Why is the Vietnam War so remembered in the United States?

美国人为什么忘不了越南战争？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Amy Christa Ernano

American all my lifeUpvoted by

C.J. Skamarakas, PhD History (2009) and

Nathan Creager, lives in The United States of America (1983-present)Author has 5.6K answers and 150.5M answer viewsJan 9

Because almost 60,000 young American men died for nothing, in the first war the U.S. ever lost in its history, and one that it never should have gotten involved in in the first place. Have you ever been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC? I have. My mom took me and my brother when we were kids, and even at 11 years old it was humbling, and made me incredibly sad, to see all those names of all those young men, stretching on and on.

因为有近6万名美国年轻人在越南战场上白白牺牲了，这是美国历史上的第一次战败，也是一场从头到尾都不该卷入的战争。你去过华盛顿特区的越战纪念碑吗？我去过。我和我弟弟还是孩子的时候，我妈妈带我们去参观过这个纪念碑。看着纪念碑上镌刻的无数年轻人的名字，11岁的我觉得很惭愧，很难过。

It was also an incredibly divisive war, and split the nation to an extent that no other American conflict aside from the Civil War had ever divided the American people. Even the Kent State massacre, in which four college students were killed and nine more wounded by the Ohio National Guard during a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University, can ultimately be attributed to the war in Vietnam. Americans were at each other's throats over the war; the civil unrest was insane.

这也是一场争议很大的战争，给美国造成了很大的裂痕，其程度之深，是美国人民在南北战争之后最为分裂的。就连肯特州立大学的大屠杀也归咎于越南战争。在肯特州立大学举行的一场越南战争抗议活动中，俄亥俄州国民警卫队杀死了4名大学生，打伤了9人。美国人因为这场战争吵得不可开交，国内局面一度动荡不安。

The bombing of Cambodia by the U.S. military, and the withdrawal of U.S. support at the end of the war, also contributed to the rise to power of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and thus to the Cambodian Genocide, which saw a quarter of Cambodia's population killed.

If we ever forget Vietnam, we are in trouble. Some mistakes need to be remembered, in an effort not to repeat them.

(I want to note that I am not blaming our veterans here. Most of them were young, often poor draftees who had no say in the matter. Vietnam was a fuckup on the part of the U.S. government, not its soldiers.)

美军对柬埔寨的轰炸，以及美国在战争结束时撤走对柬埔寨的支持，也助长了波尔布特和红色高棉政权的崛起，从而导致了柬埔寨大屠杀，导致了柬埔寨四分之一的人口被杀。

如果我们忘记了越南，我们就有大麻烦了。有些历史错误需要铭记，努力避免重蹈覆辙。

(我想声明一点，我并没有指责退伍军人。当年这些人大多很年轻，也没钱，应征入伍后在这件事上完全没有发言权。越南战争是美国政府惹的麻烦，不是美国士兵。)

Susan Herndon

Lives in The United States of America (1957–present)Author has 4.8K answers and 5M answer viewsJan 10

Ken Burns made a documentary about Vietnam for PBS. I highly recommend it. All of the notions I had about that war were destroyed and I was horrified to find out the truth.

I was 17 when soldiers were returning to the U.S. The ones I met were wounded with scars no one could see. They were spit on. Yelled at at airports. The nice welcome home we saw other soldiers from Afghanistan receive when they came home? The Vietnam Vets were made to feel ashamed—something that should never, ever happen in this country.

A friend of mine was in a bar soon after his return. He was in the Army. He said he’s been to Vietnam and the man next to him pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the leg. It was the only injury he received from the Vietnam War.

肯·伯恩斯为美国公共广播公司制作了一部关于越南的纪录片。我强烈推荐大家去看看。我之前对那场战争的认知被完全推番，当我得知真相时真的吓坏了。

当美国大兵们返回美国的时候，我17岁。我遇到过的那些士兵都带着别人看不见的伤疤。他们被人们唾弃，在机场被吼骂。其他从阿富汗回来的士兵则受到人们的热情欢迎。越战老兵们被逼得抬不起头——在这个国家永远不应该发生这种事。

我的一个朋友回来后不久就去了一家酒吧。他曾参过军，他说起自己参加过越南战争，旁边的人就拿出一把刀捅伤了他的腿。这是他在越南战争中唯一受的伤。

Tim Doherty

Author has 366 answers and 215K answer viewsJan 11

It should be remembered by everybody. While the Americans have a strong history of opposing wars, the Vietnam War was the first one that galvanized the entire country, to the point where it became disruptive for even the soldiers on the ground, half the planet away.

