1. The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien

2. Quick-Write: For the next minute, answer this question the index card.
What do you know about the Vietnam War?

3. The Vietnam War
Started between communistic North Vietnam and their Viet Cong versus South Vietnam and their principal ally – The United States.

4. The War Began.. In 1954 after leader Ho Chi Minh came into power
He fed off of the existing tension between two economic super powers – The U.S. & Russia
Ho Chi Minh was elected leader of Vietnam, which had previously been under control by both France and Japan.
The Japanese backed out of Vietnam, leaving on the French, which caused an uprising. A line was then drawn, creating North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with the capitals of Hanoi and Saigon.

5. U.S. Involvment JFK wanted to keep ahead of the game.
He increased troops in South Vietnam
9,000 troops by the end of 1962
800 troops by the end of the 50s
We helped Vietnam out of fear of the “Domino Effect” that if one Asian country fell to communism, many others would follow.

6. U.S. Involvement (Continued…)
After JFK’s assassination, and an overthrow in government, South Vietnam was left vulnerable.
Gulf of Tonkin – Vietnamese torpedoes attacked two US Destroyers
Johnson signed an retaliatory plan into motion, which called for the bombing of targets in Northern Vietnam, thus putting us into the war officially.

7. The Draft The military was able to recruit 80% of the troops needed
The other 20% came from a government issued draft
The draft, among other things, led to a huge rift in our country.

8. Nixon and “Vietnamization”
Nixon attempted to remove troops little by little, but total removal of American troops was demanded by Northern Vietnam.
While Nixon spoke of peace, American troops slaughtered a village of 400 unarmed civilians in My Lai in 1968…which kind of makes it hard to negotiate.
This caused one brutal, bloody year, and continued the battle until 1973.

9. Did you know…
The war officially ended in 1973 when America and Vietnam came to a peace agreement.
Americas “official involvement” spanned from
“Whether they were volunteers or drafter, 1 out of every 10 soldiers died in Vietnam.” (History.com)
More than 3 million people were killed, including the 58,200 Americans.
- American casualties in Vietnam were the fourth largest

10. Who’s Tim O’Brien? Born in Austin, Minnesota in 1946.
He graduated with a Bachelor’s in political science from Macalester College in 1968.
He was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1968.

11. O’Brien (continued) O’Brien served from 1969-1970.
He was sent home with a Purple Heart after being hit with shrapnel.

12. O’Brien (continued) O’Brien lived through the events he writes about.
He writes exclusively about his experiences during the Vietnam war, despite many writers not discussing it after the war’s end.

13. O’Brien’s Writing Style
Stream of Consciousness writing
Writing that is similar to your thoughts
Writing whatever comes to mind
Unreliable Narrator
Your narrator is leaving out key details.