Would like to ask you for advise on term-paper about Vietnam war

[europegirl4jfk]

My daughter called me from L.A. a few days ago and told me that she has to do a term-paper on the Vietnam war for her American History class. Her teacher told her not so much to concentrate on the whole war but to select one aspect and work with sources she can choose herself. She asked me for advise, and I'm not a specialist on American History (never really studied that here in Europe) but I thought that maybe that would be a great opportunity to choose the documentary movies about Kerry and his Swift-boat crew. I've watched both "Going Upriver" and "Brothers in Arms" and liked them both.

I would like to ask you for advise because I'm not sure which movie she should take. They are both great. I still would say that I like "Going Upriver" more, but the problem with this one is that half of it is about the anti-war movement after the war and unfortunately Julie can't use this part because another classmate took this subject. I was thinking that she could probably even take both movies and show clips of them in class.

She then had the idea to concentrate on the question how the war has affected the people fighting it - in this case Kerry and his crew - by doing it in three parts: 1. the motivation for the people to joint the army, 2. the real experience on the ground, 3. how the war experience affected their further life.

What do you think? Could she do it this way? And would it be appropriate to choose the swift-boat part or isn't it representative enough for this war? I'm sure you guy know much better than I do, how to approach this subject, and I (or actually my daughter) would be happy to get your advise. Thanks!

Tina

[ginnyinWI]

1. well, ahem, I have worked as a writing tutor, so--

:) I think I would narrow it down a bit more--it seems like a lot to cover in just one paper. There were a lot of reasons people joined the service, and some were drafted, too. That could be a paper all by itself!

Experience in the field (2) would relate well to how the war affected later life (3). But if she only took Kerry's life, if might not be enough to cover the subject well. She needs to expand it to a wider range of experiences that are representative of others, too.

Maybe she could write about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which affected so many Vietnam vets? She could 1)define it, 2)describe combat experience and why it traumatized the soldiers--for example, being shot at daily, seeing friends get killed, etc., and 3) talk about how they coped with it after they came home--and here there would be a whole range of coping mechanisms, from drinking to therapy, etc.

Throughout the paper she could refer to Kerry's experiences and those of his crew as examples, and maybe find some in other sources too, for a well-rounded paper. The book, Tour of Duty, by Douglas Brinkley goes into it all in more detail, so she should check that out. And there are tons of books that have been written on the Vietnam War, as she probably knows if she's gone to the library. The is also information about Kerry's post-Vietnam problems (nightmares) in the book, The Candidate by Paul Alexander.

Good luck with it--it will be interesting for her, and will relate to today, unfortunately--our troops in Iraq are going to be having the same problems when they get home.

[europegirl4jfk]

3. Good idea!

Thanks for your thoughts, Ginny! Narrowing it down is certainly a good idea. It's a vast subject and Julie told me it's actually not a term paper but an essay. She has to speak for 30 minutes, so she has to choose wisely, but she will be able to show some clips from the movies.

She actually has the book "Tour of Duty". I bought it a while ago from Amazon and had it sent to my daughter in L.A. because they didn't ship to France.

[sandnsea]

2. real experience on the ground

and why that turned vets against the war. I don't think there's really enough attention put on that specifically. With Kerry's testimony to Congress, it's finally articulated clearly. The free fire zones. Burning villages when no one was sure the villagers were VC. The lack of a clear military strategy. All of that. She could find quotes from a few other vets, to support the thesis. Even work in Muhammed Ali, race relations, and his statement that no yellow people ever did anything to him which is why he dodged the draft and went to jail. Could be a powerful paper.

Good luck!!

[europegirl4jfk]

4. It's sad that she can't go to much into the anti-war movement

But she can talk about the reality of the war. I thought about the free fire zone and that stuff too. I recently saw "Band of Brothers" on TV and see the big difference between WWII and the Vietnam war. The horror was certainly the same but the guys of WWII were proud to fight. With Vietnam it was certainly shame and anger for a lot of the soldiers when they came back.

Thanks anyway for your advise. I didn't know the story about Muhammed Ali, but to be honest, I've never gone into any details of this war before "meeting" JK. But I will definitely read more about it now and I'm looking forward to it.

[ginnyinWI]

5. I was in my teens during the Vietnam war

so I didn't tune in to the details. I do remember the scrolling list of dead soldiers on the evening news, and bloody wounded photos in "LIfe" magazine. In fact they were so graphic that my parents cancelled their subscription (I had four younger brothers in the house).

Of course all the young people hated the war. And hated the government, especially Nixon. "Don't trust anybody over 30" was the slogan.

So now that JK's campaign brought up that war again, I was interested to find out more and see it from a more adult perspective. We assumed that the people in government were at least adults and knew what they were doing, but now I see them as a bunch of screw-ups who definitely did NOT know what they were doing at all.
The movie, "Fog of War" is a good one to see on Vietnam.

[whometense]

6. I agree about "Fog of War"

Just like you (obviously :-)) I was a teenager during the war and missed nearly all the detail. I remember seeing war footage on the evening news. And of course every boy I knew was worried about the draft.

Antiwar protest was something we were nearly all involved in on some level. This past year's campaign for me was a weird mix of past and future, and very emotional because of it.

[TayTay]

7. And there are dozens of good books

'A Bright Shining Lie' by Neil Sheehan
The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History by Spencer C. Tucker

There are so many. I also recommend the DVD 'The Fog of War.' This is sad, but a good take.