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Old 06-04-2002, 08:11 PM
Cwilkens Cwilkens is offline
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Default How and What to tell the young

This goes out to one and all.

It should generate some interesting discussion and points of view.

"When was the last time you were in Vietnam?" one of my students asked in class. "This morning!" I replied. He stared at me like I was crazy. Has this ever happend to you?

I teach a Vietnam History course in both high school and college. It becomes very interesting at times. I am teaching about my life and they are learning history.

Remember that point - It is interesting history taught by someone who was there, but it is still just history to them.

I am including a sylabus that is used at college and a course outline that is used in the high school.

Tell me what you think, what should be added?, what should be changed?, and what's available that I don't have or don't know about?. I am always looking for ways to improve the course, add to the course, and ways to make the course relative to my students.

Vietnam: A Time of Turmoil and Change
WHI250/200 ? History & Political Science
Winter Session 2002: January 2 ? 17, 2002
Caldwell College, Caldwell, New Jersey

Instructor: Mr. Wilkens
Room: 6203/ New Academic Building
Phone: 973 - 584-1200, ext.: 693 (Voice Mail)
FAX 973 - 584 -7584


Email cwilkens@caldwell.edu
cwilkens@roxbury.org
wilfam@worldnet.att.net

Office Hours: 4:15 to 5:15 PM or during class breaks and after class in the Student Center ? Room 4144

Course Description:

The purpose of WHI250/200 will focus on two different groups of people that had the experience of living through the Vietnam Era. The first group, known as the ?baby boomers?, came of age during the 1960s and the early 1970s. This group lived through and participated in every major event of that turbulent time. The second group is the new generation, which could be called the ?ERA Kids?. They were born during the 60s and went through their formative years in the 70s. To the ?Kids? Vietnam is just recent history, a tumultuous age that the ? Boomers? created. The course will examine the war and how it affected both generations and both opposing cultures. It will compare and evaluate the conflicting values, moral judgments, and political decisions that affected the Vietnam Generation in a time of turmoil and change.

Required Textbooks:

Text:
Starr, Jerold M., Ed.; The Lessons of the Vietnam War; 1991.

Reader:
O?Nan, Stewart; The Vietnam Reader; 1998

Optional Reading List:
Edelman, Bernard, Ed; Dear America: Letters Home from the War; 1986.

Truong, Nhu Tang; A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account; 1985.

Santoli, Al; Everything We Had: An Oral History; 1981

Walker, Keith;A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of 26 Women in Vietnam;1985.

Lang, Daniel; Casualties of War, A Novel; 1989

Course Objectives:
?To place the Vietnam Conflict within the chronology and history of the Cold War Era and to assess whether or not Vietnam was necessary.

?To understand those factors that lead to the US decision to enter the conflict and to describe the goals established by the Eisenhower/ Kennedy/ Johnson/ Nixon administrations for bringing the hostilities to an end.

?To explain who fought in the conflict and the strategies used during combat actions.

?To assess the value of technology on the battlefield.

?To speculate on the legality of the Vietnam Conflict.

?To examine the historical, political, economic, and social impact of the Vietnam Conflict on America and the American people.

?To describe and explain the costs of the Vietnam conflict both to the nation as a whole and to the American people personally.

?To recognize the Vietnam Conflict for its unique qualities and place in history by comparing it to the 1991 Gulf War.

?To speculate on the lessons and value of history of the Vietnam Conflict on American foreign policy now and in the future

Attendance:
?You are responsible for all material presented in class, including announcements about course procedures. Exams, quizzes and homework often include questions and material presented only in class, so performance on these indirectly reflects attendance to the course.

?Caldwell College awards credit hours based on number of hours completed in class. (45 hrs = 3 credits)

Evaluation:
?Examinations: There will be one exam worth 25% of the course grade. The exam will be announced in class at least one week before the end of the course.

?Moral dilemmas: Issues involving moral/ ethical choice/ critical thinking activities will make up 20% of the grade for the course.

?Film Critiques: Written discussions of films will makeup 25% of the grade.

?20% of the grade will be based on homework and quizzes. You will have daily assignments involving course material presented in class. Quizzes will be given on an irregular basis.

?Class Participation: This will count 10% of the overall grade.

?All exams and homework must be completed in order to complete this course, regardless of lateness. Unexcused lateness course work will lose 10% of its points for each weekday that it is late. Late assignments can be turned in at my mailbox. Arrangements for ?excused lateness? must be made in advance and approved by the instructor.
Course grades will be assigned as follows:
?A: 94% ? 100% A- 90 - 93%
?B+: 87%- 89% B: 84% - 86% B-: 80% - 83%
?C+: 77% -79% C: 70% - 76%
?D+: 67% -69% D: 60% - 66%
?F: below 60%

Academic dishonesty will result in a course grade of ?F?.

