Essay on Dear America Edithed by Bernard Edelman - 1186 Words

Edited by Bernard Edelman, â€Å"Dear America† is a collection of letters written by soldiers during the Vietnam War. Their letters are written to love ones back home such as parents, siblings, and spouses but they are a great depiction of the Vietnam War. The soldiers would write these letters to help keep hope alive and to keep sane. Throughout the book the letters are categorize into those who are barely arriving into the war to those who have been there a long time. The stress and anxiety grows more and more as the letters continue and the soldiers begin to contemplate their situation. I’ve learned a lot of factual things about the Vietnam War throughout my life such as how it began and what the outcome was but reading this book was the†¦show more content†¦They are only told what they need to know and not what they should know. During this time, the beginning of the war, America joined the war to stop the spread of communism and this was pretty much all th e soldiers were told. The infantry soldiers of the war the wised up to their situation wrote many interesting letters. These â€Å"grunts† knew what they got themselves into and their letters reflect this. Most of them wrote letters home the described their everyday routing during the war. Back at home a lot of pressure was being put on politicians to end the war. Unlike previous wars many believed this wasn’t their place and believed America shouldn’t have gotten involved. The letters sent home during this time was a way to persuade people to fight to end the war. Although, not as important as other things the letters sent during this time are still important as they describe the reality of the Vietnam War. One of these letters was very detailed and describes what was important to him even if it wasn’t important to others. Cameron MacDonald wrote this letter while in Vietnam in October 1968. MacDonald begins his letter to his mom stating, â€Å"Weâ€⠄¢ve been running around these mountains every day without a break.† He starts the letter by expressing something that is very important that most people don’t talk about; the fatigue from walking. The constant walking soldiers must endure