You are an opponent of American involvement in Vietnam. Use the evidence in this chapter to begin formulating ideas to make a poster or a leaflet putting forward your views. You will work on this in class on Friday. You can include stories and images from pages 353-61. However, you must also include an explanation that will convince the supporters of containment that the policy is not working in Vietnam. OPTIONAL: Instead of opposing the war, you can support it. Feel free to make a COUNTER-ARGUMENT that the war is necessary to contain Communism.
1. Note all of the reasons why you feel the war in Vietnam is wrong.
I believe the Vietnam war is bad because we are trying to contain their government and communism. The united states is scared because there is communism in vietnam and they want to try and contain it by using war. The war is a media war and most of all americans can see what is happening in the war. The americans can see people burning themselves, people being shot, children being shot and things being blown up. The massacre in vietnam was also very wrong and it showed that the Vietname war was even more wrong to begin with. Many innocent people were murdered by careless and inexperiences young soldiers.
2. Note what you re trying to achieve with this poster. (e.g. to convince people to write to their Congressmen to get the troops out.)
With this poster i am trying to convince congress and the population of the US to get the troops out of vietnam.
3. List possible images for your poster. Think about: background (e.g. destroyed villages); the central image (e.g. picture of a young soldier); whether you will need words to explain your image.
Pictures of children, camps, geruilla warfar people, clothing, fire, guns, tunnels, us troops, vietnam troops, Ho chi minh, villages, mY lai massacre.
4. List some possible slogans for your poster.
-The young and the "innocent"
-Children in Vietnam
-Killings
-Childish
Showing posts with label Vietcong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietcong. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Vietnam War Turning Points
1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet offensive was a considered a turning point in the war because the Viet Cong fighters attacked over 10-0 cities and other military targets. They tried to capture the US embassy in Saigon. They had the US and South Vietnamese force in Saigon for two days. In Many ways the Tet offensive was a disaster for the Communists. They hoped that the people of south Vietnamese would rise up and join them but they didn't. However, the Tet offensive proved to be a turning point in the war because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA. There were questions like why had the communists been able to launch a major offensive that took US forces by complete surprise. Ad there were many civilians killed and the ancient city of Hue was destroyed, was this right?
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
Source 51 was written Ronald Ridenhour and he is saying that it was a mistake that what happened at My Lai. He is basically sticking up for the soldiers saying that they had never been away from home before and they have never served before. he is saying that they were so excited that they were sticking up0 for there country and thought they were doing good. He is saying that they didn't mean to slaughter the villages, women and children.
Source 52 Is saying that they did the right thing by slaughtering these houses, children and mothers. They say it isn't bad because they were trying to destroy communism. They weren't there to kill men, they were there to kill intangible ideas.
These two sources have entirely different ideas.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre because the soldiers and the US saw it as a good thing and were praised. But, 12 months later, a letter arrives in the offices of 30 leading politicians and government officials in Washington. It was written by Ronald Ridenhour, an American soldier who had served in Vietnam and personally new alot of the soldiers. He had evidence, he said, of "something rather dark and bloody:" that had occurred in my Lia. He recounted in detail all the storied he had been told about what had taken place and asked congress to investigate.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
The massare was so shocking to the american public because they were aware of what was actually happening in vietnam. The war was a media war and the US could see everything that was happening. They could see people getting shot, burning themselves, children screaming for their lives. It was very shocking for them to see because they never got to before.
The Tet offensive was a considered a turning point in the war because the Viet Cong fighters attacked over 10-0 cities and other military targets. They tried to capture the US embassy in Saigon. They had the US and South Vietnamese force in Saigon for two days. In Many ways the Tet offensive was a disaster for the Communists. They hoped that the people of south Vietnamese would rise up and join them but they didn't. However, the Tet offensive proved to be a turning point in the war because it raised hard questions about the war in the USA. There were questions like why had the communists been able to launch a major offensive that took US forces by complete surprise. Ad there were many civilians killed and the ancient city of Hue was destroyed, was this right?
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
Source 51 was written Ronald Ridenhour and he is saying that it was a mistake that what happened at My Lai. He is basically sticking up for the soldiers saying that they had never been away from home before and they have never served before. he is saying that they were so excited that they were sticking up0 for there country and thought they were doing good. He is saying that they didn't mean to slaughter the villages, women and children.
Source 52 Is saying that they did the right thing by slaughtering these houses, children and mothers. They say it isn't bad because they were trying to destroy communism. They weren't there to kill men, they were there to kill intangible ideas.
These two sources have entirely different ideas.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think it took 12 months for anyone to do anything about the massacre because the soldiers and the US saw it as a good thing and were praised. But, 12 months later, a letter arrives in the offices of 30 leading politicians and government officials in Washington. It was written by Ronald Ridenhour, an American soldier who had served in Vietnam and personally new alot of the soldiers. He had evidence, he said, of "something rather dark and bloody:" that had occurred in my Lia. He recounted in detail all the storied he had been told about what had taken place and asked congress to investigate.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
The massare was so shocking to the american public because they were aware of what was actually happening in vietnam. The war was a media war and the US could see everything that was happening. They could see people getting shot, burning themselves, children screaming for their lives. It was very shocking for them to see because they never got to before.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam
Step 3: in each row of column 3, draw some scales to show which way the balance falls for this quality. Did the USA or the Viet Cong have the advantage?
