Appreciation for A Vietnam Veteran

     The video message I am choosing to analyze is called “Thank You For Your Service (A Moment of Truth). In this video, an old war veteran is sitting at a breakfast diner and is drinking coffee. As he is drinking his coffee, a younger soldier walks into the diner and orders coffee and gets it for free. As he gets his free coffee, he looks over toward the older veteran and sees his Vietnam tattoo on his arm. As the younger soldier in uniform proceeds to sit down, he is thanked by a man and then a young boy asks to get his picture taken with him. The older veteran looks down at his tattoo as he receives no recognition for his service. In this moment, the young kid comes up to asks to take his picture with him and asks, “Are you a hero too?”. As the kid asks this, he points to the younger soldier saying, “That man said you were”. After the kid leaves, the younger soldier comes up to thank the Vietnam veteran for his service and then he thanks him for his support.

            To analyze this video, I will use semiotics. In our reading about semiotics, Danesi writes that “a sign is anything-a color, a gesture, a wink, an object, a mathematical equation, etc.-that stands for something other than itself” (Danesi). In this video, there are many elements that symbolize something other than itself. For this paper, I will focus on two specific elements: the tattoo and the kid asking to get his picture taken. Although these two things might seem simple on a surface level, if one looks deeper, it’s clear they go beyond what it seems.

            The Tattoo on the Vietnam veterans arm shows a picture of a horse and says, “11^th Cavalry 68^th regiment”. This symbolizes that he fought in the Vietnam war in the 11^th Cavalry of the 68^th regiment of the U.S. Army. Looking at the cultural context of the Vietnam war, his tattoo signifies that he has not received appreciation for his time serving in the Vietnam war considering the national sentiment that America should not have gotten involved in the war. In fact, by 1969, a Gallup Poll showed that 52% of Americans disagreed with our involvement in the Vietnam war. In view of this, many soldiers who were already emotionally distraught from the war came back to find no support or appreciation for their service. This is one the main points the video intends to convey to its audience by showing how the veteran is sad that the younger soldier is getting all the praise and he’s not.

            Shortly after the tattoo is shown, the young kid approaches the Vietnam veteran and says, “Are you a hero too?”. Then he proceeds to ask to take a picture with him. On one level, this might just look like a kid asking to take picture with a veteran, however, with the context of what was stated earlier about the lack of appreciation of Vietnam veterans, it’s evident that this means much more. Specifically, it is a relief to him that he is finally being recognized for putting his life on the line just like all the current and past soldiers who have done the same. Furthermore, it’s obvious that this video is highlighting America’s new era of appreciation for Vietnam veterans. That is, America today seems to be trying to compensate for their lack of support during the war. This is clear by the establishment of the Vietnam War Veterans Day that was established in 2017 for March 29^th every year. Also, the kid’s appreciation symbolizes that it is important for our younger generation to try to move past old grudges to make strides for the future.

            Overall, I believe this video brings up two important issues in America. First, the tattoo serves as a symbol of the veteran’s participation in the Vietnam war which he received resentment from American citizens. However, the second symbol, when the kid asks to get his picture taken with him, effectively conveys the central message of the video which is that America is evolving into a country that supports all its troops, despite weather or not the war is supported.