The War with Louie Colosimo

In 1962 Louie Colosimo was a lifeguard, and was drafted into the Vietnam war. When he was drafted, like many people his age he didn’t know what he was even fighting for. All Louie knew, was that there was a war going on, and he was about to be put right in center of it.

Later in life Louie figured out the war was of aggression. The French were getting kicked out and Vietnam was getting split in two, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The war was fought between the Communist North Vietnam and the South Vietnam which was supported by the United States. The United States was helping South Vietnam so that way the Communists which were helping the North would not take over the South. This was the United States original plan to get rid of the Communists.

When Louie first entered the war he wasn’t for it or against it. At the beginning all he was for was trying to stay alive. Some of the things mentioned by Louie were Agent Orange, the drug use, and protesters throughout the war. Agent orange was a very bad chemical used to wipe out people. It killed hundreds of thousands and made many birth defects in babies. Later on Louie was explaining the drug use among the young men. Heroin was a very big one and also liquid speed. He said the guys used it so they could stay up for days to go fight and kill people without getting to tired. After the war Louie was a protester like many other, and did not agree with what was going on in the war.

In Louie’s opinion he did not think that the United States could win the Vietnam war. The Chinese were helping make boundaries for the U.S. The U.S. could only do so much to help without being restricted.

Talking with veterans is a very important thing. Some cry at the whisper of Vietnam while others will tell their story proud. Vietnam affected the hundreds of thousands of people all differently. The war made Louie question authority, and why more than 50,000 Americans were killed for nothing. Louie is a very strong person and I was very thankful that he gave up some of his time to help me understand the war just a little bit more.