What is Vietnamese syndrome? Oddly enough, there are just three interpretations of this term. You will learn about them by reading this article.
Vietnam war
The war in Vietnam became the longest modern war: it lasted more than two decades. More than 2.5 million US troops took part in the hostilities. Vietnam veterans make up about 10% of the young people of their generation. At the same time, about 60 thousand soldiers were killed there, another 300 thousand were wounded, and 2 thousand were reported missing. Vietnamese killed more than one million people and more than 4 million civilians.
The reason for the war was rather strange. Americans feared that the Communist infection would spread from Vietnam across Asia. And it was decided to deliver a preemptive strike.
Horror before the war: post-traumatic stress disorder
The Americans were not ready for war in the jungle, which the locals knew as the back of their hand. Despite the fact that the Vietnamese were equipped much worse than the military from the United States, they compensated for this with ingenuity and cunning. Numerous traps filled with gunpowder from American shells, explosive devices and partisan ambushes - all this scared the Americans who expected an easy victory and a quick return home.
However, after the military came back to the United States, their torment did not end. Americans began to suffer nightmares, vivid memories of the horrors of war, fear of loud sounds resembling explosions ... Many drank themselves or started taking drugs to drown out tormenting memories, someone committed suicide ... Psychiatrists concluded that the stay in such terrible conditions, it cannot but harm the psyche. The so-called Vietnamese syndrome has been described. This is a set of experiences experienced by the military returning from hot spots.
Vietnamese syndrome as a mental disorder
This syndrome is also called "Afghan," or "Chechen." Many psychiatrists have studied the Vietnamese syndrome, the symptoms and treatment these days are described quite well. Many US soldiers underwent rehabilitation and were able to forget about their nightmare. Well, the experience gained by psychiatrists allowed me to learn a lot about how the human psyche reacts to transcendental experiences.
What is Vietnamese syndrome? Symptoms are rather unpleasant: these are obsessive memories of the war, nightmares, constant thoughts about the experience. Due to such manifestations, a person loses the ability to live normally in society: he wants to forget himself and get rid of painful experiences. As a result, antisocial behavior, increased aggressiveness, craving for alcohol and drugs.
The nation is scared by the war
The Vietnam War not only broke the identities of individual participants, but also led to the fact that America as a whole has changed. This war was one of the few where American citizens were directly involved, where they died ... And where they lost. As a result, ordinary US citizens have developed a fear of new wars in which their country can take a direct part. That is, the Vietnamese syndrome is the fear of ordinary Americans to be drawn into a bloody war on foreign territory.
It can be said that since the end of the war in Vietnam, America has never fought. State tactics have changed in order not to cause indignation among ordinary taxpayers. Now the United States prefers either to organize “color” revolutions, or to send a limited contingent to hot spots where they want to establish their influence.
Because of the national Vietnamese syndrome, Americans simply refuse to go to defend obscure national interests and risk their own lives. And some politicians claim that the American nation is simply afraid of another military defeat.
"Orange Agent"
There is another interpretation of the term “Vietnamese syndrome” - no less sad than the two previous ones. The Vietnamese waged a real guerrilla war against the invaders, arranging numerous shelters in the jungle of Indochina. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, the Americans decided to destroy the jungle, deprive the partisans of a reliable shelter. For this purpose, specially developed herbicides were used, the most effective of which was Agent Orange, which got its name due to the bright marking of barrels.
The herbicide worked extremely efficiently: literally in a matter of hours, all the leaves from the trees fell, and the partisans were in full view of the Americans. Mangroves were almost completely destroyed, out of 150 bird species, only 18 remained ... However, the "Orange Agent" killed not only trees and birds ... The herbicide contained dioscin, a powerful poison that causes genetic mutations and cancer in humans.
Echo of war
Agent Orange turned out to be the strongest mutagen. Until now, children with genetic diseases unknown to science are being born in Vietnam. Lack of eyes and hands, deep mental retardation, all kinds of deformities ... In areas where the Orange Agent was sprayed, people are much more likely to get cancer. All of this, some researchers gave the name - Vietnamese syndrome.
What kind of strange phenomenon is this, can justice be found? The Americans still deny their involvement in the ongoing horror. Rare public organizations are trying to restore justice, but the official government does not want to listen to them.