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Fourth 750 Words: The Vietnam War

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Fourth 750 Words Though the North and South fought for different reasons, their goals and perspectives of each other are closer than one may realize. Both the North and the South want to fight for peace, whatever version of that it may be for themselves, and both fight for their country’s pride. From the American perspective, Caputo feels the surge of patriotism remnant from World War I and wants to defend his country’s (U.S.A) honor and prove that they are truly an indestructible force. The American perspective of peace holds the image of a world free from the clutches of communism, which is exactly why the Americans aid South Vietnam to begin with. From the Viet Cong (North) perspective, they are fighting to free their country from the American ‘bandits’ (Tram, 2005). The Viet Cong believe that their cause is to give their country independence at long last after being colonized by the French and want to unite the North and South in order to create a strong state under one government. The North Vietnamese perception of freedom is the idea of being a united and independent country, liberated from any outside nation’s rule or influence. …show more content…

Both sides view the other as being mysterious and unpredictable in their actions, however both think that they may have an idea of what the other is plotting. (Although, the Americans are less wary of the Vietnamese initially and also later only compare them to phantoms, which also insults the Viet Cong by making them seem like cowards) In Tram’s diary she makes reference to the Americans sweeping plan, the plan to march through the country and exterminate the Vietnamese population, whereas the Americans think that the Viet Cong have the tactic of simply staging night time attacks to slowly decimate or wear out the American

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