Daily Reading Schedule:

Day 1: An Introduction to Vietnamese History, Geography, and Culture
Lessons:
Introduction to Vietnam: Land, History, and Culture, pages 1 ? 8
Articles on Vietnamese Culture and History

Film: Vietnam: Land of the Ascending Dragon
Vietnam: A country not a war
Roots of War

Day 2: The French in Vietnam
Lessons: Land, History, and Culture, pages 9 ? 28
Reader: pages 1 ? 13

Film: First Indochina War
Seeds of War

Day 3: Vietnam: The necessary war?
Lessons: America at War in Vietnam
Reader: pages 13 - 46

Film: Dien Bien Phu
The Ugly American

Day 4: America Takes Charge
Lessons: Who Fought the War for the US?
Reader: pages 53 ? 88; 107 - 113
pages 115 ? 149; 279 - 296

Film: America?s Mandarin/ Uneasy Allies
Why Vietnam? LBJ?s message to America
CBS News: The World of Charlie Company
Full Metal Jacket

Day 5: Search and Destroy the enemy
Lessons: How the US fought the War in Vietnam?
Reader: 297 ? 388; 439 - 496

Film The Anderson Platoon
The Faces of War
The Flight of the Intruder
Platoon

Day 6: The Case of My Lai - 4
Lessons: When war becomes a crime
Reader: pages 257 ? 278; 457 - 503

Film: Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Casualties of War
Winter Soldier Reports
Frontline: My Lai Revisited
Deer Hunter
Apocalypse Now

Day 7: Hawks Vs Doves: Taking Sides
Lessons: The War at Home
Reader: 539 - 612

Film: Vietnam: The war at Home
Homefront USA
Vietnam: Choosing Sides
We can change the World
Medium Cool

Day 8: Literature about the War
Lessons: How the War was reported
Reader: pages 389 - 439

Film: Full Metal Jacket
Hamburger Hill
84 Charlie Mopix
Dateline Saigon

Day 9: The Legacies of War
Lessons: The wounds of war and the process of healing
Reader: pages 613 - 674

Film: The Fall of Saigon
Born on the Fourth of July
In Country
Coming Home
Rambo

Day 10 What was learned from the Vietnam War?
Lessons: Lessons from yesterday for today
Reader: pages 675 ? 693

Film: Legacies of the war
Thanks of a Grateful Nation
A Bright Shining Lie
Heaven and Earth

Final Examination


This course outline is for the Senior Elective course at high school 17 weeks and a final exam.

COURSE OUTLINE - THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE

I. Vietnam: An Introduction
A. The Land
1. climate
2. geography
3. population

B. Names for Vietnam
1. Viet
2.Nam
3.Annam
4.Tonkin
5.Cochin China
6.Vietnam

C. Vietnam and the Outside World
1.China
2.Portugal
3.The Netherlands

D. The French in Vietnam
1.By 1860 the French were well on their way to
controlling Vietnam
2.French control the area until 1940
3.Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese nationalism
4.Japanese in Vietnam during World War II
5.1945 - start of 1st war for independence
6.Dien Bien Phu
7.Geneva Conference

II. America's Commitment to the War (1954 - 1965)
A. Geneva Accords of 1954
1.North and South Vietnam
2.1956 elections

B. The Diem Regime Begins
1.Ngo Dinh Diem
2.Diem's referendum
3.harsh and authoritarian rule
4.creation of the National Liberation Front
(Viet Cong)

C. Early American Involvement
1.firm American Backing for Diem
2.1961 - President Kennedy sends 18t American
military "advisers" and increased military aid

D. Diem Regime In Trouble
1.Diem's advisers
2.Buddhist opposition to Diem
3.loss of American confidence
4.military coup and assassination of Diem

E. South Vietnamese Instability
1.no government survives without American support
2.1964 - Tonkin Gulf Resolution
3.1965 - strategic bombing of North Vietnam
4. emergence of Nguyen Van Thieu and
Nguyen Cao Ky

III. The United States Takes Charge (Escalation 1965-1968)
A. President Johnson goes to War
1.1st United States ground troops
2.the war expands

