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Kyle Murphy
Professor Simmons
Hist 1161
16 April 2015
They Marched Into Sunlight Book Review
They Marched Into Sunlight, a book about the Vietnam War with glimpses of what life
was like in the 1960s. The book describes Vietnam as being a retched place to have a war. With
dense, unfamiliar jungles, the Viet Cong were able to hide and blend in with the surroundings
giving them the upper hand. The environment was mountainous and rainy which often made it
harder on the American soldiers. Back in the United States, citizens were protesting the war,
saying they did not understand the reason they were fighting the Viet Cong.
I would not call myself a pacifist or a conscientious objector though I do occasionally
think of myself as one. I do not understand most reasons for war, there are much better ways of
solving the problem, but I get the point. We want the world to continue thinking that we are the
most powerful military and we are, there is nothing wrong with that, but these soldiers, these
Americans, they were in a pointless war dying for no reason and I do not think anyone can
justify that. While dying is an ever present danger in war and maybe something that is hard to
think about, I would think that killing someone is far worse. I do not believe I would have it in
me to take another mans life without a very good reason. Though perhaps its living with what
you have done that would be the hardest part of all. In fact, George wrote about killing in a letter
to Jackie in which he said, Ive had a lot of time to engage in deep thinking and its really
sickening how the world is so full of conflict and whats more how were so much a part of it. At

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times I feel so guilty and know I could do more to make it a better place. Ill do what I can, and
pray that God will lead me. Ive already started to dream of killing and am already tired of the
smell of death. Life is so short at times but too long at others. Were all a bunch of nuts I guess.
Im just out on a limb by myself today and have no one to talk to who has the patience to
understand e or will let me try to understand them. Ill endure what I must and remember that I
must be a good 1) soldier, 2) gentlemen, 3) lover, and 4) Christian. The most important, of
course, is #4 and the others as apropos (pg. 11). I feel that what George said in that letter sums
up my thoughts pretty well. It IS sickening to think about how much violence there is in the
world around us and I completely agree that God is the most important part of everyones life,
especially when it comes to hard times like fighting in a war.
During the Vietnam War, there were a few protests going on back in America and frankly
this does not surprise me all that much. Just like with any war (or most anything for that matter),
there are always people who are against it and happily willing to voice there (often negative)
opinions. This is however perfectly reasonable and it is an American right to be able to oppose
war. So in this aspect, I do not find it surprising at all that the protests happened. What did
surprise me is that some army wives joined the protest, and decided they were opposed to the
war after learning more about it. A great example of this is Terry Allen Jr.s wife, Mary Fran
Allen. She was a faithful woman who loved and supported her husband and wanted him to
achieve his military goals just as much as he wanted them, but after he was gone for a while in
Vietnam, the waiting eventually got to her. She stated that a very special place must be reserved
in Heaven for Army wives as reward for the years of separation they have endured because of
military requirements and then went on to say that there can be no greater admiration than that

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of the husband to return and find, as he has hoped, that his own wife has met the test of keeping
up her end of things (pg. 63). I find this a little ironic since she later cheated on her husband.
Throughout the book, I was often shocked at the living conditions that these men had to
overcome. From the boat heading to Vietnam, with its constant swaying and short-tempered
passengers, it surprised me that more did not attempt suicide. To the conditions of Vietnam itself,
I can only imagine that for a lot of men there it felt as though it were a prison, where your only
options are kill or be killed. A truly awful time for many soldiers and for their families, as they
all had to go through a war which served no sensible purpose. As for the book itself, in all
honesty I did not enjoy it as much as I was hoping too. I found some of the details to be
excessive, losing my attention about halfway through and the characters were introduced quickly
and I cannot recall most of their names. This is mostly my fault but overall, I did not really enjoy
the book.