November 1st, Friday | A Very Vietnam War

1955 saw the start of the Vietnam War – though the fighting had been going on for some time. In today’s poem, the speaker attempts to forget his own war experiences.

The date is November 1st, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Sydney, Australia.

On this day in 1955, the Vietnam War began. It would last 19 years and be a massive stain in the history of American international affairs. It is also known in some parts of Vietnam as the War of American Aggression or simply the American War. History books may call it the Second Indochina War.

The fight over Vietnam started earlier with the First Indochina War, also known as the Anti-French Resistance War. At the end of WWII, Vietnam was split into two with North Vietnam under the influence of China and South Vietnam under the influence of France.

There was a desire for all of Vietnam to unite, however, with two nations of opposing forms of government vying for influence, war broke out.

Fighting between French forces, supported by the USA, and Guerilla and Northern Vietnam forces, supported by China lasted for seven years. The Geneva Peace Conference of 1954 temporarily halted the conflict, again dividing Vietnam into two states, against the wishes of the majority of Vietnamese.

The US was then even more heavy-handed in their behind the scenes meddling in Vietnamese affairs, using the “domino theory” to justify their early actions. The Domino Theory asserts that if one nation becomes communist, surrounding nations are more likely to also adopt communism. To mitigate the risk of Vietnam uniting as a communist country, American foreign policy leaders quietly assisted Ngô Đình Diệm in becoming President of South Vietnam. However, Diệm quickly took advantage of his power, in essence creating a dictatorship. The American CIA then supported the generals in South Vietnam who lead the coup against Diệm.

The Vietnam War remains a difficult one to tease out. To many Americans, it seemed meddling in the affairs of another nation was in direct conflict with supporting a Democratic process. Young men were drafted in increasing numbers to fight for unclear purposes, except to not lose. The unauthorized release of the classified Pentagon Papers in June 1971 by The New York Times created a storm of outrage and calls to end American involvement in Vietnam reached a fever-pitch.

The final US troops were withdrawn from Saigon, what is now Ho Chi Minh City, in April 1975.

Repressions of War Experience
Siegfried Sassoon

Now light the candles; one; two; there’s a moth;

What silly beggars they are to blunder in

And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame—

No, no, not that,—it’s bad to think of war,

When thoughts you’ve gagged all day come back to scare you;

And it’s been proved that soldiers don’t go mad

Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts

That drive them out to jabber among the trees.

Now light your pipe; look, what a steady hand.

Draw a deep breath; stop thinking; count fifteen,

And you’re as right as rain….

Why won’t it rain?…

I wish there’d be a thunder-storm to-night,

With bucketsful of water to sluice the dark,

And make the roses hang their dripping heads.

Books; what a jolly company they are,

Standing so quiet and patient on their shelves,

Dressed in dim brown, and black, and white, and green

And every kind of colour. Which will you read?

Come on; O do read something; they’re so wise.

I tell you all the wisdom of the world

Is waiting for you on those shelves; and yet

You sit and gnaw your nails, and let your pipe out,

And listen to the silence: on the ceiling

There’s one big, dizzy moth that bumps and flutters;

And in the breathless air outside the house

The garden waits for something that delays.

There must be crowds of ghosts among the trees,—

Not people killed in battle,—they’re in France,—

But horrible shapes in shrouds—old men who died

Slow, natural deaths,—old men with ugly souls,

Who wore their bodies out with nasty sins.

* * *

You’re quiet and peaceful, summering safe at home;

You’d never think there was a bloody war on!…

O yes, you would … why, you can hear the guns.

Hark! Thud, thud, thud,—quite soft … they never cease—

Those whispering guns—O Christ, I want to go out

And screech at them to stop—I’m going crazy;

I’m going stark, staring mad because of the guns.

1955 saw the start of the Vietnam War – though the fighting had been going on for some time. In today’s poem, the speaker attempts to forget his own war experiences.

Wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely weekend.