill or be killed. But now that the war is over, some even feel regret and wished the war had never happened. Those of us who have never fought in war really have no clue what feelings or emotions these people experienced at the time of the war, and even now after the war have been over all these years.