Living Conditions

For many soldiers a huge part of the shock of coming to Vietnam was the living conditions. In Vietnam there were two different types of living conditions. There was the rear and the DMZ zone or as many liked to call it the front lines. There are a couple of major differences between the two areas, one for example is you can’t shoot a gun while in the rear. But, when you are in the front lines you can shoot a gun any time. This was because if you shot an enemy while in the rear without proof he shot you first, you would get sent home to go to jail for murder. This is just one of the many differences that there were between the front and the rear.

The rear was the American bases behind the DMZ line in South Vietnam, there were many dangers even though it wasn’t the front line.  The biggest dangers were being surprise attacked and being shelled by mortars. This was because these bases were the main bases of operation, where US troops came to get orders and supplies, making them prime targets to the North Vietcong.  An example is whenever men went out to  guard the perimeter they would sit in bunkers to keep them safe but at night the bunkers were bombed and for the most part it was actually safer to sit outside than in the bunker. 

There were rules for living in the rear, the main one being that it was illegal to shoot anyone, even the enemy, unless shot at first. Because, if you shot a Vietcong without proving he or she shot you; you were convicted of murder and then sent back to America to go to prison. This was a huge disadvantage to soldiers in the rear, as it made guarding themselves very difficult. 

Food wise there was a large selection which ranged from canned food to hamburgers. For the most part though there was also fresh food, though sometimes they had to eat canned food. So, there wasn’t many complaints on food in the rear for there was always plenty of good healthy food.

Life in the DMZ or the front lines was fraught with plenty of dangers. For the most part they worried about diseases, being shot, and getting killed by booby traps.  These were the day to day things that a soldier in Vietnam had to worry about. An example of one of these dangers was the traps.  When troops are walking through the forest they would sometimes come upon Claymores, which if set off killed the person nearest to the device and wounds all the men around him. Also, there were pit traps and log traps that were also a danger to the US troops. 

The food soldiers received out in the DMZ was what was called C rations. These were for all sakes and purposes canned foods of all different kinds. Each soldier received a can opener to open their food along with some heating tablets and purification tablets. They were to use the heating tablets to heat up their food, though much of the time they didn’t work so many soldiers just used C4 to heat up their food. C4 was perfect for heating up food because of how the highly flammable explosive was so stable that lighting it on fire did not make it explode. The purification tablets they used were for purifying water they would find in the jungle to make it safe to drink and eat. Though for the most part these tablets didn’t work causing many soldiers to get diseased with worms, making them sick in general. 

Life in Vietnam for the soldiers was not easy or safe in any way. For the most part they where living in the jungle, sleeping on their helmets and the ground. They also had to watch their friends get shot and sometimes get killed.  Life in Vietnam was never easy but the soldiers marched on and persevered.