I was recently speaking to my grandmother and she was telling me that my grandfather used to wake up in the middle of the night screaming in a cold sweat. This happened during the 1970’s, after he returned from the Vietnam war. My grandmother explained to me that this happened as a result of traumatic experiences that my grandfather endured during this war. He was diagnosed with a condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). After learning about my grandfather’s condition I became interested in seeing if others suffered with it as well. Therefore, I decided to write this paper on “What effect did the Vietnam war have on soldiers when they returned to the America?”

METHODOLOGY In researching this topic, the steps I used to find my data were: using my computer to check various websites such as CBS news, American veterans (the Vietnam war and it’s impact), Vietnam effects America and Vietnam against the war. I also used my school literature textbook that had information on the Vietnam war and how the troops were effected. The textbook also explained about how Ho Chi Minh was with North Vietnam and believed in communism. The textbook went on to discuss tactics such as guerilla warfare that effected North and South Vietnam. Another thing I did while researching this project was that I checked out a book from my local library. The title of this book was “Avoiding Vietnam”. This book described how the United States wanted to avoid joining this war. These were the main steps that were used in gaining my sources for this paper.

RESEARCH FINDINGS The first military advisory from the United States arrived as early as the 1950’s to help train the South Vietnamese in their war against North Vietnam. After many years of advising the South Vietnamese on their war, the United States decided to enter the war on March 8, 1965. The United States was there to help South Vietnam in the war against the North Vietnamese and communism. The Untied States thought this was a justifiable war because they wanted to stop the “domino effect” of a country falling to communist rule. The United States had troops fighting in this war for almost 10 years. During that time approximately twenty-seven million American men were being drafted. Of the men drafted, approximately three million served in Vietnam. Many men drafted were released because of college deferments, the majority of the soldiers came from working-class and minority families. The average age of an American soldier in Vietnam was nineteen years old. The average age for an American soldier in World War II and Korea was twenty-two years old. This meant that our soldiers were younger and less experienced than in previous wars. Also, in Vietnam soldiers served their tours of duty in individual tours rather than being attached to a unit throughout the war like the military did in World War II. The war in Vietnam was a very difficult struggle for the United States. Over 300,000 soldiers were wounded, over 2,000 missing and over 58,000 dead as a result of fighting in this war. The changes made with the soldiers being younger and not with the same unit on their tours of duty along with the death and gruesome violence witnessed by the soldiers made transitioning back to a normal life more difficult when they returned home from the war. Some of the difficulties that the soldiers experienced are explained as a result of one of the following conditions: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Post Vietnam Struggle (PVS), The effects of being exposed to Agent Orange and burns from Napalm Bombs.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after you have witnessed traumatic events. In war this is know as a psychological disease brought on by violent trauma in the combat experience. It is estimated between 500,000 and 700,000 Vietnam veterans suffered from some type of PTSD. Some of the symptoms of