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A Rumor of War: the Changes of a Solider

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A Rumor of War: the Changes of a Solider
A Rumor of War: The Changes of a Solider

The Vietnam War was seen by all as horrible and by many, senseless. War has the ability to change people, countries, and even the harmony of the planet. After the Vietnam War’s end, many Americans didn’t want to hear or speak about the war. Many of the citizens in America wanted to forget it ever occurred. The United States had lost their invincibility to their negligence; the nation believed it could do anything. They especially thought they could end the war quickly in Vietnam and stop the spread of communism. The United States had joined the Vietnam War with hopes of becoming an alliance with France. This alliance would help turn the tide easily for them on what they thought was a naïve, unorganized enemy. For many soldiers, it rapidly transformed into a plain hope for survival in a savage wilderness that was South Vietnam. A Rumor of War is written by Lieutenant Philip Caputo. It is a memoir of his experiences and his notes of the more historical and well-known events the war created for this Marine. It takes viewers through the battles, minds, and thoughts of what being a soldier in Vietnam was truly like. Philip Caputo is a young, bored man with his life in Westchester, Illinois decides to enlist in the Marines to prove himself, his manhood, and to satisfy his curiosity. He enlists in 1960 and endures basic training, making minor turns back to his past love for English literature. However he continues on, pushing the urge out of his mind. After his basic training, he goes to Virginia, coming out a Second Lieutenant. He is highly ignorant of what war is capable of and yearns for war. Caputo and the platoon are sent to Okinawa, Japan, months before the war was ready to begin and launch Vietnam into a decade of pointless fights and deaths. When the platoons are sent to Danang to fight, they are intoxicated with joy, without knowing half of what they will encounter. It’s several months before they make contact with
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