B. Military Strategies
1.United States
2.South Vietnam
3.North Vietnam

C. The Continuing War
1.Operation Rolling Thunder
? the bombing of North Vietnam
2.War Strategies
a.Phoenix Program (1967)
b.pacification
c.free fire zones
d.search and destroy missions
e.defoliants
3.United States firepower
4.General Westmoreland commands U.S. troops
5.Tet offensive (January 31, 1968)
6.My Lai massacre
Hue massacre

D. The Search for Peace
1.President Johnson announces halt to bombing of
North Vietnam and decision not to seek another
term in office
2.opening of peace talks in Paris

IV. Mr. Nixon Takes Over (1968 - 1975)
A. Vietnamization
1.?honorable? end
2.increasing reliance on South Vietnamese troops
3.morale problems with American troops

B. Military Action During The Period
1.invasion of Cambodia
2.Laos incursion
3.The Easter offensive and American reaction
4.North Vietnamese army takes over burden from
weakened Viet Cong

C. Military Stalemate and Diplomatic Breakthrough
1.by fall of 1972 there was a military stalemate
2.President Nixon?s. dilemma
a.Henry Kissinger negotiates a
cease-fire agreement
b.The Thieu government resists

D. The Paris Accords
1.North Vietnamese troops could remain in place
2.Viet-Cong recognized by the U.S. and
South Vietnam
3.United States would withdraw troops
4.U.S. permitted to continue military aid to
the Thieu government
5.North Vietnam to release all U.S. POW's

E. North Vietnamese Victory
1. constant violations of the accords
2. U.S. Congress acts to stop re-involvement
of U.S.A.
3.South Vietnamese government on its own
4.North Vietnamese initiative of 1975
5.April 30 - 1975 - Saigon falls

V. The War At Home
A. Early Resistance To The War
1.teach-ins begin - 1965
2.U.S. Senate questions the war - 1966
3.anti-war demonstrations and marches
begin in 1965

B. Dissent Increases after the TET Offensive
1.more and larger demonstrations
2.Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and
Hubert Humphrey

C. The Nixon Years
1.Nixon elected, resistance continues
2.500,000 march on Washington - 1970
3.students killed during protest against
Cambodia incursion
4.Pentagon Papers published
5.last U.S. combat soldiers leave Vietnam - 1973

D. Vietnam And The Arts

1. music
a. "Eve of Destruction" - Barry McGuire
b. "7 O?clock news/Silent Night"
Simon & Garfunkel
c. "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" -
Country Joe McDonald
d. "Ballad of the Green Berets" -
Barry Sadler
e. "An Open Letter To A Teenage Son" -
Victor Lundberg
f. "Okie From Muskogee" - Merle Haggard
g. "Draft Dodger Rag" - Phil Och
h. "Give Peace A Chance" - John Lennon
i. "Who'll Stop The Rain" -
Credence Clearwater Revival
j. "I Saw It on TV' - John Fogerty

2. films
a. Coming Home
b. The Green Berets
C. The Deer Hunter
d. Apocalypse Now
e. Platoon
f. Hamburger Hill
g. Born On The Fourth Of July
h. Full Metal Jacket

3 literature
a. The Thirteenth Valley - John M. DelVecchio
b. The Green Berets - Robin Moore
c. The Quiet American - Graham Green
d. The Short-Timers - Gustav Harsford
e. Fields of Fire - James Webb, Jr.
f. First Blood - David Morrell

4. audio-visual materials

a. Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War
a thirteen part series that gives an excellent overview of the
period

b. Vietnam: A Television History
a thirteen part documentary that provides a wide range of
archival footage combined with interviews of combatants from
both sides. (a very controversial series)

c. The Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite
a production of CBS television news, an interesting series
that documents the war from the ?news? viewpoint about
the war.

d. Various other videos and documentaries on specialty issues
and individual topics

e. The Impact of Media
a video that discusses and critiques various viewpoints on
the war.

VI. The Legacy Of Vietnam
A. The Plight Of The Vietnam Veteran
1. less than hero's welcome
2. residual effects of war - PTSD
3. Agent Orange and resulting court case
4. Vietnam Memorial
5. New Jersey Vietnam Memorial

B. Vietnam Today
1. independent
2. poor/ hopes for the future
3. a country in search of itself
4. a healing ground for veterans
5. a new relationship with the United States

Ending comments -

I would appreciate your views, your comments, and your suggestions.

cwilkens/ 716 MP BN/ Saigon 1967-68
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  #2  
Old 06-04-2002, 09:09 PM
Beau Beau is offline
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Default Dang

Sounds like a tough course ! You mentioned Geography --- excellent topic which the late (late to what ?) Colonel Summers (former editor of Vietnam magazine) did a solid work up on in one of his books at the very begining --- I'll try to find the title ( kind of like an Encylcopedia of the War).

