Throughout the entire film, Peter Davis uses a great deal of rhetorical logos, ethos, and pathos. He speaks with people such as: Clark Clifford, Minster Georges Bidault, Lt. George Coker, Cpt. Randy Floyd, Colonel George Patton, and various Vietnamese leaders and civilians. These interviews exercised ethos in the sense that Davis wanted to credit their opinion on the war and featured them in his documentary. Logos can be understood through the archival footage and newsreels shown throughout the film. Davis portrays the issues and dispositions that Americans knew and he shined light on them in a negative way. This display entwines with the use of pathos. Not only were the scenes historically accurate, they were absolutely heart wrenching to watch.
The repetitive emphasis throughout the film on how we hurt Vietnam more than we helped brings us back to the main topic at hand: why did we become involved in this war? One interview with a solider said, "I don't even know who we're fighting for over there, to be real honest with ya'. I think we're fighting for the North Vietnamese, ain't we?" This short piece sheds light on the fact that even the American soldiers were unaware of our purpose in Vietnam. The soldiers who went there were lost and out of place. There is a scene that depicts American soldiers wandering around in the village with no money and the song "500 miles away from home" plays in the background. Vietnamese vendors are trying to sell them trinkets from off the street, and the American soldiers could hardly understand them. Some American citizens went to the extreme of burning their draft card just to escape the war. They fled to Canada. Former Spec. 5 Edward Sowders said, "I'm going back to the militaryit's a choice between that or Canada again, where we all stay underground." These men wanted to escape the pending war and didn't see the point in fighting in Vietnam; however they were looked at as cowards.
