The Aftermath of War: “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa The Vietnam War remains a topic of unimaginable interest 39 years after the official cessation of hostilities between the American and the Communist Vietnam forces. There is no gainsaying that the war, which occurred between 1965 and 1975 had a lasting and profound effect on combatants on all sides. “On many levels and in many different ways, the process of coming to terms with the Vietnam war continues to unfold. As Morley Safer writes, each witness to that conflict is “still imprisoned, to one extent or another, by that place and that time.'' Flashbacks of the hostilities remain indelible among many Americans and this is exemplified in the poem “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa. The piece captures the emotions felt by the author after visiting the Vietnam memorial, years after his stint during the war. The poem rehashed the state of American race relations during the war, the casualties, emotions and more importantly, the legacy of the Vietnam War. …show more content…
From that line, a connection is immediately established between the writer and the memorial. At the same time Komunyakaa showed the insignificance of skin color in the eventual aftermath of the war. The memorial did not accord any special recognition to any of the fallen soldiers based on skin color as it did not matter what the soldiers’ race or identity was after all, the black granite of the memorial accorded every fallen soldier the same respect devoid of who they were or what their background