Times of Change - Vietnam and the 60's pt.3

Farmer Nguyen by W.D. Ehrhart

Massacre at My Lai by Hugh Thompson

A Nun at Ninh Hoa by Jan Barry

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?

- It was a huge impact on the Vietnamese because many innocent people were purposely killed by Americans. The war will furthur impact the Vietnamese if Americans continue to kill them, and their villages will be destroyed.

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?

- I thank you for putting your lives on the line to put an end to communism, however, you shouldn't have been over in Vietnam in the first place. Too many lives were lost for a dubious crusade.

Times of Change - Vietnam and the 60's pt.2

Jack Smith by Ron Steinman

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

• The fear if dying, and going in a body bag.
• Not knowing what war is really like.
• Having trouble during combat because he doesn't know what he has to do.
• Witnessing all of his fellow soldiers getting killed.

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?

- He hates everything or anyone involved in the war, and eventually builds up a hatred for all mankind.

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

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”?

- To put down their books and pick up a gun.

… the “generals” to do?

- To get all the communists and destroy the enemy completly.

… “Wall Street” to do?

- To supply the army with weapons.

… “mothers” to do?

- Pack their boys off to Vietnam.

Times of Change - Vietnam and the 60's

A Dubious Crusade by James A. Warren

Look up both words in the title of the short essay. What do they mean?

- Dubious: doubtful; marked by or occasioning doubt.

- Crusade: any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, etc.

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 United States entered a war in which they were uncertain of what they were trying to accomplish, and what the outcome would be.

- This will relate to the rest of our study of Vietnam because we will find out if the United States was doubtful when going into the war, and doubtful of how they would end it.

History by Thuong Vuong-Riddick

What is the overall theme of Vuong-Riddick's poem?

- Ever since Vietnam was in existence, it has had mny enemies, and has been flooded with war.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution … by Goldberg

What is the main thesis of the essay?

- There was not a declaration of war, but Lyndon Johnson made it appear as though there was a need to go to war.

What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?

- It was a congressional approval that allowed the U.S. to protect it's interests over in Vietnam.

What evidence does the author give to support his thesis?

- He uses words like suspect, magnified, and contrived all in the same paragraph. People believed that Presidetn Johnson missrepresented the facts.

How does this link to the theme of the first reading, “A Dubious Crusade”?

- The words that the author uses are almost synonyms for dubious. The U.S. appears to be on a crusade, but they have no idea what it is that they are trying to accomplish.

10 Important Things Everyone Should Know About the Korean War

1. Aided by the Soviets, a Communist government came to power in North Korea. In South Korea, a noncommunist government leader supported by the United States governed.
   
2. Korea had been a Japanese colony for half a century when Japan surrendered to the Allies at the end of WWII.
3. In June of 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, the conflict that followed became known as the Korean War.
4. The United States appealed to the United Nations to stop the Communist move into South Korea.
5. 16 nations provided soldiers for a UN force. U.S. troops made up most of the force and did most of the fighting.
6. General Douglas MacArthur, forner WWII hero in the Pacific, served as commander of all UN forces.
   
7. In early fighting, North Korea pushed the South Koreans back almost to Pusan, a city on the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula.
8. The UN forces pushed northward beyond the 38th parallel toward the Yalu River, the boundry seperating China from North Korea. The Chinese warned them to stop. They saw the UN movement into China as a threat to their security. After an ignored warning by the UN, Chinese Communist troops attacked in human waves across the Yalu River.
   
9. A cease-fire ended the fighting in July 1953. The two Koreas were left more or less where they had been in 1950 with a border near the 38th parallel. Communism had been contained in Korea.
10. Americans felt frustrated by the indecisive war. Some politicians selfishly made use of this frustration, such as Joseph McCarthy.
    

Has MLK's "dream" been realized?

During the last twenty years, many minorities, as well as African Americans, have gained better employment. In 1980, roughly 11% of African Americans were in the labor force. In 2004, about 17% were employed in the labor force. The percentage of black males and females in the labor force is very close (1980: males= 5.6%, female= 5.3%). By 2012, it is estimated that 20% of African Americans will be in the labor force.

Dispite the percentage increase in African American employment over the years, the numbers are still hovering low above the ground. In 2004, ut of every 1,000 people employed, including women, Black, Asian, and Hispanic people, only 10.7% of African Americans had jobs. The unemployment rate over the last twenty years has shown that African Americans have had the highest unemployment rate. 40% of African Americans ages 16-19 were unemployed in 1985.

MLK said that everyone should be equal and have equal oppurtunity. However, by looking at the numbers of employed and unemployed African Americans over the last twenty years, it is clear that African Americans are not getting the equal oppurtunity that is deserved. In order to make MLK's "dream" come true, the percentage of African Americans in the labor force should be getting higher as the years progress. It is only fair that every African American has the sam chance for a job as a person of any other race.

Martin Luther King Jr. Questions

Why does the author feel that whites owe King the greatest debt?
- Because he liberated them from the burden of America's centuries-old hypocrisy about race.

Was King "the right man at the right time"?
- The movement that King led swept all that away. Its victory was so complete that even though those outrages took place within the living memory of the baby boomers, they seem like ancient history. And though this revolution was the product of two centuries of agitation by thousands upon thousands of courageous men and women, King was its culmination.

Would King be upset with the current use of his most often quoted line? Why or why not?
- Yes, because it has become the slogan for opponents of affirmative action like California's Ward Connerly, who insist, incredibly, that had King lived he would have been marching alongside them.

Civil Disobidience

Civil Disobidience is not following the rules that are expected. Non-violence is the best way to be civilly disobidiant. Non-violent activities can get a person's message across without a clash of other people. One non-violent way of protesting is boycotting.