Interview on The Vietnam War - Assignment Example

Harrison and my grandfather talk about numerous stories about the past. I chose him in this interview because his children were forced to take part in the war front during the war. I also chose Harrison because his children were not available for the interview. After all, they live in distant cities.

Harrison argued that he was in Washington, where he still lives, working in a garment factory. Harrison’s wife managed a grocery shop as she also took care of their two sons who were day high school scholars. Harrison recalls that the war was between Northern and Southern Vietnam. Northern Vietnam, which had defeated the French government and becomes a communist country like China, wanted to extend its communism to the southern region (Chant, 27). South Vietnam, on the other hand, wanted to remain a socialist country that was almost ruled by the US. The US ruled the country indirectly because the military in South Vietnam was largely deployed from the United States (Chant, 30). Thus, Harrison argues that the war was not just between North and South Vietnam because the US backed the south while china supported the north. North Vietnam acquired its weapons from china while the south got help from the US in terms of weapons and significant military (Chant, 40).

Harrison argued that they got information about the war from the media. “We could see the soldiers fighting in different villages in Vietnam live on television. The soldiers killed people and burnt the villages. We could also see our dead militants being brought into the country from Vietnam”. These were the words that Harrison used to describe how the media covered the war in Vietnam. He also argued that the scenes that they saw on television were horrifying to them and their children. Harrison argued that the media should have edited the videos before showing them on television because it was traumatizing to watch their soldiers killing and being killed. According to Harrison’s emotions in this argument, it is clear that the media played was unethical in how it presented the videos of the war. He seemed like he would want the media to be disciplined for showing graphic videos in this case.

The fourth question that asked how the war affected Harrison’s family brought about emotions. Harrison maintained silence before answering this question, and I could see how he thought about it deeply. He shook his head severally then he began narrating the effects of the war on his family. Mr. Harrison said that his family was affected during the war because his children were forced to take part in the war front. His two sons Kelvin and Bieber who were in high school were forced to go to the war to help the country win over Northern Vietnam. Harrison would remember that it is the children of the middle income and poor parents who took part in the war front while the rich only watched the events on the television. Harrison said, “At one point, I could see one of my sons getting shot in the leg on the television”. However, he said that the children managed to escape from Vietnam and came back home although he could not explain how they managed the escape. After coming back home, Harrison and his wife took care of their sons who were traumatized by the events that they observed in Vietnam. He said that they attended the clinic severally until their children got well, but after extensive suffering and spending of huge costs. “I and my wife almost got sick because of our children”. While saying this, Harrison almost fell into tears, but I and my grandfather consoled him and he regained the strength to answer the last question.

Harrison argued that life was difficult during the war. This would be because the then president, Johnson Lyndon, directed almost all resources to the war (Chant, 97). Goods were scarce while their prices were high. However, despite the high prices of goods and services, Harrison said that he and his family survived because he had a job and his wife was a sole proprietor. This was the end of the interview, and as Harrison explained how his family survived the turmoil, I could observe that he had recovered from the emotions of the previous question. The income they got and the fact that his children survived the Vietnam War motivated Harrison to be strong and live long.