I can’t prove it, but I am sure strategic and tactical mistakes were made out of a desire to wrap up the matter asap. The sheer amount of men and materiel thrown into this fight are witness to this.

这场战争应该被每个人铭记于心。虽然美国人有反对战争的悠久历史，但越南战争第一次让整个国家都激烈反应，甚至给远在半个地球之外的美国士兵都造成了混乱。

虽然我无法证明，但我确信战略和战术上的错误都是出于速战速决的考虑。美国军方投入的士兵和物资数量就是个明证。

The US had to go home not because they were defeated (they could have pushed back for years), but because they ran out of Vietnamese willing to fight and rebuild the country.

They also had to go home because the pressure at home was hard to ignore. The antiwar movement was like a neighbour running his lawnmower during the most beautiful Sunday of the year. The whole f$&@$%^% day. So yeah, annoying as f$@&. It did the deed, something no other antiwar movement managed to do with such an efficiency.

美国被迫撤兵，并非是因为他们被越南人打败了(他们还可以扛很多年)，而是因为他们没有越南人那种奋力搏斗和重建国家的意志力。

美军被迫回国还有个原因：美国国内的舆论压力已难以压制。反战运动就像邻居在一年中最美的星期天打开轰鸣的割草机，吵上一整天都不停歇。是的，巨烦人。反对越战的运动收到了成效，这是其他反战运动都做不到的。

Those movements had shown the whole world that a strong, solid civil movement can and will successfully influence the decisions of the grands of the day.

So electric cars, no more wars, no more waste, no more toxc waste, polluting industries, big pharma abuses, paid healthcare, food stuffed with cr@p, expensive education? Get organized and make yourself heard. It can be done. Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

这些运动向全世界表明，一个强有力的、坚实的民间运动有能力而且必将成功地影响当今大人物的决定。

所以，电动汽车，拒绝战争，拒绝浪费，拒绝有毒垃圾，拒绝污染工业，拒绝药物滥用，拒绝付费医疗，拒绝垃圾食物，拒绝昂贵的教育？组织起来，让别人听到你的声音。你可以做到的。掠翅若蝶，蛰刺似蜂。

Susan Hilde

Lived in Minneapolis, MNAuthor has 698 answers and 11.9M answer viewsJan 25

I am a senior citizen. My most vivid memory of the Vietnam War was 18 year old kids coming back from Nam in body bags … and young men suffering from PTSD … and men suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. I remember sons and fathers going for years not speaking to each other. I can think of men who got disowned by their families for going to Canada or going underground to avoid being sent off to combat. I remember Vietnam Vets killing themselves. I remember adults yelling at me in anger and disgust when I stated (in a polite way) that I thought the war was a waste of money and a waste of life. My boyfriend (he died in ‘95, may he rest in peace) had PTSD and suffered nightmares and flashbacks til the day he died. The Vietnam War was a tragedy for everyone on all sides.

