answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

If they were career men, they performed their duties, and when their time was up, would request duty in more pleasant places. If they were draftees, and most of them were, they just did their tour (one year), and went home. While they were there though, and with 365 days to do, they had to figure out some ways to survive that amount of time, so... while conducting operations in the field, most GI's by the early 1970's, held the belief, that if the NVA didn't start a fight, neither would he. By this stage of the war, most of the grunts knew that that NVA soldier out there was a poor drafted kid just like we were, and the reasoning was, why should two men who didn't even know each other, and probably didn't even want to be there anymore than we did, suddenly want to shoot at one another at first sight? As an example: If a company of US Infantrymen was conducting a sweep in a forested area, and the word was out that there was a company of NVA waiting for them inside the woods, and all the GI's had to do was walk in there and out the other side, and in the process they might bump into the NVA, a firefight would begin. The thought for many GI's, especially the ones that were "Short" (Short timers-get to go home in 30 days or so), was in some cases, "they never did anything to me...if he doesn't want trouble, neither do I." As President Nixon began his troop withdrawals, the US Army High Command had issued an order to keep casualties to a minimum, which was keeping in line with President Nixon's order of reduced US casualties. The new slogan, during the last few months of the war became, "who wants to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" Search and Destroy missions soon became Search and Avoid missions. With fighting usually occurring only when someone attacked the other. During these final days of the US involvement in the war, fighting in self defense was the norm.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

Fear: Fear of death, fear of never being able to see their families, fear of losing the war/battle and thus losing what they are fighting for in the first place (family, freedom, liberty)

Anger: At the enemy for killing their friends (family in some cases)

Sadness: For the loss of friends, homes, and families

Bravery: To stand up in the face of adversity in order to defend what they love

Joy: When they know the battle/war is over and they have won and thus saved what they were fighting for

Summary: Soldiers feel many different emotions while on the battlefield. Possible feelings are endless and differ from man to man. The best ways to grasp what a soldier would feel is to either ask a veteran or put yourself in their shoes. Picture yourself running up the beaches of Normandy or running in Pickett's charge. What would you feel?

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

Soldiers rarely get involved in the politics of war, they dedicate themselves to each other, a letter from home, clean dry socks and to surviving another day.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

For Vietnam, they had no feelings once they had been drafted...just get it over with, was their attitude.

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What feelings did soldiers have when fighting war?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

What war are soldiers fighting in now?

The Iraq war


Did soldiers fighting in the war get paid?

yes


Where there black soldiers fighting for the union?

At first there were no black soldiers fighting for the union until later on during the war.


What did the union soldiers think they were fighting for during the civil war?

The Union soldiers thought that they were fighting for slaves to be free.


What were Canadian soldiers fighting for in World War 1?

They were fighting for there freedom and ours


What happen to the civil war soldiers?

they died for fighting


What 3 types of soldiers were fighting in the civil war?

Professional soldiers, volunteers, and conscripts.


What were the emotional feelings of Canadian soldiers when they were at war during World War 1?

Like all soldiers fear and boredom


What feelings do World War 2 drafted soldiers have?

Sadness.


What is the narrator doing in the first paragraph of The End of Something by Ernest Hemingway?

Fighting in the war apex


What were British soldiers in World War 2 fighting for?

survival


What were reacions of American soldiers for fighting Vietnam war?

They were drafted.