Using your knowledge gained from previous readings in the Vietnam War reading, complete the following.
Title: Vietnam War Opposition Labels: Vietnam_War, Vietcong, Tet_Offensive, My_Lai_Massacre, Vietnam_War_Protest, 1968
The assignment is due by at the beginning of class on Friday.
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.
-The My Lai Massacre (the general issue of brutal civillian deaths)
-use of chemical weapons like agent orange
-the US is not making a lot of progress against the Vietcong guerilla army
-methods like bombing (operation rolling thunder) are costly and only slow down the viet cong
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 will try to convince to publicly protest against the Vietnam War.
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.
Possible images for the poster:
-A soldier (with his head facing down) in the midst of a destroyed village
-Politicians (portrayed unflatteringly) dump money and american soldiers into a giant hold labled "Vietnam"
-Vietnamese civillians running away from chemical weapons
-a group of american protesters
4. List some possible slogans for your poster.
Possible solgans
"Protest the war; stop the waste of lives"
"No one wins in a war like this"
"Show some humanity. Protest the Vietnam War"
Showing posts with label Vietcong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietcong. Show all posts
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Vietnam War Turning Points
Using your knowledge gained from previous readings in the Vietnam War reading, answer the following questions.
Title: Vietnam War Turning Points Labels: Vietnam_War, Vietcong, Tet_Offensive, My_Lai_Massacre
The assignment is due by 3:10 on Wednesday.
1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet Offensive was a turning point because after it, the American side began losing support for the war.
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
No, source 51 emphasizes the horror of the soldiers involved the the My Lai Massacre and compares the actions of it to the actions of Nazis. Source 51 defends the massacre saying that the objective was not to kill the people and that the massacre was just another way to kill the ideology of communism.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think that people were probably afraid to report Calley. Also, many soldiers may to have wanted to come to terms with what had actually happened at My Lai, preferring to forget what had happened.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
The massacre was so shocking to the american public because it was very clear evidence that the war in vietnam had gone horribly wrong. Before the massacre, it still seemed like maybe everything the US was doing was for the bigger cause of defeating communism, but the massacre seemed to prove that this was not the case; civilians including women child and old men were all killed at the massacre for no reason except viciousness and that shocked the american public deeply.
Title: Vietnam War Turning Points Labels: Vietnam_War, Vietcong, Tet_Offensive, My_Lai_Massacre
The assignment is due by 3:10 on Wednesday.
1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet Offensive was a turning point because after it, the American side began losing support for the war.
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
No, source 51 emphasizes the horror of the soldiers involved the the My Lai Massacre and compares the actions of it to the actions of Nazis. Source 51 defends the massacre saying that the objective was not to kill the people and that the massacre was just another way to kill the ideology of communism.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
I think that people were probably afraid to report Calley. Also, many soldiers may to have wanted to come to terms with what had actually happened at My Lai, preferring to forget what had happened.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
The massacre was so shocking to the american public because it was very clear evidence that the war in vietnam had gone horribly wrong. Before the massacre, it still seemed like maybe everything the US was doing was for the bigger cause of defeating communism, but the massacre seemed to prove that this was not the case; civilians including women child and old men were all killed at the massacre for no reason except viciousness and that shocked the american public deeply.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The U.S. Struggles Against the Communists in Vietnam
Step 2: Using pages 356-61 in the Vietnam War Reading, make notes in columns 2 (US Army) and 4 (Viet Cong) to record how far each side had each quality.
Stage 2: Thinking it through
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?
The US had an advantage as far as armies go because they outnumbered and outgunned the Viet Cong. However, the Viet Cong army was more devoted to the the war, and o Chi Minh continued to sacrifice soldiers to the war.
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?
I believe that the one determining quality in who won the war was effective tactics. Although US tactics were able to kill Viet Kong, they were also very expensive and, witch chemical weapons, extremely gruesome. The US tactics were not only inefficient but in some cases, but when the press got a old of them they shocked the American public. The Veit COng on the other hand used guerilla warfare to terrorize the US.The Tet offensive, although it was in some ways a disaster, was a turning point in the war.
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: A lack of soldier's and public moral, inefficient and costly tactics.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Highly motivated (refused to give in) and had better tactics like guerilla warfare.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: Operation Rolling thunder.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre (this is not so much a defeat as bad press for the US), Operation Rolling thunder did work but could not defeat communists, search and destroy was not a good tactic.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:the Tet offensive (was a turning point in the war),
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The US of chemical weapons by the US, keeping the Ho Chi MInh trail open cost many soldiers' lives
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Insert weakness here] because:
American tactics because the Americans were not prepared to deal with the guerilla war tactics of the Viet Cong. Their tactics such as bombing were unable to defeat a guerilla army.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [their use of guerilla warfare] because: guerilla warfare made them impossible to defeat with bombing raids and traditional battles, both of which the US would have won. Even though the US troops outnumbered and outgunned them, they were not able to defeat them because guerilla warfare made the Viet congs so difficult to find and often caught US soliders off guard with attacks.
Stage 2: Thinking it through
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?
The US had an advantage as far as armies go because they outnumbered and outgunned the Viet Cong. However, the Viet Cong army was more devoted to the the war, and o Chi Minh continued to sacrifice soldiers to the war.
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?
I believe that the one determining quality in who won the war was effective tactics. Although US tactics were able to kill Viet Kong, they were also very expensive and, witch chemical weapons, extremely gruesome. The US tactics were not only inefficient but in some cases, but when the press got a old of them they shocked the American public. The Veit COng on the other hand used guerilla warfare to terrorize the US.The Tet offensive, although it was in some ways a disaster, was a turning point in the war.
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: A lack of soldier's and public moral, inefficient and costly tactics.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were: Highly motivated (refused to give in) and had better tactics like guerilla warfare.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example: Operation Rolling thunder.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were: The My Lai Massacre (this is not so much a defeat as bad press for the US), Operation Rolling thunder did work but could not defeat communists, search and destroy was not a good tactic.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:the Tet offensive (was a turning point in the war),
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The US of chemical weapons by the US, keeping the Ho Chi MInh trail open cost many soldiers' lives
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Insert weakness here] because:
American tactics because the Americans were not prepared to deal with the guerilla war tactics of the Viet Cong. Their tactics such as bombing were unable to defeat a guerilla army.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [their use of guerilla warfare] because: guerilla warfare made them impossible to defeat with bombing raids and traditional battles, both of which the US would have won. Even though the US troops outnumbered and outgunned them, they were not able to defeat them because guerilla warfare made the Viet congs so difficult to find and often caught US soliders off guard with attacks.
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