我年纪很大了。我对越南战争最深刻的记忆，是18岁的孩子们被装入装尸袋从越南运回美国……还有被创伤后应激障碍困扰的年轻人……还有被橙剂毒性侵染的男人们。

我记得很多父子反目，长期不理睬对方。我还记得有些人为了避免应征入伍，逃到加拿大或躲起来，家人因此跟他们断绝关系。我记得还有不少越战老兵自杀。

我记得当我(礼貌地)说我认为战争是在浪费金钱和生命时，大人们冲我愤怒和厌恶地大喊大叫。

我的男朋友(95年去世，愿他安息)就患有创伤后应激障碍，直到他去世的那一天，他一直遭受噩梦和闪回的折磨。越南战争对所有人来说都是一场悲剧。

Dino Hajdarpasic

Knowledge Jan 9

The Vietnam War is one of the only wars that America lost to, besides Afghanistan. The Vietnam War had also suffered a large amount of casualties, 2 million died on both south and north Vietnamese sides. The Americans also had many defeats during the war, unable to gain a lot of victories. The war was increasingly opposed at by Americans, who agreed for terms on peace, and people protested against it. Over 100,000 people protested beside the American White House against the war. The media in the United States showed the American government and military as being violent, showing pictures of Vietnamese citizens being involved in violence, while being unarmed, such as in the My Lai Massacre, where 109 innocent civilians died due to rising conflict across Vietnam. The Vietnamese army also had ambushes and guerilla attacks, surprisingly attacking American soldiers. America was very unprepared, and due to the unpopularity of the war back in America, president Johnson limited the amount of troops in Vietnam. This made the North Vietnamese more powerful, and in 1973, America withdrew all military, and lost the war.

Due to such loss, the Vietnam War is remembered in the United States very seriously.

除了阿富汗战争，越南战争是美国唯一输掉的战争。越南战争也造成了大量的伤亡，南越和北越双方都有200万多人死亡。美国人在战争中也失败多次，无法取得很多胜利。这场战争受到越来越多美国人的反对，他们同意了和平条款。超过10万人在美国白宫前抗议这场战争。

美国媒体把美国政府和军队描绘成暴力分子，向美国民众展示越南公民手无寸铁的照片，比如因越南各地冲突加剧，109名无辜平民丧生的美莱村大屠杀。越南军队也进行了伏击和游击战，出人意料地攻击了美国士兵。美国没有做好充分准备，由于这场战争在美国国内不得人心，约翰逊总统限制了驻越南军队的美军数量。北越因此更占优势，1973年，美国撤回了全部美军，战争以失败告终。

正是因为如此惨重的损失，所以越南战争在美国是个非常严肃的无法遗忘的历史事件。

Lina Livingston

Lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2018–present)Author has 2.1K answers and 608.3K answer viewsJan 9

Because it was an utterly useless war that killed thousands of young men for no discernible reason. And the last US war to use the draft to force men into fighting for something they had no desire to participate in.

因为这是一场毫无意义的战争，成千上万的年轻人无辜送命。这也是美国最后一次利用征兵法案强迫公民为不想参与的事情而战。

Nixeman1 .

Former Retired Federal Employee who took the OathAuthor has 727 answers and 44.7K answer viewsJan 9

President Kennedy had just signed an executive order that would remove 1,000 American soldier each month from Vietnam until they were all home. After this he was promptly assassinated, and Johnson went the other way and put us in a war that didn’t end until 1975. In America this was a poor mans war. The rich were able to shelter their children from involvement in the war with fake doctors notes ie. Donald Trump and George W Bush. Americans were drafted and went to Vietnam, and then came home in a body bag. Vietnam was a civil war, that we should have had no involvement with. There was no ext plan or a plan to win the war. Johnson was picking targets to bomb in North Vietnam from the Oval Office. Johnson was afraid of upsetting the Soviets if we bombed the wrong thing. This was absurd. The kids got out into the streets to make America notice that we should not be there. It took a many years and many dead before all generations came to the same conclusion, the war must stop.

肯尼迪总统刚签署完一项行政命令，每月从越南撤回1000名美国士兵，没多久他就被暗杀了，而约翰逊选了另一条路，把美国卷入了一场直到1975年才结束的战争。这是一场穷人的战争。富人能够用伪造的医生证明帮他们的孩子躲过应征入伍。唐纳德·特朗普和小布什就是例子。活生生的士兵被征召去越南战场，最后被装在装尸袋里送回家乡。

越南战争是一场内战，我们本不应该卷入其中的。没有脱身的计划，也没有取胜的计划。约翰逊当时在总统办公室斟酌轰炸北越的目标，他担心如果炸错了地方，会惹毛苏 联。太荒谬了。孩子们走上街头，让美国政府意识到我们不应该出现在越南。经过这么多年，这么多人牺牲，大家才得出同一个结论：战争必须停止。

Frank Truth

Former Janitor Author has 1.6K answers and 920.1K answer viewsJan 30

It was never a war. Is was a very costly defensive action to protect S. Vietnam from N. Vietnam.

It lasted over 15 years.

A lot of Americans opposed the war.

