The Vietnam War marked American history. At the same time, it changed the established perceptions of the nature of the war and its long -term consequences.

It was one of the most long -standing conflicts of the 20th century, as it lasted from 1955 to 1975 (it was preceded by the Vietnamese’s independence war). About 3.8 million people died in this war, ending with the victory of the Communists and defeat by the US -backed South Vietnam.

Much has been said and many have been written about all this. With Vietnam Many more conflict has been compared in the following decades.
But as historian Jose Brunner, a peer professor at the University of Tel Aviv, points out to Deutsche Welle, there is a separate aspect of that war worth discussing in detail: the long -term social and psychological consequences of an armed conflict.

The “Post-Vietnam” syndrome

Already after World War I, the long -term consequences for the mental health of the soldiers began to be recorded, which could occur even many years after the end of hostilities. At that time, German veterans suffered from paralysis episodes and panic attacks or refused to receive any food for some time. Many considered them “imaginary patients”, as scientists could not find an explanation so easily.

Everything changed with the Vietnam War. In 1972, psychiatrist Haim Schitan, who had worked with Vietnam veterans, published the New York Times an article on the so-called “post-vietnam syndrome”. Grandan emphasized that many veterans were overwhelmed by feelings of guilt that their war was causing them to be acquired and alienated by their fellow humans. “The dominant element was the excruciating doubt that they themselves felt about their ability to love, but also to accept affection,” Gratan said.

For historian Jose Brunner, Haim’s article was opened new ways to understand the real consequences of a war. “It is recognized, for the first time, that the war does not end with the last shot, that many times the soldier will continue to experience the war within him,” Brunner explains.

The ‘post -traumatic syndrome’

It had to be a few more years, until in the early 1980s the American psychiatric company would officially recognize the “post -traumatic syndrome” or “post -traumatic stress” (PTSD). A related study in 1983, ordered by the American Congress, revealed that 15% of Vietnam veterans (ie more than 440,000) suffered from the syndrome. A new study of the 40th anniversary of the end of the war concluded that one in five had the syndrome, while, among those who suffered from it, the mortality rate was twice as much compared to other veterans.

Today science estimates that proper medication can be cured by PTSD or at least its consequences. These are about the US. In Vietnam the hires were different.
As DW Martin Grosheim, a researcher at the National University of Seoul, tells DW, “I am absolutely sure that there were too many Vietnamese soldiers who suffered from mental trauma, but this was never openly discussed.” The reason, Grosheim estimates, is that to date the Communist Party of Vietnam (KPV) decides as they see fit what can be said about the war and what is not. After all, “mental problems do not fit the official narrative of the heroic struggle against the Americans.”

However, there were mental problems, as the author’s book and sometimes soldier Bao Nin “The suffering of war” published in 1987. Wanting to escape the memories of the war, the protagonist of the novel resorted to alcohol and alienated him. Immediately after its release, the book was banned in Vietnam.

A topic for the whole of society

Wound healing is not a private affair of everyone or at least not only that. “The question is not individual treatment,” says Jose Brunner. “It is not enough for everyone to lie down in the divan. The question is how our society is facing war. There are also the consequences for the individual person. “

In Brunner’s view, social response to the issue includes four parameters. The first concerns the memory ritual. Are there public events? Are soldiers honored as war heroes or stigmatized as criminals?

The second parameter concerns popular consciousness. How is the war in textbooks, in popular films and novels? The third is related to the question if the once enemies have sought to reconcile. And the fourth parameter raises the question, whether society, as a whole, recognizes or secures the heinous acts and the mental problems of the soldiers.

In Vietnam, the end of the war is celebrated with parades and mentioned in television discussions and political speeches, but all of them remain in the context of the Communist Party. As the researcher Martin Grosheim says, the party’s goal is to self -guarantor for every success of the country. “After the victory over the French came the victory over the ‘American imperialists’ followed by Nikephoros ‘Reform Policy’. This is the official wording, ”says the German researcher.

‘Asymmetric’ reconciliation course

The path to reconciliation has begun in Vietnam, but in a somewhat “asymmetric” way. As Grosheim notes, “while the Americans are welcome, against the old enemies of South Vietnam there is a reservation. Rarely there is talk of what they suffered. “

At the end of the war, the cemeteries of soldiers from South Vietnam were captured, and visits to their relatives were banned. This approach began to change only in 2007, when the Northern Vietnam authorities allowed access to the cemeteries. “It was an important contribution to national reconciliation,” Grosheim points out. “An even more important step would be to allow relatives to look for the piles of victims missing.”

Curated by: Yiannis Papadimitriou