John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) decided to commit American support troops to South Vietnam. Four thousand troops were sent in 1962. After John Kennedy was murdered, Vice President Lyndon Johnson served the last fourteen months of Kennedy's term. He then was elected to his own full term. It began in January 1965. Much of his time and energy would be taken up by the war in Vietnam. By early nineteen-sixty-four, America had about seventeen-thousand troops in Vietnam. The troops were there to advise and train the South Vietnamese military.
The first poem I will analyze is “Norman Morrison” by Adrian Mitchell. It is set out as if it is a news article and begins with a date. It is a true story and has no obvious rhythm. It is poignant without pulling a simple structure, and is deliberately simple and clear cut. The poem tells the story of one Norman Morrison burning himself in a public truth to really reveal what goes on behind “closed doors” to the people in Vietnam, however for the Vietnamese it was not by choice. He has changed his identity by becoming Vietnamese through the morbid suffering he has gone through just like them and in the process has therefore gained new characteristics.
Next is another poem by Adrian Mitchell called “To whom it May Concern”. This poem portrays the feelings on the war by possibly a veteran who has seen everything that has gone on. He seems to be sinking into oblivion and wants to block out the horrors he has been exposed to. ‘Tell my lies about…’ presumably referring to the politicians’ lies about the war effort. This individual unfortunately found out the hard way, by being maimed in battle. He has taken it hard and is permanently scarred, ‘Ever since the accident I’ve walked this way…’. In the third stanza he is referring to a memorial in Washington, as if putting the names of the dead on a marble structure will rectify the awful situation and somehow bring back the dead whose lives were wasted because America saw themselves as the police state of the world.
“Born in the USA” however is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and tells the story of a typical serviceman entering the war effort and what happened to him after his discharge. The man in the song lyrics, “born down in a dead mans town”, meaning “small time America” so to speak. Like so many others in that generation in America at that time he was dragged into the war. He has committed some sort of crime and has chosen the army instead of jail, “Got into a little hometown jam, sent me off to a foreign land”. In the second stanza, he has used the extremely derogatory term of “Yellow man” a description of the Vietnamese. This captures so well the feeling of ignorance and racism you are dealing with in that generation. After the war he comes back to find a job or resume his previous one. The veteran’s association man then breaks it to him: ‘there are simply no jobs left. We are in recession and you are not a hero, we have lost the war and you have a criminal record, ‘son don’t you understand?’
Springsteen then refers to a brother, whether it is his natural brother or a comrade, who fought in one of the bloodiest battles of The Vietnam War – Khe Sahn. He tells how ‘They’re still here he’s all gone’, meaning however close the American Army came to winning the Viet Cong still succeeded in getting the better of them. The story ends –‘in the shadow of the penitentiary’ as he is still out of work, his record is following him everywhere he goes. He is alone, isolated and desolate. He’s ‘got nowhere to run, got nowhere to go’.
Even if this song tells an incredibly tragic story, it cannot be denied that the upbeat tune and the even more upbeat chorus makes an easy trap for believing it is actually patriotic, in fact Ronald Reagan, former president of the USA used it in one of his election rallies until one of his helpers let him no of it meaning.
The song which became somewhat of an anthem for the American soldiers of Vietnam was without a doubt “All along the Watchtower”, written by Bob Dylan however made famous by Jimi Hendrix’s’ rendition. Hendrix, a national role model of “Nam” and part of the famous 101st airborne division in the US army. The song uses metaphors throughout. The first stanza is trying to portray the desperate and feeble attempts of the man trying to work out what he is doing there, and that he cant take much more of what’s going on, ‘There must be some kind of way out of here’ and ‘I cant get no relief’. The overall picture is bleak and distressed.
Jimi Hendrix not only completely revolutionized the way the guitar is played today but was also a hero and a hippy icon to anti war protesters at the time. All along the Watchtower is no exception and has a distinct beat and guitar riff. As this quote from the dispatches sums up, ‘That Jimi Hendrix is my main man; he has definitely got his shit together’.
Lastly, another song by Adrian Mitchell titled “Zapping the Cong”. The title basically speaks for itself and is to the tune of “I get Around” by the Beach Boys, the significance being that the music of the Beach Boys was always happy and upbeat and is a somewhat of a send up. The racist phrases are immediately visible, ‘Got em crawling for shelter, got em burning like toast’ and ‘Hide your yellow asses’
Most of the stanzas show an immense disregard towards human life and are a prime example of the “hard man” cavalier attitudes towards these people of whom the Americans new nothing.
It seems that all the poets and song writes have united over there huge hatred of the Vietnam War. Whether we are looking on effects on people in society like in BORN IN THE USA or TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN or the progression of war itself such as in ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER or focused on the victims like in ZAPPING THE CONG or NORMAN MORRISON we can all easily deduce that the songwriters and poets of that era responded to the Vietnam War in a pungent revulsion and skepticism that still very much exists today.