The Suffering System began with the training of soldiers who were going to fight by going through boot camp to prepare them for war. “Their previous eighteen or so years of learning were to be wiped out by shock, separation and physical and psychological stress, creating a blank slate on which a military imprint could be placed. » Soldiers were punished for disobedience, which created disciplined soldiers who followed orders. “Recruits were also indoctrinated into a culture of violence and brutality, which emphasized above all the willingness to kill without scruples. » Combine that with not considering enemies because humans create a problem. “The callous killings were further legitimized by the explicit racism that permeated the training. As Army veteran Wayne Smith remembers, “The drill instructors never called the Vietnamese “Vietnamese.” They called them dinks, gooks, slopes, slants, rice eaters, anything that could take away humanity. Now add in poor leadership that gave ambiguous orders, you can see how these massacres could happen when you have the racism and training to kill mercilessly. Turse proves his point by asserting that the system of suffering led to the atrocities of the Vietnam War. The argument was compelling because it showed how the mindset of soldiers going to war and how they were