Part 1:

     “We were babes in arms in every way.” This title is funny. It feels like human beings are weak no matter how strong they think they are, no matter what position they are standing. Weakness of the American military force is showed in this article. Roger Donlon, who was the first American in the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration the United States can confer, was in the Vietnam War. At the very first, the title caught my eyes and kept me to read the rest, and also this article was reliable, because all he was trying to describing was all about their military in their camp, and the communication tools was out of work, and how he got survived. But, why he thought people all like babes in arms in every way? Is there any meaning of it outside of the war? Then, after second reading of this story, there were something coming out then before. Yes, he was trying to say how bad their transmitter was, and they were lack of information from the high headquarters. They could not totally trust the Civilian Irregular Defense Group, some of them were folks, who were trained by themselves, and on the other hand, the group they could trust was Nungs, a Chinese ethnic minority that came out of mainland China who were very dedicated anti-Communists. They were allies. The Americans, the Nungs, the Vietnam defense group. Even though there was a fight between some of the Vietnamese and the Nungs before the day they were attacked. Nobody trusts each other. They were in a war, everyone could die in the next minute. Everybody was nervous, people set up by groups and defend force from outside. That was such a bad thing for them. How could they win the war by this situation. Roger was reliable, he did not describe how strong the American army was, and how bad their opposite military was, he just use his words to show us a real place that they have had stayed and fought. He was there at the specific moment in time, this gives him more credibility because all he told us were what he was going through. This story is factual and not subjectivity, time having passed, people want to forget something that they do not want to remember, but things that kept in deep your heart would never be forgot. In the story, Roger was survived in the action that was his effort to rescue Pop Alamo, when he got out of unconscious position, he found the Pop had died in his arms. Just like he said, “What keeps you going at times like that is the love you feel for your fellow teammates. At the time you called it respect, but as the years go on you realize it was really a deep, deep love.” Love could never be forgotten. Some people try to avoid the pain that happened to them or the guild that they did, but truth will come out one day.

Part 2:

     The story “What’s good for Peru is good for Vietnam” was the disappointing for me to read, and also the story of Ngo Vinh Long, but this story has been chosen because the disappointed point was the way that Paul Kattenburg was treated when he wrote a report that saying they were going to lose the war within the next year or two. Some people may not noticed that there was one interesting sentence in this story, which is said by Roger Hilsman, “You know, President Kennedy has this saying-‘when it’s too hot in the kitchen, get out of the kitchen.’ Do you want out? I think you ought to get out of this.” Paul said :”Well, I think I better pull out. I’m not going to be any good because I don’t believe it anymore.” Then he was kicked out of the Bureau of East Asian Affairs and sent up to Policy Planning, which is where you put people who are really off base. This disappointed me. You cannot just send people away only because they tell the truth or the right way to do something. That is a main reason that nobody is telling the truth or the right thing in the current society. Flattering is the wrong way but most people are doing it.

     Compassion is my feeling to Vietnam, but also this country is adorable. In the story “The most atrocious conflict in human history”. Their people keep fighting for freedom and independence. They won the war because they would rather die than live in slavery. Their history proves this. Their spirit provided them with stamina, courage and creativity in the face of a powerful enemy. Vo Nguyen Giap was a commander, but he was still willing to go into hamlets and mountains to live with the ethnic minority people to get their support. He said: “Lessons are important. I agree. However, you are wrong to call the war a ‘tragedy.’ Maybe it was a tragedy for you, but for us the war was a noble sacrifice. We did not want to fight the United States, but you gave us no choice.” Yes, nobody wants a war, but sometimes there is no choice. Everyone wants freedom, not colonialism.