This week I chose to read the book Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam by Nick Turse. The book exposed the torturous events happening during the Vietnam War such as the gang rape of Bui Thi Huong and the killing of her and her family and the mission led by Lieutenant James Duffy where a man was stripped down in front of his family and searched because they were “having some fun.” One specific example that really caught my attention was the My Lai Massacre which was the biggest and most notable. These events were unknown in the American Media throughout four president administrations. The idea of “pacification” or “body count” was the policy designed for troops to make quota of killing Vietnamese villagers. The troops would also force out villagers living in Viet Cong occupied territory and into refugee camps. These refugee camps were made with unbearable living conditions and the camp advisors would not provide any necessities. As a Vietnamese American I was almost in disbelief to learn the tragic history of my heritage. The struggles and obstacles many Vietnamese people faced really struck me and created a newfound deep respect for my roots. Every first generation Vietnamese American has to have a story on how the war heavily affected their families. The Vietnam War was always something personal to me, but now I was able to view the war from a different perspective.
Why didn’t the major newspapers want to expose the actual reality of the Vietnam War?
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