Deadly Waters & Saving Private Ryan

Use this forum to discuss the November 2019 Book of the month, "Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And Its Aftermath", by Randy Miller.
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Laura Lee
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Deadly Waters & Saving Private Ryan

Post by Laura Lee »

I'd like to hear from any Vietnam vets. Was this book triggering to you to read? I've heard how a lot of WWII vets were terribly triggered by Saving Private Ryan. Now, obviously, a book doesn't have the visuals and sound effects that a movie has, but at the same time, it can still trigger personal memories. Did this book have that effect on you? If not, why do you suppose that is?

For some reason, whenever I think of the Vietnam war, I don't think of the navy as much as, say, WWII. What branch of the military did you serve in during the Vietnam war?
Laura Lee

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Post by crusader77 »

The Vietnam War was arguably the most traumatic experience for the United States in the twentieth century. That is indeed a grim distinction in a span that included two world wars, the assassinations of two presidents and the resignation of another, the Great Depression, the Cold War, racial unrest, and the drug and crime waves.
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Laura Lee
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Post by Laura Lee »

I agree, crusader77. The psychological impact on Vietnam vets was greater than that of either the Korean War or WWII. It's so sad that they got little to no help.

As a little girl in the 70s, one of my friends' fathers was a Vietnam vet. He'd been a Green Beret. Everyone knew he was abusive to his wife and kids. I remember my friend telling me how, that morning before school, he'd held a cocked and loaded gun to her mother's head. At only 8, I wasn't in any sort of position to know how to handle something like that. I told my mom. All she did, like the other adults, was agree that it was sad and blame it on his drinking.

Today, we would know that he was suffering from PTSD. But that wasn't as widely understood back then. I've read that the psychological devastation on Vietnam vets was similar to that experienced by vets in WWI--another devastating conflict. That time, because it was a war of attrition. It's very sad that so many young lives were lost or otherwise destroyed. This book really highlights it all over again.
Laura Lee

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― Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx
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Post by Browlyns »

I am not american but I have some knowledge on Vietnam war. I know it was a trying day to the american, most importantly the army lacked support of its citizens I once read that the soldiers were abused and spit on they were returning from war. I believe this was the reason that informed the government on importance of propaganda in future wars eg. Iraq, afghan etc.
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Post by AvidBibliophile »

crusader77 wrote: 23 Nov 2019, 14:25 The Vietnam War was arguably the most traumatic experience for the United States in the twentieth century. That is indeed a grim distinction in a span that included two world wars, the assassinations of two presidents and the resignation of another, the Great Depression, the Cold War, racial unrest, and the drug and crime waves.
Succinctly put, yet so eloquently all-encompassing. For a century that held so much growth, promise and innovation, it was not without its fair share of traumatic memories, wartime atrocities and nationwide, political unrest.
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Post by LyorBoone »

Laura Lee wrote: 23 Nov 2019, 22:16 I agree, crusader77. The psychological impact on Vietnam vets was greater than that of either the Korean War or WWII. It's so sad that they got little to no help.

As a little girl in the 70s, one of my friends' fathers was a Vietnam vet. He'd been a Green Beret. Everyone knew he was abusive to his wife and kids. I remember my friend telling me how, that morning before school, he'd held a cocked and loaded gun to her mother's head. At only 8, I wasn't in any sort of position to know how to handle something like that. I told my mom. All she did, like the other adults, was agree that it was sad and blame it on his drinking.

Today, we would know that he was suffering from PTSD. But that wasn't as widely understood back then. I've read that the psychological devastation on Vietnam vets was similar to that experienced by vets in WWI--another devastating conflict. That time, because it was a war of attrition. It's very sad that so many young lives were lost or otherwise destroyed. This book really highlights it all over again.
I imagine Vietnam veterans had it worse with many citizens being against the war. The feeling of others being ungrateful for the daring sacrifices of fallen military brethren would be enough to drive a lot of people mad, especially with survivors guilt added on top of that.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” - Mark Twain. Dare we say the same thing about every story that gets told in the world?
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Post by ronmathewalx »

Vietnam war only brought pain and trauma. The war was fought for stopping communism, which clearly, did not happen. I would say that it was a meaningless war, which could be easily avoided.
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Post by Wyland »

With so much commitment in terms of manpower and financial resources and with the ultimate defeat of the US, it was mortifying to the ideals of capitalism and free society. And with no concrete achievement from the war, it was forever to serve as a reminder of the triviality of war.
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Post by Nkoo »

ronmathewalx wrote: 04 Dec 2019, 11:36 Vietnam war only brought pain and trauma. The war was fought for stopping communism, which clearly, did not happen. I would say that it was a meaningless war, which could be easily avoided.
I agree with you, nothing good came out of the Vietnam war. It was a war in futility; nothing gained or achieved. It was a complete travesty.
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Post by winecellarlibrary »

Unfortunately, the president, his staff, and many generals during the war were all seeking glory. They wanted to be remembered in history like the great generals of WWII. This led to a war that dragged on far longer than it should have, and sadly, it was the warfighters who carried the blame when they returned home due to the public outrage being exacted on the wrong people.
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Post by randy6175 »

winecellarlibrary wrote: 17 Dec 2019, 12:52 Unfortunately, the president, his staff, and many generals during the war were all seeking glory. They wanted to be remembered in history like the great generals of WWII. This led to a war that dragged on far longer than it should have, and sadly, it was the warfighters who carried the blame when they returned home due to the public outrage being exacted on the wrong people.
I couldn't agree more. Thank you
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Post by mensah2 »

The title alone triggered me to read. As an action lover, the books has impacted on my life as an aspiring military officer.
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Post by lucia_kizas »

Vietnam war was yet another sad example of the Cold War between the States and the USSR... Both sides sacrificed their soldiers and people of the countries they instigated wars in just to prove they were stronger, more powerful... It's sad that so many innocent lives were lost or ruined for all the wrong reasons...
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Post by Ekta Swarnkar »

I think the war could be avoided or should I say "should be" avoided. It has no final outcomes that were positive only the destruction of lives.
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Post by Jajachris »

I do not have any military experience or hear a lot of war stories from my parents so I wouldn't know.

I have not read widely about war's too, but I agree books like these can have effects of veterans
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