The Things They Carried: The Effects of War on Leadership
(Lessons Adapted from The Big Read, National Endowment for the Arts)
Module Introduction
In this module students will reflect on the idea of leadership and how it affects the individuals in
The Things They Carried. In the text, O'Brien struggles to find the truth and logic of the
Vietnam War.
O'Brien writes about how young soldiers carry the moral burden of war and questions how the
collective memory of the Vietnam War affects our understanding of the realities of war on
government, soldiers, and citizens.
Students will examine the text through the lens of leadership and answer the following questions:
What is the effect of war on leadership? How does war affect who leads and who doesn’t? Who
rises as a leader? What role does war play in determining who rises as a leader? Is it the
expected person, unexpected?
The text questions how one’s perspective of the truth change may over time depending on one’s
experiences. The text also questions whether O’Brien’s version of the truth is acceptable, and
asks how war affects memory and truth. O’Brien forces us to question how war affects our
version of the truth, and consider how one’s experience builds a version of the truth.
Module Rationale
This module was created to demonstrate how a complex lengthy work of writing can be used as
an instructional tool in an English class. It is important to recognize the value and expectation of
students reading longer works in their entirety. However, rather than use precious class-time to
take students through a book page by page, this module demonstrates how a book can be used to
help students enter a conversation about an important topic to further their individual
understanding, as well as to recognize the varying perspectives engaged in that discussion
through reading a variety of excerpts drawn from the book.
In the book, Readicide Kelly Gallagher says, “the reason young people should read books is that
it provides them with ‘imaginative rehearsals’ for the real world. When children are reading
books…they are given the opportunity to understand the complex world they live in. Books
enable adolescents to begin wrestling with those issues that remain universal in all our lives.”
(page 66) Gallagher furthers the ideas presented in Readicide by discussing the concepts of
“second-draft reading.” He indicates that in the first-draft reading of a text, students are in
“survival mode, simply struggling to understand the text on a literal level.” If the teacher has
framed the text appropriately, he/she will “have helped them to achieve this initial level of
comprehension (a level that is foundational before a deeper reading can occur). But there is a
much richer level of craft inside most classic works of literature – a level of beauty that is usually
not discovered until students revisit the text on a second-draft (or third-draft) reading.” (page 97)
These thoughts are at the forefront of this module, as it demonstrates how a teacher might help
students enter an important conversation developed through engaging in second-draft reading
and the corresponding integrated writing necessary to solidify thinking and advance learning.
Teacher Resources
Gallagher, Kelly. Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do
About It. Portland: Stenhouse, 2009. Print.Readicide
The Big Read, National Endowment for the Arts
https://www.google.com/#q=the+big+read+the+things+they+carried
The Things They Carried, Tim Obrien
Supplementary Resources
(These resources might be used to broaden the conversation and to provide students with social and historical
context)
Kerry, John, Speech to Foreign Affairs Committee, 1971, youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucY7JOfg6G4
Discovery Education-Opposing Viewpoints
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/opposing-views-on-the-vietnam-war.cfm#mat
Revisiting Vietnam
http://soundlearning.publicradio.org/features/2005/11/
PBS's American Experience: Vietnam Online provides information on the Vietnam War including maps, a list of
key officials, descriptions of events, and an online teacher's guide.
The U.S. Army website contains information about army life, stories of combat heroics, and news from around the
world.
Web English Teacher
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/obrien.html
Culminating Task
What are the effects of war on leadership? Write a well-organized essay in which you explore
the effects of war on leadership. In crafting your response you may consider the following
questions: How does war affect who leads and who follows? Who rises as a leader? What role
does war play in determining who rises as a leader? Is it the expected person, or the unexpected?
Be sure to provide evidence from the text to support your answer.
Scope and Sequence Enduring Understanding Addressed
Leaders can come from any part of society and can shape who we are as individuals, motivate us
to follow, and influence how we choose to lead ourselves. Some leaders have the influence to
make great change, but to what end?
Essential Questions
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How do we decide when to lead and when to follow?
How do the decisions of leadership shape our lives?
How should a leader lead during a time of war?
What should individuals expect from their leaders during a time of war?
How can the decisions of government during a war change a person?
How have the effects of war shaped our lives?
What is the nature of courage and leadership under extreme adversity?
Possible Discussion Questions for Module
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Is war ever justified?
How do the lies of fiction reveal the truths of humanity?
Why does O'Brien blur the line between truth and fiction?
