Vietnam War 50 years on: How it changed perception of war

The Vietnam War — which came closely on the heels of the Southeast Asian nation's war against colonial France — was one of the longest military conflicts of the 20th century, lasting nearly 20 years, from 1955 to 1975.

It claimed the lives of approximately 3.8 million people and concluded with the defeat of the US-backed regime in South Vietnam and the victory of the communist forces from both North and South Vietnam.

There has been extensive literature about the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

However, one aspect stands out, as noted by Jose Brunner, historian of science and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University: The recognition and understanding of the long-term psychological and social consequences of war.

Post-Vietnam syndrome

Since at least World War I, it's known that soldiers often suffer from their experiences of violence long after the war ends. In Germany, the so-called "war shiverers" experienced chills and panic attacks, or refused to eat.

The medical community was at a loss, and in keeping with the spirit of the times, these individuals were either dismissed as malingerers or left to heal on their own.

This changed with the Vietnam War. In 1972, psychiatrist Chaim F. Shatan, who had worked with Vietnam veterans, published a report on post-Vietnam syndrome in The New York Times.

Shatan described how veterans were plagued by feelings of guilt, how the war had brutalized them, and how they suffered from deep alienation from their fellow human beings.

"The most poignant feature is an agonizing doubt about their continued ability to love others, and to accept affection. One veteran said: 'I hope I can learn to love as much as I learned to hate — and I sure hated, man. But love's a pretty heavy word,'" Shatan wrote.

Brunner emphasizes that this article was groundbreaking for understanding what wars do to people: "It was actually the first recognition that war doesn't end when the last shot is fired, because the soldiers carry the war within them — invisibly."


Post-traumatic stress disorder
It was not until the 1980s that the disorder was officially recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by the American Psychiatric Association. A 1983 investigation ordered by the US Congress revealed that 15% of veterans were affected, totaling more than 400,000 people.

A repeat study 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War showed that 1 in 5 people still suffered from PTSD, and those affected were twice as likely to die earlier as people without the condition.

PTSD can be treated or at least alleviated with therapies and medication. For most sufferers, it becomes less acute over time.

The situation was completely different in Vietnam, as historian and Vietnam expert Martin Grossheim from the National University of Seoul told DW: "I am absolutely certain that the number of Vietnamese soldiers who suffered from trauma was very high. But that was never an issue in Vietnam."

The main reason is that the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) dictated and still dictates exactly what can and cannot be said about the war, he said, pointing out that "psychological problems did not fit into the official image of the heroic fight against the Americans."

The example of writer and former soldier Bao Ninh, who published his novel "The Sorrows of War" in 1987, shows that these health issues did exist. The main character in the novel takes refuge from his war memories in alcohol and suffers from deep alienation from society. The fictional book was banned immediately after publication.


Trauma for society as a whole
Overcoming trauma is not just an individual issue, said Brunner: "It's not just about individual therapies. It's not enough for all those affected to be put on the couch and treated and then everything will be fine again. I don't think that's how it works. It's about the question of how society deals with war. And that in turn has an impact on individuals."

Brunner said that social interaction has at least four dimensions: Firstly, there are the rituals of remembrance. Are wreaths laid in cemeteries? Are there public commemorative events? Are the soldiers revered as heroes, as in Vietnam, or rather seen as criminals, like the American Vietnam veterans who were decried as "baby killers" in the United States in the post-war years?

Secondly, popular narratives play a role. This does not mean how historians research a war, but how the war is portrayed in school textbooks, popular films, and novels. Thirdly, it is about whether the warring parties later came to a reconciliation.

And finally, it is significant whether there is ultimately a social recognition of the atrocities and psychological suffering of the soldiers or whether the facts are denied.

"In the first decades, and I'm speaking from the perspective of a historian, decades are not that long for this process, denial is quite normal," Brunner underscored.


Decades of legacy
In the case of the Vietnam War, there is a decades-long aftereffect, both individually and socially, the expert noted.

In Vietnam, the end of the war 50 years ago is celebrated with parades, talk shows, and political speeches, but only within the limits set by the CPV.

According to Grossheim, the party's aim is to present itself as the guarantor of the country's success. "After the victory over the French comes the victory over the 'American imperialists,' according to the official wording, and then comes the victorious reform policy."

The reform policy refers to the economic reforms since the end of the 1980s, which have made Vietnam's economy one of the fastest growing in the world.

There is also reconciliation, albeit with a strange asymmetry. While the Americans are welcome, there is still the "big problem of reconciliation” with the former South Vietnamese opponent, as Grossheim noted. There is no open discussion about what happened. The suffering of the South Vietnamese soldiers is only hesitantly acknowledged, which can also be seen from the fact that the cemeteries of South Vietnamese soldiers were desecrated after the end of the war and then neglected for a long time. The relatives were deliberately denied the opportunity to look after the graves.

This only changed in 2007, when the Vietnamese government made the cemeteries accessible again and allowed the graves to be tended. "That was an important contribution to national reconciliation," said Grossheim. "An even bigger step towards reconciliation with the former enemy would be if the Vietnamese authorities allowed people to search for the remains of the fallen and missing South Vietnamese soldiers."

The remains of hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers have still not been found. In Vietnam, where ancestor worship plays a major cultural role, many believe that the spirits of the deceased can only come to rest and find peace with a burial.