Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Dear Veterans,

I remember about 3 weeks agostanding in front of the Vietnam Memorial where I viewed at least 58,000 names of your colleagues who perished in the war. Memorial Day is known for barbeques and sales. I won't lie my family and I are barbequeing and takin the day off. In the past I have seen Memorial Day as just a day off. However, now that I am older and more mature I understand the importance of Memorial Day. It is a day that I will personally appreciate the sacrifice that soldiers have given their lifes for. The fact that you fought and many perished in order to give America freedom is overwhemling. Because I understand your great sacrifice, in the future I will not take this day for granted. Memorial Day is definetly a day that individuals should not take for granted. I want to personally thank-you for your contribution in the war in order to fight for America!

- Alana Allen

Times of Change- Thursday

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?
-Innocent vietnamese were intentionally murdered by the Americans .
-People lost families by all of the killing.
- Some natives would burn theirselves (many Buddhists because of religion rights taken away)
- If someone supposedly sided with the Vietcong, they would get in a lot of trouble.

Vietnam Reading

Jack Smith
What challenges does Jack Smith face as a soldier in Vietnam? (a bulleted list is fine)
Jack and his friends had no kind of military experience.
They walked straight into an ambush.
They had to deal with the possibility of actually being killed
There was a lot of fear and anxiety.
Booby traps and a “pig” was set.
They had to see dead bodies of the enemies.
Many of the wounded were being killed by merciless enemies.
The hard was as hard as gravel.
Bombs and napalm was dropped.
The everlasting thought of the war and the effect it has on you as a person.

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?
In the beginning Jack Smith wanted to join the army to grow up. Joining the army was a trend and a common thing to do. He stated that he had a romantic notion about the army and war. As the war continued he didn’t realize what he had gotten himself into. He found that the army was a very dangerous and breathtaking experience. The bombs, bullets, death , blood and explosions where all factors that led to him detesting the war. He even went as far to becoming misanthropic. His attitude of the war went from wanting a new adventure in his life to seeing the blood of his friends being shed.

I Feel Like I’m Fixing To Die Rag
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’s asking all the big strong men to join the army because the US has gotten into a “terrible jam.

… the “generals” to do?
He’s basically asking them to kill the red which is referring to the Communists.

… “Wall Street” to do?
They are asking Wall Street to supply the army with tools of trade. By doing this they are praying that the they won’t drop an atomic bomb on the US.

… “mothers” to do?
Asking mothers to allow their sons to go to Vietnam.



Write down four specific lines from the song that display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war sentiment.
1. And it’s one, two, three, /What are we fighting for?/ Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn.
2. Whoopee! We’re all gonna die.
3. Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,/ Why man this is a war au-go-go.
4. "So put down your books and pick up a gun, / We're gonna have a whole lotta fun."

10 Facts About the Korean War

- On September 1949 the Communists defeated the Nationalists and Mao Zedong became head of the state but instead he fled to the island Taiwan.
- Many Americans were shocked by the fall of the Nationalist government and viewed it as a part of a Communist plot to governement.
-In June of 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea starting the conflict known as the Korean War.
-The United States appealed to the UN to stop Communism move into South Korea, so U.S troops made up most of the force and did most of the fighting.
- The infamous General Douglas MacArthur who served as World War II hero in the Pacific served as the commander of all UN forces.
- Towards the beginning of the war, the North Koreans pushed the South Koreans back almost to Pusan.-MacArthur decided to reverse the situation by landing his troops at Inchon (a port city behind the North Korean lines), which was a dangerous plan that eventually worked.
- As a result China saw the movement of the UN forces in North Korea as a threat to China's security, and as a result Chinese leaders warned that a further advance would force them to enter the war.
- On November 25, 1950 hundreds of thousands of Chinese Communist troops attacked in human waves across the Yalu river into North Korea.
- As a result MacArthur asked permission to blockade China's coastline and bomb them, but Truman refused. Truman decided to fire MacArthur because of all the crtism he recieved from him.

Unit 8 Preview

I am definetly looking forward to this Unit on the Civil Rights Movement. I am looking forward to learning the struggle of African Americans and their fight for freedom. I think it will be extremely emotional to be in the shoes of African Americans. I am also looking forward to analyzing Dr. King's speech and the subjects he talked about. I think it's going to be cool to look at each word he said and evaluate it. Unit 8 will be a very interesting one.

MLK Time Mag Blog

The author feels as though whites owe King the greatest debt for freeing whites from the burden of America's centuries-old hypocrisy about race. Basically because of King and the vast movement he led that the U.S. can claim to be the leader of the "free world" without inviting smirks of disdain and disbelief. This is a reason King should be honored the most to by Caucasians. In my opinion Martin Luther King Jr. was definitely “the right man at the right time.” I think as King as the man who came to fight for his freedom at the right place and right time. He gave African Americans hope by the power in his words and the actions he took. I don’t think there could have been another person as courageous and daring as he was. While saying his I have a dream speech he has often been misinterpreted by his line “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." The line has become a slogan for opponents of affirmative action. IF Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today I don’t think that he would be upset with the controversy over his line. I think King would just be understanding over the fact that every word he said was a lot of controversy even when he was alive.

African American Labor Statics

In the nations capitol of Washington D.C Dr. King expressed his dream to millions of people. An important aspect he stated was that the employement in African Americans should be high and equal. In my opinion King's dream has almost been put into action. There has been a dramatic change over the years since 1980. In 1980 there was only 5.3% of African American women, and only 5.6% of African American men in a labor force. But now statics show that since 2004 the employment rate has increased tremendously. 66.7% of men participate in a job, and 61.5% female participate in jobs. Although rates of employement have increased, blacks do not have high benefit jobs as whites have. There is an astounding 29.4% of white workers who are lawyers and a mere 4.7% of blacks who are lawyers. This is a reason why King's speech wasn't fulfilled to the max. Although African American jobs have increased, they have jobs that are not as high credited as Caucasions have. So in the end, King's dream is almost coming to reality.