American History II students have been discussing how the United States became involved in the Vietnam War. Specifically, what were the rationales for going to Vietnam? Secondly, students have watched the documentary, "Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam".
EXTRA CREDIT: What rationale do you believe is the most convincing, or, what rationale do you believe is the most flawed logically? OR, in the film, "Dear America", what do you believe the general theme of the film was? What did most of the letters say?
I think that the spread of democracy is the most flawed rationale for joining the Vietnam war. Yes, it would be nice if everyone was a democracy, but a war is absolutely not the right way to go about that. A democracy is a form of government where everyone in the country has a say about what happens in the country to affect their lives. I don't understand how fighting a war is going to make that happen.
ReplyDelete-Sari
I think that the most seemingly reasonable rationale is the Truman doctrine, but no one could have predicted what that doctine would lead to. When he said we were going to help any other country in need of fighting communism, it should have been for the sake of actually helping them rather that the fear that we would fall to communism if other countries did (the domino theory). I think that it would have been the most reasonable of all the rationales if it was actually based on helping other people rather that a selfish fear.
ReplyDelete-Veda Henion
I think that the theme of Dear America was along the lines of showing the realistic parts of the Vietnam war. They showed how many people had died every year, how many were wounded every year. All of the letters talked about stuff that happened while the soldiers were there, how it made them feel, what they wanted. With all of the action scenes actually being from the war itself I think that that really help. So many news casts and other such things show the war in its glorified state. They don't talk about all the bad things that happened, and this movie really brought it to life.
ReplyDelete-Sari
I think that the theme of Dear America was to show how devastating the war was in a way that would really reach the common people. By showing the REAL images, footage, and letters of the REAL soldiers over there, it was much more effective than showing actors and fake blood. It was meant to open people's eyes about the war by reading the actual letters of the men over there and the statistics about how many of those men died after writing those letters. This movie showed a realistic view of the Vietnam war.
ReplyDelete-Veda Henion
In the movie "Dear America" i thought the general theme was to show the real side of the Vietnam War that we all so easily miss. The letters all talked about the terrors of war and how unecessary it was that they were in Vietnam. It talked about counting the days until the soldiers could finally come home. I think that the main point of this movie was to show us back home a little glimpse of the hell these soldiers endured. Kendra Chupp
ReplyDeleteI think that the theme of Dear America was to show the realistic thoughts and feelings of the American soldiers in Vietnam. The film really expressed their true emotions. This film was all real, it didn't have any Hollywood glamour in it, just real emotions, real fights, and real wounds, which is eye opening. The film was really moving for me because you could feel and see how scared the soldiers were, they were too young to ever be in a position like that.
ReplyDeletei think the theme of the war was showing the reality of what went on in Vietnam. The movie showed death, destruction and suffering. It really opens things up when hearing the real letters of soldiers who sacrificed their lives to fight in Vietnam. Watching the footage of what went on over there was very shocking to me. Seeing all of the life less bodies laying there like they weren't important was hard to watch. Watching this film made me realize that there were not only physical damage to these men there was mental pain they had to go through also. This movie put a very realistic view of the war.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the general theme of the movie "Dear America" was showing what REALLY happened during the Vietnam war and how everyone ended up dealing with it, or not, in their own ways. The film having legit footage of the fighting really put everything into perspective. They showed how many wounded and how many dead, and that was a big help in realization. Literally every letter said something about how terrible it was in Vietnam or how much they wanted to go home. Every single one of them truly wanted out of the mess, but most knew that it was the right thing to do and to keep pushing on.
ReplyDeletei actually really enjoyed the film "Dear America" the general theme of it was to have people explain what they had to go through in Vietnam. i like how it had actual footage, i think that it makes it more intense and makes you appreciate everything they do, so much more. it also shoe how many men died after writing the letter. it's crazy when you really think about it.
ReplyDeleteJessi
I think that the film was to show how realistic the war was. It showed how hard that it was for soldiers in Vietnam and instead of scripting the movie they used actual letters that were written that really helped to portray how the soldiers felt. It helped to show how the soldiers felt and how the war was affecting them. It really opens your eyes to how life was for them in Vietnam.- Kayla
ReplyDeleteThe movie "Letters from vietnam" was a good movie showing what the American soldiers were worried about and thinking about. It really opened my eyes as to how easy we got it. We have so much to be thankful for. We owe our lives to all the men and women who gave their lives to fight for our country.
