Memorial Day readings

Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic, Stop the Sun by Gary Paulsen, and To Heal a Nation by Joel L. Swerdlow

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?

My Message to the Troops of Vietnam

While I may not support the war you fought in, or what the government said about it, you are truly the greatest group of soldiers to fight on this green Earth. You carried on, even when you were badly hurt or questioning the reasons for the fight. That, to me, deserves the most respect any person can get. Saying that I know how you feel would be a lie, so I'll just say that if I could personally give each and every one of you the gratitude you deserve, I would do it in a heartbeat. Thank you.

3 Readings due May 24th

Farmer Nguyen by W.D. Ehrhart, Massacre at My Lai by Hugh Thompson, and A Nun at Ninh Hoa by Jan Berry

What do these two poems and the article say about the impact of the war on the native Vietnamese?

They say that the Vietnamese were put in the middle of this war. People said that they had given information to us, but they didn't, and other things like that. They were treated very unfairly by people fighting a war in their villages.

Can you think of any other ways in which the war will impact the native Vietnamese?

The Vietnamese could be told to join the Army, and if they didn't consequences could be imposed on them. Things like that might happen that are completely unfair, but nobody can do anything about them.

2 Readings for May 23rd

Jack Smith by Ron Steinman

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

• All of the soldiers in Jack's division were inexperienced, so they went in blind.
• Death was a fate that many soldiers were dealt, as demonstrated by the truck full of body bags.
• His CO is new, so he has no idea what he's doing. That lands them in trouble with the Vietnamese.

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?
In the beginning Smith thought that war was just more living, and had this idea that war was fun and games. After being in combat and killing his first man he realized that it was much more real and disturbing than his ideal.

I Feel Like I'm Fixin' 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”?

The song wants the big strong men to join the Army and help out in Vietnam.

… the “generals” to do?

It wants the Generals to find and kill any Communists.

… “Wall Street” to do?

It wants Wall Street to have a booming economy so that wartime goods are produced more,

… “mothers” to do?

It wants mothers to send their kids to Vietnam and have them fight in the Army.

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

1. What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn.
2. Whoopee! We're all gonna die.
   
3. You know that peace can only be won, When we've blown 'em (communists) all to kingdom come.
4. Be the first one on your block, To have your boy come home in a box.
   

Three Readings for May 22nd

A Dubious Crusade

A dubious crusade means "an uncertain enterprise", which says that we were unprepared for the war. This relates to the reading because the author is saying that we weren't sure about the Vietnam War, and the author is saying that it was pointless to go there and have that war. I believe that most people's opinions are like this because it was a very unpopular war, and we will hear many more reasons.

History

The overall theme of the poem is that most of the Vietnam War was pointless killing.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The thesis of this essay is that The Vietnam War was very controversial. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the request of President Johnson to be able to "defend United States interests in the area". He got the approval, and he sent troops and materials to Vietnam. The evidence is that many believe President Johnson magnified the importance of this to get his way, or there was no attack on a ship. This links to the theme of A Dubious Crusade because the author in A Dubious Crusade said that it was pointless to have that war, and this essay is giving a reason for it being pointless, the reasons for getting into it were suspect.

10 Things Everyone Should Know About The Korean War

There are some things about the Korean War that people should know, and some people don't know anything about the Korean War. Here are some facts anyone should know about the War.

1. During the cold war, Communism was spreading and the US thought that the Communists were trying to take over the world when Nationalist China fell to the Soviets in September of 1949.
2. Korea wasn't always split into North and South; at the end of WWII, the Russians controlled above the 38th parallel, and we controlled the rest. The Soviets saw their opportunity to spread their way of government, so they made North Korea a Communist nation.
3. The Korean war was the North Koreans invading South Korea 1n 1950 and trying to take it over to get the rest of their nation back.
   
4. The UN sent in troops (mostly US troops) in June of 1950, and from then on the conflict was called the Korean War.
5. The Security Council appointed Douglas MacArthur to be the commander of all the UN soldiers in Korea. He also commanded troops and tanks in WWII.
6. The UN soldiers were being beaten badly, they had been pushed to the southernmost tip of South Korea. MacArthur said that retreat was not an option, and he sent boats of soldiers to attack and capture Inchon, a city right near the first border.
   
7. As we pushed the Koreans back, China saw this advance as a danger to the safety of their style of governing. They thought that we would take the war to them after we wiped out Communism from North Korea.
   
8. Chinese leaders demanded a halt of UN troop advancement, but we ignored them. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers joined in the war with the Koreans, and we had a serious chance of losing because of that infusion of new troops.
   
9. MacArthur wanted to do things his way then, and his way was all out war with China. He wanted Atomic bombs dropped on them, but Truman opposed this plan very much because it might bring the USSR into the fight, and it could start a world war.
   
10. Peace talks began in 1951, and Dwight Eisenhower was elected in the middle of them. They agreed to a cease fire in July of 1953. The new border was very close to the old one, so the war didn't gain anything for either side.

Realizing MLK's dream in income

Mr. King's dream was for everyone to be equal, and not to be judged by their race. That dream has come partially true. The Asian average income has normally been higher than that of a white household. The Asians also had the lowest percent of children in poverty in 2003 (12.1%). But not all news has been good news.

The average income for black households has nearly always been less than White, Asian, or Hispanic houses. Black houses also had the highest percentage of families that make $10,000 or less. Blacks also have the highest percentage of child poverty at 33.6%. If African Americans had more money and less poverty, than MLK's dream would've been more realized.

There are things we can do to even the playing field, though. Affirmative action would help. Affirmative action is giving a better chance for better jobs to people of minorities. Employers looking for people to fill a position in their company should just give equal pay no matter what race or gender. We can make MLK's dream a reality, but we have to make these changes first.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. is widely perceived as one of the greatest people in American history. Most people only think of how much African Americans owe him, but Jack White, author of the MLK page in the Time top 100 people list, thinks that whites owe him more. He says that without MLK whites couldn't claim that America was the leader of the "free world". How could we be the leader of the free world if segregation is still around, and we oppress African Americans? Another man would've failed at doing what Martin Luther King Jr. did; MLK was "the right man at the right time" to end segregation. First off, he was a preacher, and the church was the one place that most African Americans went. Secondly, he was very courageous to stand up to all the death threats, bombings of his house, and violence against him, and afterward, his ideas still worked around nonviolent protest. He made many speeches to get across his point of nonviolence and integration, and people today use one line from his speeches more than any other: "I have a dream". He would be ashamed of what some people use this quote for. There have been opponents of affirmative action that have used it, and they claimed that King would be marching right along with them.