Beau
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Old 06-04-2002, 10:44 PM
Hoyin Hoyin is offline
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I want to take that class!
Love the tough interesting ones myself..looks like a wonderful outline.
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Old 06-05-2002, 05:38 AM
DMZ-LT DMZ-LT is offline
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Thumbs up

Great outline for the course. Take a day to make it personal - tell them your story, bring in another vet, maybe one of their Dads to tell his story and answer questions. Keep up the good work
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Old 06-05-2002, 07:08 AM
Andy Andy is offline
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Lightbulb Interesting

You had a student who ask when were you last there. To him Vietnam is a geographic location. It seems that to you, and to many of us Vietnam is an emotion or perhaps a whole host of emotions. I suppose my answer would have been 9/9/69 and last night.

Under the heading of ?legacy? it might be interesting to point out Operation Desert Storm - what we learned. But also the movie Black Hawk Down - we forgot. Of course that might have something to do with Presidents, but far be it from me to talk politics.

I too would love to take the course.

Stay healthy,
Andy
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Old 06-05-2002, 07:49 AM
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Keith_Hixson Keith_Hixson is offline
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Post Looks great to me!

Having also taught in a College. Though I didn't teach on your subject. I would invite in some Vietnam Vets in and let them tell their stories. You have your opinions and ideas. Invite Andy down from Mass. I know he would do an excellant job. Let the students pick their minds.

Keith
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Old 06-05-2002, 08:57 AM
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Gimpy Gimpy is offline
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Default I haven't seen all the movies

you've listed as part of your "curriculum"---But, if you're attempting to have your students "understand" the factual accounting of the Vietnam War. Then I would most certainly eliminate "Platoon" and "Apocalypse Now" from your list of subject for their visual (and emotional) consumption. Most of each of these films is nothing more than hogwash at Hollwoods grandest! Some of each had parts which were somewhat accurate, but most of it was PURE Hollywood bull$hit.

I just started reading a new book by "Hack" (Col. David Hackworth, USA-Retired), entitled "Steel My Soldier's Hearts", that I am so far (I'm in the fifth chapter) very pleased to describe as absolutely accurate in his accounting of the tactics, terrain, and conditions endured by his Battalion (4th of the 39th Infantry Brigade) and my old Division (9th Infantry) in the Meking Delta---I was in the 2nd of the 60th Brigade not far from his AO---.

I'm not a big fan of "Hacks" (especially his politics)---but, he DOES have a "knack" for compiling and describing events of that war extremely well and was (as I've been told by those who served under him) an effective and outstanding combat line officer.


Anyway, it'd sure as hell beat watching those two films I mentioned before for "accuracy"!

Welcome aboard,
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"MUD GRUNT/RIVERINE"


"I ain't no fortunate son"--CCR


"We have shared the incommunicable experience of war..........We have felt - we still feel - the passion of life to its top.........In our youth our hearts were touched with fire"

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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Old 06-05-2002, 09:02 AM
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Gimpy Gimpy is offline
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Default That's

"Mekong"---not "Meking", sorry my fingers sometime get faster than my grey matter.

"Meking" is what I try and convince my wife I am---but she don't really buy any of it, ya know what I mean??
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"MUD GRUNT/RIVERINE"


"I ain't no fortunate son"--CCR


"We have shared the incommunicable experience of war..........We have felt - we still feel - the passion of life to its top.........In our youth our hearts were touched with fire"

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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Old 06-05-2002, 09:15 AM
Seascamp Seascamp is offline
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From time-to-time I teach night school at the Community College level but nothing so dramatic your topic; Physics and Math actually. But one thing I find that works every time is to associate the student with the topic being discussed. I begin every Physics class semester with the guarantee that I?m going to tell them about the things they are already experts on, but I?ll use a slightly different language. By example, they may know the term miles per hour very well but if we discuss angstroms /microsecond I assure them that it?s the same meat, different gravy, etc., on and on.

Same deal with you class I suggest. Right up front, if you can define the usual VN serviceman in student?s terms and get an identity and empathy thing going you?ll have a very attentive class I do believe.

Fair seas, Bill
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Old 06-05-2002, 09:32 AM
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I agree with Gimpy regarding the historical accuracy,or lack thereof,of your reading list and selection of films.It would be imperative that you expose Hollywood`s role in this.I would suggest adding "We were soldiers once...and young" by Gen.H.G.Moore and Joe Galloway.Keep up the good work...Lest we forget.
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