Times of Change - Vietnam and the 60's-Memorial Day

For your final readings of Times of Change, I would like you to set aside some time on Monday (Memorial Day) to read the choices above. Once you are done, I would like for you to post in your blog a note to the men and women on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. After what you have learned over the past few days, and what you saw when we went to D.C., what would you want to say to them?

Dear Vietnam Veterans,
It must have been very hard to gove your lives to such an unrewarding cause. You were told fighting was your duty, but in the end it wasn't clear what you were fighting for. I think that the worst part about your experience besides fighting would be that everyone thought you were either stupid for going to Vietnam when you were doing you "duty" or that people thought you deserved your injuries. I would like to say thank you for giving your lives even though the war didn't accomplish anything.

What do these two poems and the article say about the impact of the war on the native Vietnamese? Can you think of any other ways in which the war will impact the native Vietnamese?

The poem showed how much the native Vietnamese suffered. Not just the soldiers. The native Vietnamese could starve if they gave all their food to the soldiers. Many were probaby killed from rumors. They would have seen their loved one's die. They would have to survive attacks from Americans. They would live in squalor from lack of supplies and resources.

Times of Change - Vietnam and the 60's Part 2

What challenges does Jack Smith face as a soldier in Vietnam? (a bulleted list is fine)

• Not being ambushed
  
• Everyone in his group was green
• remembering to duck when he heard bullets
• dealing with seeing all of the bodies
• snipers
  

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?

After the war he realizes that people make mistakes and there is nothing you can do about it. People go in combat to protect their buddies. Also he realizes that the most amazing thing is that humans can function with bullets and shrapnel around them.

I Feel Like I’m Fixing To Die Rag by Joe McDonald

2 pages - complete by Wednesday May 23

This song by Country Joe and the Fish became one of the first protest songs of the Vietnam Era. Read the lyrics to the song, and then respond to the following:

What is the song asking the “big strong men to do”?

He wants the men to fight

… the “generals” to do?

He wants generals to kill the communists

… “Wall Street” to do?

He wants Wall Street to do well so there is lots of money to help the war.

… “mothers” to do?

Send their children to Vietnam.

Write down four specific lines from the song that display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war sentiment.

So put down your books and pick up your gun we're all gonna have alot of fun.

What are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn.

There ain't no time to wonder why. Whoopee!! We're all gonna die.

Be the first one on the block to have your boy come home in a box.

What are

Times of Change- Vietnam and the 60's Part 1

A Dubious Crusade by James A. Warren
2 pages - complete by Tuesday May 22

Look up both words in the title of the short essay. What do they mean?
doubtful; marked by or occasioning doubt, any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause
Relate the title to the reading. What is Warren saying? How do you think this will relate to the rest of our study if Vietnam?
Warren is saying that the crusade of Vietnam is dubious. It is not clear who will win or who is winning. I think that the outcome of the war will be like this, unclear and doubtful.



History by Thuong Vuong-Riddick
2 pages - complete by Tuesday May 22

What is the overall theme of Vuong-Riddick's poem?
The theme is that the Vietnam war was very complicated and the Americans may have hurt themselves along the way.


The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution … by Goldberg
2 pages - complete by Tuesday May 22
What is the main thesis of the essay?
That all of the war wasnt legally a war and it was all a lie and a waste.
What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
It gave Lyndon Johnson approval to protect Americas interests in the Gulf of Tonkin
What evidence does the author give to support his thesis?
He said "the patriotic fever died down" He also said, "the war may very well have been based on a lie."
How does this link to the theme of the first reading, “A Dubious Crusade”?
In both poems the war is seen as a bad cause with bad effects.

Korea-The Forgotten War

The estimated total number of people that died was 36570 .
The Korean War began with a surprise attack on June 25, 1950.
There were 2847 prisoners of war during the Korean War.
The hardest battle during the war was heartbreak ridge, it was one of the last major offensives.
Nine U.S. Coast Guard Stations provided direct locations for ships and aircrafts in the war.
35,082 coast guards were enlisted.
More than 600,000 African-Americans served in the war.
22,000 women served in the war.
Phychological warfare was used to lower the morale of the enemy and make them stop fighting.
There were 223,868 marine corps.

Has MLK's "dream" been realized?

Nearly half of the black people in the pole taken said that racism is a serious problem. However only 18 percent of the white people agreed. this shows that the two races disagree over the severity of racism. This means that either racism is over emphisized or the white people in the pole still haven't realized Martin Luther Kings dream. Another article says that the majority of the people in the U.S. think that equal rights or MLK's dream has been reached. This means that his dream has been realized but some people say that it still hasn't been reached.

Martin Luther King Blog

Why does the author feel that whites owe King the greatest debt?
Even though MLK did so much for black people, he liberated white people from the hypocrisy of racism.

Was King "the right man at the right time"?
King was the right man at the right time beacause it is impossible to think that the movement would unfold without him. His victory was very complete.

Would King be upset with the current use of his most often quoted line? Why or why not?
King would not like this because people have used his words to endorse their causes that he may not have supported.