Times of Change Responses

Jack Smith by Ron Steinman 9 pages - complete by Wednesday May 23

What challenges does Jack Smith face as a soldier in Vietnam? (a bulleted list is fine)
-Mines
-Bombs
-Booby traps
-Punji stakes
-Heat + humidity
-Dehydration
-Animal wildlife


How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?
At the beginning Smith thinks joining the army would be a place to grow up to get away. In a way he got just that. He saw friends die right in front of him, and realized how terrible war was.


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”?

… the “generals” to do?
Join up the army and go fight in Vietnam
… “Wall Street” to do?
Supply the army with the tools of its trade
… “mothers” to do?
Pack your boys off to Vietnam

Write down four specific lines from the song that display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war sentiment.
-put down your books and pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun
-ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee we're all gonna die
-and you can be the first ones on your block
to have your boy come home in a box
-let's hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
they drop it on the Viet Cong

Posted by Action_Jackson at 7:49 PM 0 comments


Monday, May 21, 2007

Times of Change Responses
Look up both words in the title of the short essay. What do they mean?
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?
Dubious-Doubtful, of uncertain outcome
Crusade-any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause,
This will relate to our study of Vietnam because the war in Vietnam can be described by both words - dubious and crusade.

What is the overall theme of Vuong-Riddick's poem?
The overall them of the poem is death and lust for power.

What is the main thesis of the essay?
That President Johnson lied, and the whole war was possibly a lie
What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was an approval from congress to defend the US interests in the area
What evidence does the author give to support his thesis?
President Johnson said he would not send troops into battle. He later did, and by doing that the Vietnam War started. The Vietnam War was never officially a war, congress must approve to declare war. But the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the closest it came, and that may have been based upon a lie.
How does this link to the theme of the first reading, “A Dubious Crusade”? This links to the theme because it was a war that was an aggressive movement for the advancement of an idea or cause, and it was an uncertain war – a dubious crusade.


Farmer Nguyen by W.D. Ehrhart
1 page - complete by Wednesday May 26
Massacre at My Lai by Hugh Thompson
2 pages - complete by Wednesday May 26
A Nun at Ninh Hoa by Jan Barry
1 page - complete by Wednesday May 26

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?
Even though the Vietnam War was fought between the U.S., and the North Vietnamese and Vietcong, many do not realize what the civillians had to go through. The civillians were constantly persuaded to take sides, and their homeland was war ravaged. Their were many civillian deaths, and ones who lived through the war no doubt had many bad memories of the war.