Vietnam and Iraq wars

In comparing the poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa and Brian Turner there are several differences and similarities. Both deal with the struggles of being an American soldier in foreign wars in the the last fifty years. Komunyakaa writes about his experiences in the Vietnam war, and Turner writes about his experiences in Iraq.

One commonalty that exists between the works of Komunyakaa and Turner is there ability to convey the stress of twentieth century warfare. They describe situations that regularly occur to soldiers that cause them immense stress. The nature of combat in Vietnam consisted of a lot of waiting around and moving slowly through jungles and down rivers. Instead of long drawn out battles, the Vietnam War consisted of fast, short skirmishes. This mode of battle is called guerrilla warfare. Paranoia comes from not knowing when the enemy will strike next, or how he will strike. In Vietnam often times the local Vietnamese people were not trusted and even considered dangerous at times because sometimes the Viet Kong would come disguised and normal Vietnamese civilians. The American troops thusly found it difficult to discern between who was truly their enemy and who was simply a civilian. In reading Turner’s writing, I can see that the same is true in Iraq, where you never know who may attack you, it could be a child or a woman; those types of people who you least expect to be enemy soldiers.

 Although the styles of warfare in the Vietnam War and the Iraq war seem similar, it appears that war has become even more guerrilla, even more secretive and sneaky maneuverings. In Turner’s poem “The Hurt Locker,” he describes a twelve year old boy rolling a grenade into a room. This is an example of the unpredictable style of war that is as one can only imagine, stressful, painful, horrific, and traumatic.