Hearts + Minds Documentary

I understand that this assignment was to comment on the documentary, "Hearts and Minds"--however, I want to start off with writing on a more personal level. Watching this documentary changed important personal views that I have publicly and willingly defended. Looking back, I wish I had seen this documentary before I started talking through ignorance. I haveoo always supported the war in Iraq. I grew up in a Republican family with a Republican way of thinking--and so I stood by George W. Bush from the beginning. I trusted him, as a leader, that this war was for an important cause and that if the people of America did not support a war that stood for freedom, that we would be freely surrendering to terrorism and slavery; however, I now believe I have been wrong. Watching the accounts of the Viatnamese who experienced the bombings of their homes and lost ones almost brought me to tears. All I could think of was myself in their positions. Watching the young children going through the terrors and downright awful torments we were inflicting upon them because of the fear of "communism" only made me think of my own son and how I could not possibly fathom how human beings could kill the innocent, and especially the children. Is the war on "terrorism" mirroring the war on "communism?" If you asked me before this documentary, I would have replied, "Absolutely not!" Now, I do believe that there are extreme parallels and I firmly believe that in twenty years, students will be studying this war in Iraq and learning how the war in Iraq was a stalemate and a loss only to us--just like we have learned that the Vietnam War was, in retrospect. Watching Cooke, a POW of the Vietnam war, deliever his speeches to the public was only an example of how the army and all divisions and branches can truly desensitize and mentally brainwash and/or affect a person who has chosen to enlist. I liked how this documentary showed both the homefront and Vietnam. I also thought it was interesting how America would portray the war through commericals, movies and propoganda, and the documentary would juxtapose those with the reality of the war in Vietnam itself. Overall, this was a great documentary and it was an excellent supplement to mere notes written in all of the history classes I have taken.