United States involvement in the Vietnam War created some of the strongest tension in U.S. history. Over a twenty-five year period from the 1950's to the 1970's close to three million men and women were sent to fight in an effort to curb the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. In the 1950's the United States took on an advisory role to the government of South Vietnam and it didn't take long for our involvement to increase to a full-scale commitment under the leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson. His Gulf of Tonkin Resolution resulted in an escalation of troop involvement, which meant more casualties and more problems on the home front. Unlike World War II, there was no clear front and it was difficult to identify the enemy. The jungles of the region were torturous and it didn't take long for morale of the American troops to sink. American citizens began to resist the draft and eventually demonstrations against the war became a daily occurrence. Even Vietnam veterans took part in the anti-war demonstrations aimed at stopping the war. Before long the political leaders in America realized that they were in an unpopular war and began the process of withdrawing our troops.
             America's involvement in the Vietnam War has been well documented in books, documentaries, and motion pictures. Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried, the HBO documentary Dear America – Letters Home From Vietnam, and Francis Ford Coppola's motion picture Apocalypse Now present the Vietnam experience from three distinct perspectives.
             The common thread that connects the motion picture, to the documentary, to the novel is that all three capture the confusion, pain, despair, horror, and ambiguity of the war. In the chapter "How To Tell A True War Story" from The Things They Carried, O'Brien writes "For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel – the spiritual texture ...