Monday, November 8, 1999
Living Vietnam Memorials
Exploring First-Hand Accounts of the Vietnam War, Both Overseas and At Home
Alison Zimbalist, The New York Times Learning Network
Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students examine the Vietnam War from first-hand accounts, both in Vietnam and on the home front. Students examine New York Times journalist Malcolm W. Browne's account of the fall of Saigon, interview adults about their recollections and the impact of the Vietnam War, and create first-person narratives based solely on direct quotations from their interviews.
Review the National Content Standards related to this lesson.
Suggested Time Allowance: 45 minutes
1. Assess, using their knowledge of the Vietnam War, how the war affected people on both sides of this conflict; examine the role of first-hand accounts of war as an important way to preserve history.
2. Examine New York Times journalist Malcolm W. Browne's account of the fall of Saigon by reading and discussing "Saigon's Fall."
3. Develop two lists of interview questions, one list to use in interviews with people who were in Vietnam and the other for those who witnessed the war from the home front.
4. Interview adults about their recollections and the impact of the Vietnam War; create first-person narratives based solely on direct quotations from their interviews.
Resources / Materials:
-copies of "Saigon's Finale" (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/introduction_full.html) (one per student)
Activities / Procedures:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: In their journals, students respond to the following questions: From what you have learned about the Vietnam War, how has the war affected people on both sides of this conflict (Americans and Vietnamese)? Students can then share their ideas. Then, discuss the ways in which first-hand accounts of the war differ from second-hand accounts that they have read or heard. How do first-hand accounts effectively preserve history? How do second-hand accounts preserve history in a different way?
2. Read and discuss "Saigon's Finale," first reading the entire article aloud, and then focusing on the following questions:
a. Read the first three paragraphs of the article. What does the journalist mean when he refers to "the last day," and what had the past thirty years in Vietnam been like until that day?
b. What is the journalist describing in the fourth through sixth paragraphs, and why was this happening?
c. What is the significance of Saigon in understanding the Vietnam War? Why was the panic building there in April 1975?
d. What descriptions are provided that express the feeling of urgency to get people (particularly children) out of Saigon and into safer territory?
e. What images does the journalist include in his description of the fall of Saigon, and how do these images impact your feelings about this situation?
3. Explain to students that they will be interviewing someone in their parents' or grandparents' generation who experienced the Vietnam War, either abroad in Vietnam or at home. As a class, brainstorm two lists of questions on the board to ask interviewees (one list for those who were in Vietnam, the other for those who witnessed it from the home front). Encourage students to include both general and specific questions regarding the political and social climate of that era and the war itself. Then, narrow the lists to eight to ten questions each. Students must write down these questions, as they will be responsible for using them in their interviews.
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Each student interviews an adult about his or her recollections and the impact of the Vietnam War, using the appropriate set of questions developed in class as a guide for the interview. Each student should be sure to write down responses as accurately as possible. They may wish to use a tape recorder to guarantee accurate transcriptions, with the interviewee's prior permission. Each student then writes a first-person narrative based solely on direct quotations from his or her interview. In a future class, students should share their interviewee's Vietnam experiences with the class.
Further Questions for Discussion:
--Why was Vietnam divided, both geographically, politically, and socially in the thirty years prior to the fall of Saigon?
--How did the United States become involved in the Vietnam War?
--What were the various reactions to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam on the home front?
--What were the social and political climates in the United States in the late 1960's and early 1970's?
--How do history books present the Vietnam War?
--What is the importance of first-hand accounts of history in preserving historical events?
--How and why is the Vietnam War thought of in American society today?
Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on written journal response, participation in class discussions, and narrative about the Vietnam War based solely on the information gained in an interview of someone who experienced the war from Vietnam or from the home front.
Communist, fertile, ethnic, perpetual, throes, republic, exodus, refugee, droning, impoverished, muzzle, artillery, audible, racketeers, humanitarian, airlift, bogus, counterfeit, emissary, incessant, reconnaissance, evading, asunder, enclave, forlorn, legions, tranquil
1. Read Malcolm Browne's article "Da Nang's Fall Feared Imminent; U.S. Ships Sent to Help Refugees" (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/danang.html) from March 30, 1975, and compare it to the featured article, his account of the fall of Saigon 24 years later. What details are offered in the article from 1975 that are not offered in the article from 1999, and why not? What similar wording and images exist in both articles? How has the fall of Saigon remained vivid in this journalist's mind?
2. Use news coverage from The New York Times from before, during and after the Vietnam War to explore how the media covered the events of the war and the United States' intervention in it. The New York Times Learning Network's Fall of Saigon special provides a vast collection of these articles online (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/articles.html).
3. Read other first-hand accounts of the fall of Saigon and other events in the Vietnam War. Many incredible accounts can be found online, such as those on the Web site titled Fall of Saigon Stories (http://www.wvmccd.cc.ca.us/mc/fall/default.html).
4. Examine how powers over foreign affairs that the Constitution gives to the United States President, Congress, and the federal judiciary have been used over time. What is the process by which United States foreign policy is made? What are the roles of federal agencies, domestic interest groups, the media, and the public in the development of foreign policy?
5. Create a timeline of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, including related quotations and pictures.
6. Choose a place, person or event mentioned in the featured article for more focused research of its place in the history of the Vietnam War.
