stresses in attempt to answer "why", and, ideally, prevent anotheratrocity like the My Lai Massacre. In any war, psychological stresses are inevitable. The memoryof risking one’s life will not fade quickly and is reason alone enough to drive one insane. As statedpreviously, however, the war in Vietnam provided additional stresses. A major stress was the factthat neither the citizens of the United States nor of South Vietnam accepted Americaninterference. A solider was usually uninformed of the intentions of their government. Soldiers aretaught to carry out orders without asking questions. This could lead to a solider developing abelief that all fighting was being done in vain. Eventually, a solider would lose care in what he wasdoing. His self worth would lower, thus lowering his view of worth of others. When he sees allthe death and destruction in what has became his world and realizes he is partly responsible, hebegins to regard himself as a killer, who himself deserves death. It is highly probable that evenwith the end of a tour soldiers go home with this "responsible killer" attitude, and is forced backinto an unaccepting society still believing he doesn’t deserve to live, and often questioning why hestill is. Over the years, these repressed feelings grow until they eventually become uncontrollable,and take control of the person, physically and mentally. There are two major viewpoints on thepsychological effects of events such as My Lai. One of these views is from the commandedsolider. If the happenings of everyday life in Vietnam are enough to drive one insane, the effectsof watching and participating a massacre of over 300 innocent people are truly destructive.Months after such happenings, the soldiers are expected to return to normal, everyday civilian life.This in its self is a form of denial. The same pressures on every solider are on those witnesses tothe outrages, only the witness must find a way to deal with both...
