What Did We Learn from the Vietnam War? Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

â€Å"Teaching the Vietnam War makes one realize how the shape of a narrative determines, and is determined by, its content† (Franklin 246). The Vietnam War was one of America’s most controversial wars. Many of its aspects are still plagued with great uncertainty. Those aspects of the Vietnam War are argued and debated about, they were argued during the time of the war and the arguing has continued. The Vietnam War was indeed a time of confusion. Why did the war start? What was the United States’ real reason for getting involved? What was the objective of the war? What were the American soldiers really fighting, or in reality, dying for? How do you explain a war to someone who has not experienced firsthand, especially if you were not around yourself? There is no real answer. You can give the facts and figures, but that leaves out the true grit of a war. The human perspective must also be given. As with any war, the Vietnam War had many perspective: th e protestors, the politician, and lastly, but most importantly, the soldier (Although there are many other stories that could and should be told). Through the facts and figures and the eyes of those who were there, an individual could learn about the Vietnam War, although how many actually want to understand war is uncertain. The facts and figures are one of the first things that should be learned about the war (Although many would argue the facts). The Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France between 1945 and 1954. They received $2.6 billion in financial aid from the United States to aid their efforts. The Geneva Convention followed the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, where Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all received independence. Vietnam was momentarily divide... ...n Vietnamese deaths. Still today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in the Vietnam War was necessary, a sin, a mistake, or a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese people from the North. In order to truly understand the war you and to determine your own answer to the many questions it is still pending, you must look at the war from every perspective and understand the many facts it produced. Dr. Carl Sagan wrote, â€Å"You have to know the past to understand the present†. The Vietnam War is a large part of America’s past. It is important to know of the Vietnam War and to know of those who experienced, so you may learn of how America came to be as it is today and were it may be heading, of whether or not we learned from our mistakes or if we are destined to repeats those made during the Vietnam War again.