Vietnam and the American Way of War Contact Information Current Event Questions Why a class on the Vietnam and Military History Class Information/Procedures Review: the Cold War Context of Vietnam-Lecture/Game/Document

Contact Me David Lickey Email: dlickey@pps.net mrlickey.wikispaces.com Unit Guides (Always available on above wiki page)

Why a Class on Vietnam & Military History? My Answer: I’m interested It is something I know a fair amount about A lot of wisdom to be gained from a smallish fact base RFK President Ronald Reagan We really need a wise electorate at this juncture Near total remove of citizens from the costs and consequences of military policy Most of the governing class were formed by the Vietnam experience (Pres. Obama and Rep. P. Ryan not withstanding) This class seeks to inform the very biggest Questions - Interlude What is your answer? HOMEWORK DUE MON. Spiral Notebook Name Short letter to me about why your taking this class, what you think you will gain from taking it.

The Big Questions What is war? What kind of war do you think is nessecary/just/moral? Under what circumstances should our country engage in warfare? Who should shoulder the burden of war? How can we avoid unnescessary War? What does it take to win the wars we choose to fight?

RFK The Lessons of Vietnam Robert Kennedy two days after announcing his candidacy for President: “Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live. Now as ever, we do ourselves best justice when we measure ourselves against ancient tests, as in the Antigone of Sophocles: “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only sin is pride.” What are the lessons of the Vietnam War, of Iraq, of Afganistan, of the so called War on Terror? What do they teach you about what wars our country should fight and how we should fight them? Write this question down now and answer it every day! If you can’t challenge me to do so

Curriculum Film: Vietnam: A Television History; Frontline Bush’s War, Obama’s War “Choices” : Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan Books: Memoirs + enrichment “Bloods: an Oral History of Vietnam War by Black Veterans” “Dispatches” Michael Herr “A Rumor of War” Philip Caputo “If I Die In A Combat Zone: Box Me Up & Ship Me Home” Tim O’Brien “Vietnam: A History” Stanly Karnow “A Bright Shinning Lie” Neil Sheehan “Fiasco” Thomas Ricks Seating Chart: Yes

Cold War Context of Vietnam “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” President J. F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address “Now we have a problem making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place.” President Kennedy “I knew from the start that I was bound to be crucified either way I moved. If I left the woman I really loved—the Great Society—in order to get involved with that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs. All my hopes to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. All my dreams to provide education and medical care to the browns and the blacks and the lame and the poor. But if I left that war and let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser and we would find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe.” President L. B. Johnson to Biographer