It spawned a lot of anti-war music.

It was part of the hippie counter-revolution.

It cost a lot of money.

这从来都不能说是一场战争，这是代价非常昂贵的防御行动，就为了保护南越免受北越的进攻。

这场战争持续了超过15年。

很多美国人反对这场战争。

催生了许多反战音乐。

是嬉皮士反革命的一部分。

战争花费巨资。

The US military kept lying to the American public about the war, always claiming we were wng.

It was the first televised war.

A lot of Vietnam vets came back with severe PTSD.

It stoked racial tensions as poor blacks disproportionately fought the war, while wealthy white Americans were able to get deferments.

Mohamed Ali lost his World Champion Boxng award, and went to prison for refusing to serve claiming to be a conscientious objector.

美国军方一直在战争问题上对美国公众撒谎，总是声称我们战无不胜。

这是史上第一次通过电视转播的战争。

很多越战老兵回国后都患有严重的创伤后应激障碍。

战争加剧了种族间的紧张关系，美军中贫困的黑人士兵比例严重失衡，而富裕的美国白人能找到法子延期参战。

阿里失去了世界拳击冠军奖，因良心不安拒服兵役并因此入狱。

Jim Doherty

Police officer, mystery and true crime writer, Irish Catholic AmericanAuthor has 23.8K answers and 16.9M answer viewsJan 26

Well, for one thing, it wasn’t that long ago, as history measures time.

There are, after all, still a lot of WW2 veterans, and Korean War veterans still alive. And people who weren’t veterans, but were alive during those wars.

There are lot more Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans still alive. And people who were alive when it was going on.

Many people, living right now, lived through it, or were alive while others were living through it.

Why are you so surprised that it’s so well-remembered?

I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.

首先，这场战争并没有过去很久。

现在还有很多二战老兵和朝鲜战争老兵健在。还有那些虽然未上过战场，但见证过战争的人。

目前仍然健在的越战老兵有很多。经历过越战时期的人也很多。

现在很多美国老人都经历过那个时期。

所以你为什么会如此惊讶于美国人对越战的深刻记忆？

如果没人记得，我倒才觉着奇怪呢。

Doug Freyburger

Lived in Austin, TXAuthor has 32.3K answers and 19.2M answer viewsJan 13

“Why is the Vietnam War so remembered in the United States?”

Most Vietnam veterans are still alive. For the Korean War and back age has led to so many of those veterans now being dead.

The Vietnam War was the first war ever broadcast on TV on the national news in the US. Setting aside all of the politics of the war, that’s why an anti-war movement was able to grow. Civilians actually saw how horrible it was.

大多数越战老兵现在依然健在。而朝鲜战争因为年代久远，很多老兵已经去世。

越南战争是第一次在美国全国新闻电视上实况转播的战争。抛开战争的政治因素不谈，这就是反战运动得以发展的原因。美国民众亲眼目睹了战争的恐怖。

Veto F. Roley

Studied at Washington University in St. LouisAuthor has 2.6K answers and 3.9M answer viewsJan 9

It’s our fourth-bloodiest war in our history behind only the Civil War, WW2, and WW1. It’s the first war since the War of 1812 that we arguably lost — and the fact that North Vietnam reunified violently with South Vietnam in 1975 is proof that we lost (if we had drawn or won the Vietnam War, South Vietnam with its capital in Saigon would still be around today). The war split our nation and caused us to start doubting ourselves. The 1970s were a decade of great doubt for the United States. The one thing Pres. Ronald Reagan did was restore American confidence. But, still, today, everything we do internationally is compared against our Vietnam experience. And, those are just a few reasons we still remember the Vietnam War.

这是美国历史上仅次于南北战争、二战和一战的第四血腥的战争。这也是自1812年战争之后美国输掉的第一场战争——1975年北越与南越暴力统一的事实证明了美国战败(如果美军在越南战争中打平或获胜，以西贡为首都的南越今天可能继续存在)。这场战争分裂了我们的国家，让我们开始自我怀疑。

1970年代对美国来说是充满怀疑的十年。罗纳德·里根总统让美国人恢复信心。但时至今日，我们在国际上所做的一切都被拿来与越战做比较。这些都是我们至今记得越南战争的几个原因。