As is often the case with the disabled,people attempt to,"avert" their eyes. He isn't a part of their reality. Even when providing the most sacred of acts(burying fallen brothers), the soldiers represent a negative view held by the American public. But the work is offered as an account of history not as a political vehicle,"In fact, Komunyakaals implicit recognition of the distinction between objective history and a personally felt history resembles Martin Heidegger's distinction between 'Historie' and 'Geschichte.'13 Komunyakaa continues tomasterfully stroke the canvas with precise strokes continually creating the picture that encompasses the vision of his Vietnam experience.We return to an examination of the racial conflict within Vietnam. The voice in "Report from the Skull's Diorama" speaks of the effects of the psychological warfare waged against the African-American soldier. The leaflets remind them,"VC didn't killDr. Martin Luther King." The words on the leaflets strike at the core of the African-American soldiers conscience. The country that they choose to put their life on the line, is the same country that could be responsible for the death of an AfricanAmerican leader. The leaflets engulf them,"yellow leaflets quiverback to the ground, clinging to us.These men have lost their tongues." The soldiers are unable to speak about how they feel. Division equates to death. The use of psychological war is very powerful"losses were accepted to forward military campaigns; and psychological campaigns were launched to lower enemy military effectiveness."14 The combination of the physical as well as the mental war proves exhausting.The respite provided to the soldiers is welcome. Familiar names "Clem","Johnny" and Lee Otis visualize the relaxed nature of the time spent in the rear, away from the war. The soldiers, "Pretending we're somewhere else,'we play harder." The atmosphere is that of a park on a Sunday afternoon. Weed ...