1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.
a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
Looking at the data and seeing the scales from one side to the other, the balance was even. Both sides were very strong and both had advantages and disadvantages.
b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
Good soldiers really helped them because most soldiers died because of inexperience and then either side didn't have strong soldiers. Also, effective statics helped them win the war because the bombs really helped but i do not believe that there was one feature that was so important that being ahead in the area meant that it was a advantage. Both had really good come backs and knew how to fix what had happened.
Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.
2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:
a. The U.S. weaknesses were:The Search and Destroy tactics. This was their weakness because the US and Vietnamese Population had hatred. the bombing tactics did little to no damage to the communists. The soldiers for the US were walking into booby traps and were fearful. The US did kill some viet cong fighters but there were more problems that the US was doing. The fighters walking into booby traps, them killing Innocent people, destroy towns.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Their motivation to keep fighting and not giving up. After the US had bombed them they did not give or did they show that they wanted too.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: The united states had good supplies and equipment. They had air crafts, bombs and very good soldiers. "Agent Orange", which is a spray that burns many things, got rid of alot of guerrilla fighters. This was good for the US because it was getting ride of them and the Viet Cong didn't have much of anything like it.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre. This was in March 1968 and a few young American soldiers called "charlie Company" started a search mission. They had been told that in My Lai there had been viet cong head quarters and 200 guerrillas. The solders were ordered to destroy House, dwellings, and live stock. They were under the impression that they were to kill everyone in the villages. Between 300-400 people were killed mostly women, children, and old men. There were no viet cong found.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as: The war being more of a "media war" fell in the favor of the Viet Cong. There had been horrible pictures and videos and it fell in their favor because many Americans were turning against the war and this was just making their minds more clear about the war being bad.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example: They did not have any support from other soldiers. the viet cong didn't have support from 10000 other experiences soldiers which really hurt them in the long run because they needed them.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [My Lai Massacre] because: This really showed that America was so obsessed with trying to find the viet cong and communists and they put all this effort in to just hurt innocent people. This really hurt them because they were doing very well and then the inexperience of other soldiers really showed that the US was a bit weak.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [The Soldiers] because: These soldiers did not give up one bit. They were determined to try and fight the US and they were being slaughtered down but they did not give up. They were bombed, there families were killed and much other things and they had the courage to not let the US beat them down.
1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.
a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
Looking at the data and seeing the scales from one side to the other, the balance was even. Both sides were very strong and both had advantages and disadvantages.
b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
Good soldiers really helped them because most soldiers died because of inexperience and then either side didn't have strong soldiers. Also, effective statics helped them win the war because the bombs really helped but i do not believe that there was one feature that was so important that being ahead in the area meant that it was a advantage. Both had really good come backs and knew how to fix what had happened.
Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.
2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:
a. The U.S. weaknesses were:The Search and Destroy tactics. This was their weakness because the US and Vietnamese Population had hatred. the bombing tactics did little to no damage to the communists. The soldiers for the US were walking into booby traps and were fearful. The US did kill some viet cong fighters but there were more problems that the US was doing. The fighters walking into booby traps, them killing Innocent people, destroy towns.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Their motivation to keep fighting and not giving up. After the US had bombed them they did not give or did they show that they wanted too.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: The united states had good supplies and equipment. They had air crafts, bombs and very good soldiers. "Agent Orange", which is a spray that burns many things, got rid of alot of guerrilla fighters. This was good for the US because it was getting ride of them and the Viet Cong didn't have much of anything like it.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre. This was in March 1968 and a few young American soldiers called "charlie Company" started a search mission. They had been told that in My Lai there had been viet cong head quarters and 200 guerrillas. The solders were ordered to destroy House, dwellings, and live stock. They were under the impression that they were to kill everyone in the villages. Between 300-400 people were killed mostly women, children, and old men. There were no viet cong found.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as: The war being more of a "media war" fell in the favor of the Viet Cong. There had been horrible pictures and videos and it fell in their favor because many Americans were turning against the war and this was just making their minds more clear about the war being bad.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example: They did not have any support from other soldiers. the viet cong didn't have support from 10000 other experiences soldiers which really hurt them in the long run because they needed them.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [My Lai Massacre] because: This really showed that America was so obsessed with trying to find the viet cong and communists and they put all this effort in to just hurt innocent people. This really hurt them because they were doing very well and then the inexperience of other soldiers really showed that the US was a bit weak.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [The Soldiers] because: These soldiers did not give up one bit. They were determined to try and fight the US and they were being slaughtered down but they did not give up. They were bombed, there families were killed and much other things and they had the courage to not let the US beat them down.
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