7. Compare and contrast the political, economic and social aspects of North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War to today. What changes in the fabric of these countries caused by the war are still evident today?
8. Create a Walk Through History exhibit about the social climate of the United States during the span of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. Include art, articles, photographs and music from the era to support information you provide in a chronological walk-through gallery that you create in your classroom or other part of the school. (A simple way to do this is to hang posters at eye level from the ceiling, suspended by lightweight wire, in a designated path through the room.) Invite other classes to view your exhibit.
9. Examine United States intervention in other foreign conflicts in the past twenty years. How did the U.S. become involved in each, and why? What role did the U.S. play in each conflict? In what current foreign conflicts is the United States involved, and how is the American public reacting? Find newspaper articles about such current intervention efforts and reactions.
Fine Arts- Watch "Miss Saigon," the award-winning musical set during the fall of Saigon about the unrequited love between a young Vietnamese woman trying to escape from Saigon and an American soldier.
Geography- Analyze historic maps from the Vietnam War available on the Learning Network (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/graphics.html).
Media Studies- View movies depicting the Vietnam War such as "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket." How historically accurate are these films? How do they portray the American, North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese sides of the conflict? What images do they use to portray the horrors of this war?
Health/Science- Examine the symptoms and side effects associated with exposure to Agent Orange, herbicides containing dioxin in Vietnam.
Additional Related Articles:
Other Information on the Web
The Virtual Wall (http://www.thevirtualwall.org/), sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, is an interactive remembrance of the Vietnam War and its veterans who served.
Vietnam Online (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/intro.html) was developed to accompany Vietnam: A Television History, a television series produced by WGBH Boston. The site includes an interactive "Who's Who" identifying the important figures in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia and the United States, a timeliness of events from 1945 to the present, personal reflections on the War and video clips from the original series.
Vietnam: Yesterday and Today (http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/) guides teachers and students toward print, film and Web resources about the Vietnam War.
The Wars for Vietnam: 1945 to 1975 (http://students.vassar.edu/~vietnam/index.html) allows students to examine primary documents relating to the Vietnam War.
Battlefield: Vietnam (http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/index.html) looks at the military history of the Vietnam War.
Fall of Saigon Stories (http://www.wvmccd.cc.ca.us/mc/fall/default.html) is a compilation of first-hand accounts of Vietnamese men and women who lived through the fall of Saigon. Marianne Brems, an ESL instructor at Mission College in California, put together the accounts of many of her Vietnamese students now living in the United States.
National Content Standards:
This lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed below.
These standards are from Content Knowledge:
A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education: 2nd Edition and have been
provided courtesy of the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado.
United States History Standard 27- Understands how the Cold War and conflicts in Korean and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics. Benchmarks: Understands major events in U.S. foreign policy during the early Cold War period; Understands political and social characteristics of the Vietnam War; Understands the Truman and Eisenhower doctrines of foreign policy in terms of the international tensions that prompted each
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Understands that specific individuals and the values those individuals held had an impact on history; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history; Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them
Civics Standard 22- Understands how the world is organized politically into nation-states, how nation-states interact with one another, and issues surrounding U.S. foreign policy. Benchmarks: Knows the most important powers the United States Constitution gives to the Congress, president, and federal judiciary in foreign affairs; Knows various means used to attain the ends of United States foreign policy
Language Arts Standard 1- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process. Benchmarks: Uses style and structure appropriate for specific audiences and purposes; Writes expository compositions
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmark: Gathers data for research topics from interviews
United States History Standard 27- Understands how the Cold War and conflicts in Korean and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics. Benchmarks: Understands U.S. foreign policy from the Truman administration to the Johnson administration; Understands the political elements of the Vietnam War; Understands the social issues that resulted from U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Analyzes the values held by specific people who influenced history and the role their values played in influencing history; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history and studies how things might have been different in the absence of those decisions; Knows how to avoid seizing upon particular lessons of history as cures for present ills; Understands how the past affects our private lives and society in general; Evaluates the validity and credibility of different historical interpretations
Civics Standard 22- Understands how the world is organized politically into nation-states, how nation-states interact with one another, and issues surrounding U.S. foreign policy. Benchmarks: Understands the significance of principal foreign policies and events in the United States' relations with the world; Understands the major foreign policy positions that have characterized the United States' relations with the world; Knows how the powers over foreign affairs that the Constitution gives to the president, Congress, and the federal judiciary have been used over time and understands the tension between constitutional provisions and the requirements of foreign policy; Understands the process by which United States foreign policy is made, including the roles of federal agencies, domestic interest groups, the media, and the public, and knows the ways in which Americans can influence foreign policy; Understands the idea of the national interest and how it is used as a criterion for shaping American foreign policy; Understands the influence of American constitutional values and principles on American foreign policy, and understands the tensions that might arise among American values, principles, and interests as the nation deals with the practical requirements of international politics
Language Arts Standard 1- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process. Benchmarks: Writes compositions that are focused for different audiences; Writes compositions that fulfill different purposes; Writes expository compositions
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmarks: Uses a variety of primary sources to gather information for research topics; Considers the motives, credibility, and perspectives of the authors of primary sources; Determines the validity and reliability of primary and secondary source information and uses information accordingly in reporting on a research topic
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