ReplyDeleteI think that the most flawed rationale in the Vietnam war was the thought that because they were "communist" we had to go in there and fix a situation. I do not believe it was our place at all to be in that war, it didn't involve us until we decided we had to prove something. I also believe that was somewhat the theme of the movie as well. "Dear America" had many references to why the soldiers were there. Many of them said in their letters that they couldn't understand why they were there. I think that is a question that the majority had thought of during the Vietnam war. -aly stoeckley
ReplyDeleteThe film "Dear America" really pulled me into the situation the soldiers were in. A lot of the men serving for their country were my age, and to think about going to war right now just wouldn't seem real. It would definitely be rough. You could feel their suffering and depression throughout the film. I liked how there was actual footage.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, the rationale for going to Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism. The U.S. was afraid of communism taking over other countries and eventually the U.S. We went to Vietnam and attempted to win the hearts of the Vietnamese. Once the Vietnamese were happy with the way we treated them we figured they would adopt democracy.
ReplyDeleteI think the general theme of "Dear America" was to show the people the Vietnam War not only visually, but show what the U.S. soldiers were feeling through their letters home. The real footage in the film gives you a serious look at the battles. Overall I learned more about the soldiers lives during the war than about the dates of events from this film, but it helped me see the war from a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteI believe the general theme of the movie was to show us how the war really was, from the people that were there, rather than getting information from reporters that weren't telling the truth half the time.
ReplyDeleteI thought the film, "Dear America", was mainly showing what it was like for the military men in Vietnam were going through. It was a good way of seeing the stress and tragedy they faced on a day to day basis. Most of the letters, mainly mentioned that the war was terrible. They couldn't wait for their turn to leave and go home. Some of the men did mention that they couldn't see what the war was really about anymore. And that it hadn't had the same meaning as when they first arrived in Vietnam. Katie Peterson
ReplyDelete"Dear America" was a touching film. Instead of glorify their place in the war, it showed the real heartache and fear they felt fightning in a foreign country. Because of the fact that the movie only showed images and film that was real and not straight our of hollywood, I belive that the general theme was to show the reality and truth of the Vietnam War. It was made to show the fear they felt and the conflicting feelings they had. Most felt that they were not making a difference and as time went on lost view of why and what they were fighting for.
ReplyDeleteAundria Griffiths
Aundria Griffiths said...
ReplyDeleteI believe the most flawed rational would be that entering the war and going to Vietnam would all together stop the spread of Communism. It was a selfish act because the underlying reason we wanted it to stop is because we were afraid it would also take over America.
I believe that the most unreasonable rational for going to fight in Vietnam was for resources. The United States is a huge country and the thought that we could justify war with our countries greed and want of there land and materials is such an unreasonable way to excuse our men an women in the militaries life.
ReplyDeleteMichael Sieler
I believe that the Tonkin Gulf Incident was the most convincing. The members of Congress did not know at the time that the information was false. They responded to an attack on a U.S. ship by giving the president Johnson authorization to assist "any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty."
ReplyDeleteThere were many rationales as to why we entered into the Vietnam war. Some of which were: The fear of the domino Theory, our obligation to aid other countries in the act to stop the spread of communism ( The Truman Doctrine), our desire to spread democracy, and finally our fear that if communists took over Vietnam we would not have access to the resources Vietnam had to offer. (90% of the worlds rubber, 60% of the worlds tin, and a huge surplus of oil). The Domino theory stated that if one country fell to communism that it would cause a chain reaction and all the countries would eventually become communist countries. I believe the most flawed rationale for entering into the war would be our foreign containment policy that stated that we would aid any country in war who's intentions were to stop the spread of communism. It goes against our Declaration of Independence and what Thomas Jefferson stated which was of course, "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Every man along with every nation has the right to determine their own future, economic system, and religious beliefs.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Sutley
THE DEAR AMERICA LETTERS FROM HOME, TO ME MENT THAT THE THEME IS TO SHOW THE PEOPLE WHAT VEITNAM WAS ACTUALLY LIKE, BY READING AND SOME RENACTING SOME PARTS THE STUDENTS COULD SEE EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW THE MEN STUCK TOGETHER TILL THE VERY END. APRIL M.
ReplyDeleteI think that the most convincing rationale was Containment. The United States thought that it was necessary to stop the spread of Communism, backing their statement with the example of our successful victory in World War II. At the time, we seemed like heros going into Vietnam to stop what we thought was an unacceptable government system. These actions served as propaganda as to why people should have supported the war in Vietnam. -Tia
ReplyDeleteThe Film "Dear America" made me think a lot about the soldiers in the Vietnam War and what they had to go through. It seemed to me that the main goal of the war was to stop the spread of democracy, but none of the soldiers seemed to think that from their letters. Most of them just wanted to be able to serve their term and go home. I can't imagine what it would be like to be one of them. -Derek DeShazer
ReplyDeleteI think the main theme of the movie was to show what really happened over in Vietnam. All the letters talked about all the horrible things they went through.
ReplyDelete-Brittany H-W
The worst rational was trying to obtain more resources. Losing all the soldiers was not worth it.
ReplyDeleteI think the main theme of Dear America was to show us, how soldiers coped with being away from family by making freinds, and dealing with the chance that they could die anyday.