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The Human Cost of War: Comparing Vietnamese and American Experiences involved in

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War (1955–1975) was shaped by Cold War tensions and Vietnam’s fight

against foreign control. After France lost at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the U.S. stepped in to stop

communism by supporting the pro-American South Vietnamese government against North

Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh’s communists and his Viet Cong guerrillas, fearing communism would

spread across Asia. For Vietnamese fighters, however, the war was about freeing their country

from outsiders. This essay argues that the Vietnamese and Americans had very different

experiences in the war because of three main reasons: why they fought, the way they fought, and

how leaders far from the battlefield used them for bigger political goals. By looking at real

stories from soldiers in “Everyman in Vietnam” and “Face of the Enemy”, the essay highlights

how the Vietnamese stayed strong by fighting together as a community, while the Americans

involved felt lost and hopeless. And how Both groups were stuck in a war where leaders treated

their lives like numbers in a political game.

Background​

​ The war began with French colonial rule, which exploited Vietnam’s people and

resources for over a century. Vietnamese nationalism grew strong under leaders like Ho Chi

Minh.. After World War II, the Viet Minh fought French colonial forces, winning independence

in 1954. But the peace deal split Vietnam into North and South, setting the stage for U.S.

involvement. The U.S. stepped in to stop communism by supporting the pro-American South

Vietnamese government against North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh’s communists and his Viet

Cong guerrillas, fearing communism would spread across Asia. This inevitably led to the U.S.
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involvement in the war. The U.S., however, saw Vietnam through the lens of the Cold War.

American leaders believed in the Domino Theory, the idea that if Vietnam fell to communism,

nearby countries like Laos and Cambodia would follow. This fear drove the U.S. to support

South Vietnam’s anti-communist government, even though many Vietnamese saw it as a puppet

regime.

Vietnamese Soldiers and Their Will for Survival​

​ Vietnamese soldiers, whether in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) or the Viet Cong

guerrillas, fought to protect their homeland. Many saw the war as a continuation of

centuries-long struggles against invaders like China and France. Without tanks or planes, they

relied on guerrilla tactics: hiding in jungles, setting traps, and blending into villages. According

to the documentary The Face of the Enemy, nearly four times as many bombs were dropped on

Vietnam compared to the entirety of World War II. The suffering endured by many was summed

up by one soldier interviewed in the documentary: “I remember thinking: If we die, we die, and

if we make it, we make it. There was no way to avoid the bombing.” Despite being heavily

outmatched in weaponry and technology, the Vietnamese did not lose their will for survival.

The 1968 Tet Offensive showcases their determination for survival. Though a military failure,

Viet Cong fighters attacked over 100 cities, including the U.S. embassy in Saigon. The surprise

attacks shocked Americans and proved the war was far from over. For Vietnamese fighters, Tet

was a symbol of resistance, even if it cost thousands of lives. ​

​ Women also played key roles as well, working as nurses, porters, and even fighters.

Women balanced fighting with keeping farms and families alive. In the Cu Chi tunnels, women

cooked meals and stored weapons while dodging U.S. bombs. Their contributions are often

overlooked, but they were vital to Vietnam’s resistance.

American Soldiers their Confusion and Despair

American soldiers, mostly young men from poor or minority backgrounds, were drafted

into a war they didn’t understand. Many were told they were “saving democracy,” but found

themselves burning villages and counting dead civilians. The U.S. military used heavy firepower,

bombs and napalm, to destroy jungles and expose VietCong fighters. But these tactics failed

against guerrillas who knew the land better.

Soldiers faced constant danger, not just from enemies but from booby traps like punji pits

(sharp bamboo sticks smeared with feces). One soldier recalled a sergeant’s warning: “When you

see a bike next to a tree, get the fuck away…it may blow up!” The jungle itself felt hostile. The

stench of “musty urine and death” clung to their skin, and the fear of ambushes kept them awake

at night. The Cu Chi base camp symbolized the war’s chaos. Built near enemy tunnels in 1965,

soldiers lived in filthy conditions. Open latrines spread disease, monsoon rains flooded trenches,

and snipers fired daily. Patrols were deadly, and the pressure to produce “body counts” led to

atrocities like the My Lai Massacre, where U.S. troops killed 500 unarmed villagers. Drug use

“to pass time and as a coping mechanism” grew in camps, and soldiers often felt their leaders

cared more about numbers than lives. These circumstances left many American soldiers

confused and despairing.

Just Pawns in a Larger Game​

​ Both Vietnamese and American soldiers were trapped in a war controlled by leaders far

from the battlefield. Vietnamese fighters followed Ho Chi Minh and General Giap, who were

deeply committed to freeing their country. American soldiers, however, realized their leaders saw

them as tools in a Cold War game. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara treated the war

like a math problem, focusing on “body counts” instead of the human cost. Even the leaders in
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charge of mass media played a huge role in how the public perceived the war. “They believed in

only showing the positive aspects of the war…and should not show the horror,” as one war

photographer interviewed in The Face of the Enemy stated.

