I recently had the opportunity to view an early screening of Vietnam: The War that Changed America, a six-episode documentary scheduled for release on Apple TV+ on January 31st, 2025. I was nine years old in 1964 when the Gulf of Tonkin incident spurred the United States to expand combat operations in Vietnam. Little did I know that the war would persist throughout my high school career and college years. I came of age during that war. It was the first true “TV” war—I watched news coverage of the war daily and, on the Friday evening news, heard reports of the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action that week. As time went by, schoolmates just a little older than me were drafted or volunteered for duty to fight in Vietnam. My oldest brother served for two years in combat in Vietnam before the Paris Peace Accords brought America’s involvement in the war to an end in January 1973.
So it was with great interest that I viewed this new documentary. The episodes include footage of combat operations and interviews with American and North Vietnamese soldiers who served in the war. Particularly poignant were scenes where former soldiers who had not seen each other since the war were reunited some 50 years or more later. Former combatants reflected on the impact of the war on their lives and how their experiences continue to influence, and often haunt them today, over a half a century later.
The Lasting Psychological Effects of War
There is a saying in neuroscience—“touch the brain, never the same.” The same can be said for the experience of combat veterans. The horrors of war leave a mark. These marks can range from physical wounds and psychological pathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety (to name a few), to personal growth.
It seems, however, that the Vietnam War resulted in a disproportionate rate of the adverse impacts of war on personal well-being. The psychological wounds of this war were especially pervasive and enduring. To this day, far too many Vietnam veterans struggle to come to terms with their experiences. Physical wounds heal and can, at least to a large extent, be mitigated medically and through physical therapy. The psychological wounds are more problematic.
Moral Injury
Moral injury—a sense of the violation of one’s core values and beliefs—may play a significant role in the challenges that some Vietnam veterans face in coming to terms with their involvement in the war. US Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Dr. Larry Dewey, who spent a career treating the psychological wounds of Vietnam veterans, maintains that moral injury is a common denominator among his patients. He maintains that the killing of others, even in the context of war, produces a moral and existential crisis in veterans that is a fundamental causal factor in PTSD, depression, and other war-related psychological pathologies.[i]
Why are Vietnam veterans especially vulnerable to moral injury? Part of the answer lies in the poorly articulated justification for the war. Unlike World War II, where there was an obvious existential threat to democracy, the case for waging war against North Vietnam was not clearly made. Nor was there consensus on what victory might look like.
These shortcomings are seen repeatedly in this documentary. American soldiers died in large numbers while engaging in missions wherein the objectives and purpose were not clear. The May 1969 battle of Hamberger Hill illustrates this point. American combat troops engaged the enemy in an intense fight to claim a hill said to be of tactical and strategic importance militarily. They defeated the North Vietnamese but, in the process, suffered severe casualties. Despite the clear military victory, the commanders ordered the troops to abandon the hill on June 5th, just days after it was secured at so high a cost.
What could a soldier take away from this battle? They killed many enemy soldiers, suffered large numbers of their own casualties, and, in the end, were ordered to abandon the ground gained at such cost. Why were they there? Why did they fight this battle? What was the larger purpose of this action? These unanswered questions further diminished any larger sense of meaning and purpose of that battle and the war in general.
Another factor contributing to the moral injuries of Vietnam veterans was the widespread lack of social support for the war. It was disheartening and disillusioning for American soldiers to return from the war only to be ostracized as war criminals, shunned, and sometimes verbally or physically assaulted by Americans who disagreed with the nation’s involvement in the war. This also took away the sense of meaning and purpose that these veterans needed to help them deal with their combat experiences.
Moral Injury Essential Reads
Did the Vietnam War Change America?
Did the Vietnam War change America? Perhaps, in some ways. It did change the attitudes of American citizens towards its soldiers. In contrast to Vietnam veterans, those who served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are viewed as heroes. Soldiers in uniform are thanked by strangers in the airport. To be welcomed and embraced by one’s family, friends, and neighbors—in contrast to being viewed as a pariah—helps today’s veterans maintain a sense of pride and accomplishment from their service.
In another and important way, we have not changed much from the Vietnam War. The nation’s elected leadership continues to commit its armed forces to fight wars lacking in clear objectives and of vital national importance. The surrender of the Axis powers in 1945 signaled a clear-cut victory for democracy over tyranny. But how is victory defined in the wars of the 21st century, where the enemy is more often a geographically dispersed ideological terrorist organization rather than another sovereign nation?
These two factors — social support for veterans and using military force only when there is a clear and present danger to democracy — are crucial mitigators of moral injury. All wars threaten the physical and psychological health of combatants but committing soldiers to a war lacking in a clear purpose and which lacks or quickly loses social support can only worsen moral and psychological consequences for its combatants.
For those who personally remember the Vietnam War era, Vietnam: The War that Changed America serves as a stark reminder of the impact of such wars on those who fought in it. This documentary allows those without a personal memory of this war to understand and empathize with the Vietnam generation and provides a cautionary tale against waging war in the absence of a compelling justification.
Note: The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.
[i] Dewey, L. (2020). War and Redemption. Routledge
