"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now".

I believe that the first time I ever heard about Vietnam was from my parents at a particularly young age. The topic about Vietnam arose after watching the movie Forest Gump. My parents obviously weren't going to go into depth about all of the details because of my young age. However, they let me know that this war was a very tragic and devastating one. They mentioned the fact that it was one of the longest and bloodiest wars, being that it lasted fifteen years. My father informed that the amount of deaths that resulted from the war were one of the highest he has ever heard of, he stated that the deaths were in the millions. What probably hit me the hardest was the amount of young boys that lost their lives for what in my opinion was a lost cause. Other movies that I have watched about Vietnam include Hamburger Hill and Full Metal Jacket. Movies portray a very vivid picture of wars from the authors point of view. The main question that I would like to be answered is, is the images and action from the movies I stated above really true? Where they dramatized in any from to make the viewer more drawn to it? I feel that movies about any time of war are rather depressing. However, I do feel that they are necessary to some degree. The whole world should be aware of what their government involves themselves in, including wars.

I have also learned and heard about the Vietnam War throughout my years of elementary and high school. I go to school in the United States, so my knowledge of Vietnam is obviously from an American point of view, which in my opinion leaves out all of the horrifying details.

"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now". --Richard M. Nixon, 1985