Moreover, missions like “Clean Sweep” showed how pointless the war felt. Soldiers

burned villages and destroyed tunnels but gained nothing. Jimmy from Everyman in Vietnam

admitted to hating his sergeants, stating “How I would shoot you in a second”, due to how

unserious he was about the situation they were in. The only thing that kept Jimmy going was the

mission America sent him on, to help Vietnamese farmers and children, though he could not

fulfill it, as orders he was given just pushed the Vietnamese away. ​

​ U.S. generals like Westmoreland pushed soldiers to kill as many enemies as possible,

even if it meant counting dead civilians as Viet Cong. Soldiers joked, “If it’s dead and

Vietnamese, it’s VC.” This focus on killing, not winning, left many feeling stuck in a cycle of

violence. For example, during Operation Clean Sweep in 1966, soldiers like Jimmy faced endless

patrols in the Ho Bo Woods. They destroyed villages and rice stocks but found no Viet Cong.

Jimmy wrote home: “You think the grass is greener on the other side, but here there’s no grass,

just ash.” The mission’s only “success” was killing four Viet Cong fighters, but blood trails

suggested more died, their bodies never found.

What do we learn from these oral and written first-person accounts that is unique from the

histories of warfare we have studied in the course so far, and why so?

After the war, Vietnamese stories was qute muddled with ulterior motives and agendas.

The leaders, who were “rather narrow-minded,” in charge of mass media pushed an agenda for

the public “in order to inspire courage.” As one war photographer interviewed in The Face of the

Enemy stated, “They believed in only showing the positive aspects of the war…and should not
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show the horror.” Due to poor leadership at the time, many horrors captured by war

photographers were destroyed, showing the world only one side of the story. The saying “a

picture is worth a thousand words” fits perfectly here. Many photos of soldiers’ sacrifices, those

who died fighting for Vietnam’s freedom, were lost forever because of this poor leadership. Their

stories might never be remembered.

There is also another major side rarely brought up: the innocent civilians and their stories.

Villagers who had to deal with both the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese endured hardships

the world may never fully grasp. As one survivor in The Face of the Enemy said, “The villagers’

life is not for one moment safe. It’s only safe when you lie in a coffin.” This statement

encompasses the struggles of innocent people trapped in a warzone they had no power to escape.

Even daily life in camp was a battle. ​

​ While reading “Everyman in Vietnam”, soldiers like Jimmy, state how, “The living

conditions soldiers saw themselves in at Cu Chi would have been considered well below the

poverty line in civilian life.” The camp was dubbed “Hell’s Half Acre,” where sniper fire and

monsoon rains made survival a miracle. They only had drugs and their dreams for somthing

more which kept them going. Many U.S. soldiers also lost their minds fighting in the war, One

soldier, First Lieutenant James Simmen remarked, “You’d be surprised how similar killing is to

hunting. I know I’m after souls, but I get all excited when I see a VC, just like when I see a

deer”. Many soldiers from Jimmy’s unit started becoming “sadists” and their “patriotic feelings

were slowly” being slowly taken away from them. Killing started to become a game to many,

desensitized to the loss of human life many would commit atrocious acts and would show no

remorse. ​

​ What makes these oral and written first-person accounts unique from the histories of
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warfare we have studied in the course is the fact that they focus on civilians, as well as soldiers.

So far, we have mostly read about battles, strategies and looked at it from more of the perpetrator

prespective, but none of the sources we have seen describe the terror of war through the eyes of

ordinary people trying to survive. These accounts also show how pointless violence scars a

person’s mind, leaving trauma that lasts long after the fighting ends. Furthermore, with the many

battles covered throughout the course, I do not recall any first hand sources that describe how

senseless killing greatly impacts the human psyche and how many soldiers that may have entered

war with good intentions become murderers that find pleasure in killing. First person accounts

like Everyman in Vietnam, really does highlight how senseless murders in wars imapct the

human mind further causing psychological harm even after wars. ​

​ Moreover this once again showcases the stark contrast between the experiences of

Vietnamese involved in the war and how different it was for the Americans in the war.

Vietnamese involved like inocent civilans faced constant danger from both sides, with their

stories often hidden or destroyed to show only the war’s “positive” side. American soldiers

endured harsh camp conditions, mental breakdowns, and became desensitized to violence,

treating war like a deadly game.

In conclusion, the Vietnam War was a clash between nationalism and Cold War fear.

Vietnamese fighters saw the war as a fight for survival, using guerrilla tactics and sheer will to

outlast invaders. Americans got thrust into “one giant trap”, they were stuck fighting a battle they

did not believe in, haunted by orders that prioritized body counts over humanity. Both sides

suffered under leaders who viewed them as numbers, not people. Vietnamese soldiers fought

with purpose, drawing strength from nationalism and collective endurance; American veterans
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suffered with guilt, trauma and loss of sanity. Their stories remind us that war is not just about

battles, it is about the human cost of greed and power, a lesson we must never forget.

References​

1. Unit 09: Insurgencies and Decolonization in the Cold War: Vietnam, AHSS 2260.

2. Adas, Michael, and Joseph J. Gilch. Everyman in Vietnam: A Soldier's Journey Into the

Quagmire. Oxford University Press, 2018. Pages 50- 82, 90- 94​

3. Face of the Enemy, 2009.

4. Geoffrey Parker, The Cambridge History of Warfare, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press,

2020), pages 370- 372, 375- 384