Gabi G, Madison S, Melanie L, Mamie B: Vietnam War Oral Project by Melanie Lopez

Gorrrrillllaaaaaa

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 20:35:49 UTC

Prewar

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 20:38:40 UTC

Postwar

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 20:39:55 UTC

War Experience

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 20:40:26 UTC

Interview Questions for prewar

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 21:10:32 UTC

-What do you recall about the time when the Vietnam War started? How old were you?

- What do you remember about what was going on in the country and your community when you were growing up during the 1950s and 1960s?

-In what ways, if any, did the Vietnam War touch your life when the conflict was going on? Did you feel distanced from it or did you feel as it had a strong presence in your life?

-Did you join the military and go to the Vietnam War? Were you drafted or did you enlist voluntarily? What was the date of your enlistment or the date you were drafted? How old were you? How long were you in the military?

-How did your family respond to your decision to enlist or to you being drafted? Were you married when you went to Vietnam? If so how did your wife react to your decision?

-Why do you think the US was involved in Vietnam and Southeast Asia?

Interview Questions for War Exper.

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 21:18:30 UTC

-What was a typical day like for you in Vietnam? Describe the base in which you lived. What were your living conditions like? Housing, food, etc. Was there anything you missed about home? What did you miss the most? -How did you feel about fighting against communism and the communists? Did you feel they were a big threat to the United States? What did the military say about them?

-Where were you when the Tet Offensive happened? How did you feel about this? How did you feel about the anti-war demonstrations back in the United States? Did any of your family members participate in the demonstrations?

-Have you ever been involved in an anti-war demonstration? When, where, and why? What role do you believe the media had in fueling the anti-war demonstrations because of increased press coverage of the war?

-Do you believe the media was an advantage or a hindrance to the war effort?

Interview Questions for Postwar

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 21:22:26 UTC

-How were you treated by the community and your family when you returned to the US? What do you think and feel about US involvement in the Vietnam War? In other countries? Do you suffer any disabilities because of the Vietnam War? -Was it difficult for you to adjust to life in the US when you came back? Please explain. How did the war affect your life? -Have you ever been diagnosed or treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? How are you coping? How did your family feel about your condition?

-If you had a second chance, would you change anything about your Vietnam experience?

-From your real-life experience, is there a story about the war that hasn’t been told or that hasn’t been told accurately? How do you think your experience differs from veterans of World War II and the Korean War?

5 Made-Up Questions

melanieblopez — 2015-03-05 21:27:21 UTC

TV in the 1950s

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 17:59:54 UTC

Vietnam was the first war that issued full freedom to the press, allowing media to cover the war as they saw it. Without censorship, appalling images enabled the public to see war, as they never had before. Many people believe that it was the media that sparked the lack of support for the war.

Tet Offensive

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:00:12 UTC

The Tet Offensive would become one of the most controversial and climactic events in which the media played a role. it allowed the sight and sound of gunshots could be moved from the battlefields and into American homes in less than 24 hours. It favored the enemy

Escalation of U.S Forces

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:00:44 UTC

when Lyndon Johnson was announced president he turned his full attention to the war. With North Vietnam gaining the upper hand he flooded the air and grounds with 180,000 men. Droping 864,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam

Role of the Media and Public Forces

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:01:18 UTC

The media largely interpreted and declared Tet as a US military defeat. 16 This resonated harshly in an American population becoming increasingly weary of the mounting casualties in Vietnam. The view of many historians is that Tet was the turning point of American public opinion, and our total involvement in Vietnam. Shortly after Tet, President Johnson began telling General Westmoreland that any attempt to pursue the war more aggressively was “politically unfeasible”. Mike Wallace, reporting on CBS, stated that “the Tet offensive had demolished the myth that allied strength controlled South Vietnam”, while the New York Times printed, “These are not the deeds of an enemy whose fighting efficiency has `progressively declined' and whose morale is `sinking fast,' as United States military officials put it in November”.

Antiwar Protests/ Movement

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:01:45 UTC

The movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small–among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses–but gained national prominence in 1965, after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest. Anti-war marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), attracted a widening base of support over the next three years, peaking in early 1968 after the successful Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese troops proved that war’s end was nowhere in sight.

26th Amendment

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:02:15 UTC

The long debate over lowering the voting age in America from 21 to 18 began during World War II and intensified during the Vietnam War, when young men denied the right to vote were being conscripted to fight for their country.

Impact of the War

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:02:41 UTC

Lasting for 20 years (1955-1975), the Vietnam war, as bloody as any other wars, took away more than 2 millions lives, in which many of them were civilians. 3 millions were wounded, and hundreds of thousands of children were left orphans. The war ruined both North and South Vietnam.

Legacy of the War

melanieblopez — 2015-03-08 18:02:53 UTC

The war has an influence on nearly everyone. Its effects on the physical landscape are clear, from the devastating impact of Agent Orange on the country’s fields to the still-visible bomb craters and, more significantly, the thousands of landmines that still lie undiscovered. The Vietnamese Communist Party leadership still seem to be preoccupied by the conflict and school children are routinely shown war museums and Ho Chi Minh memorials. But despite the continuing propaganda offensive, people harbour surprisingly little animosity towards America or the West. Indeed, of all Westerners, it is often Americans who are most warmly welcomed, particularly in the south.