How does this affect your understanding of the text? How does this affect your
understanding of the war?
Was Vietnam worth fighting and dying for?
Discuss the idea of shame and embarrassment that O'Brien discusses.
Why do you think O'Brien chose to discuss the cowardice rather than the strength and
bravery of the soldiers?
What does O'Brien mean by "story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth."
Tim didn't believe in the war, and many others felt the same way. Is it unpatriotic to
speak out against your government’s actions if you really believe it is wrong? Or does
this damage the government and the soldiers who were in Vietnam?
To what do we owe our allegiance; our conscience, the law, or something else?
An individual’s world view is shaped by one’s political, social economic and religious
beliefs.
Day 1
Activity 1:
Essential
Questions
Activity 2:
Quote
response
H/W: n/a
Day 6
Activity 8:
Analyzing
Character
H/W: Read
“Sweetheart of
the Song Tra
Bong” &
journal
questions
Day 2
Day 3
Activity 3:
Preview prompt
Activity 4:
Activating prior
knowledge
Activity 5:
Soldier’s Letters
and Interview
Activity 6:
Building
Context
H/W: Read “The
Things They
Carried”
& journal
question
H/W: Read
“Love,”
“Spin,” & “On
the Rainy
River” &
journal
questions
Day 8
Day 9
H/W: n/a
Day 7
Activity 9:
Imagery &
Reader
Response
H/W: Read
“Stockings,”
“Church,” &
“The Man I
Killed,
“Ambush,” &
“Style”
& journal
questions
Day 11
Day 12
Activity 13:
Expanding on
Theme
H/W: Read
“Night Life &
The Lives of
the Dead”
Activity 14:
Before & After
Reflection
Activity 15:
Respond to
Task
Day 4
Day 5
Activity 7:
Understanding
function of
chapters
H/W: Read
“Enemies,”
“Friends,” &
“How to Tell a
True War Story”
& “The Dentist”
& journal
questions
Day 10
Activity 10:
Symbol &
Character
Activity 11:
Character &
Experience
Activity 12:
Symbol &
Character
H/W: Read
“Speaking of
Courage,” and
“Notes”
H/W: Read
“In the Field,”
“Good Form,”
and “Fieldtrip”
Also Read
Handouts:
The Quang
Njai Provence
& the My Lai
Massacre
Day 14
H/W: Read
“Ghost Soldiers”
Day 13
Activity 16:
Self-Evaluation
Day 15
Activity 1: Previewing the Essential Question
Share the essential questions with students and ask them to respond in writing to each of the
questions based on their individual experiences and learnings.
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How do we decide when to lead and when to follow?
How do the decisions of leadership shape our lives?
How should a leader lead during a time of war?
What should individuals expect from their leaders during a time of war?
How can the decisions of government during a war change a person?
How have the effects of war shaped our lives?
What is the nature of courage and leadership under extreme adversity?
Ask students to share their responses to the questions in small groups. After finishing discussion
in small groups, ask students to return to their original individual responses to add new
information they gained through discussion.
Activity 2: Exploring Initial Understandings
In this module we will be responding to character in leadership. Have students respond to the
following quotes to begin building context for their stance in this conversation:
Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men.
Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis
shows what we have become. (Brooke Foss Westcott)
Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an
excess of courage. (Plutarch)
Ask students to respond in writing to the quote by asking them to consider the following
questions: What do the quotes suggest about the relationship between character, heroism, and
courage? What do they suggest about the nature of courage? After writing, ask students to
engage in a whole class discussion sharing their thoughts about the quotes.
Activity 3: Previewing the Writing Task/Prompt
Students will read, think, write and discuss readings that will then lead them to write an essay
that responds to the following:
What are the effects of war on leadership? Write a well-organized essay in which you explore
the effects of war on leadership. In crafting your response you may consider the following
questions: How does war affect who leads and who follows? Who rises as a leader? What role
does war play in determining who rises as a leader? Is it the expected person, unexpected? Be
sure to provide evidence from the text to support your answer.
Have students discuss what the prompt is asking them to do. Have students write their ideas
about the questions in their journal.
*Have students keep a journal/portfolio for the entire module. Students will be asked to write
every day.
Activity 4: Activating Prior Knowledge
In this activity, students are using writing to collect ideas.
Writing Prompt:
How does our collective memory of the Vietnam War affect our understanding of the
realities of war on government, soldiers, and citizens? How does this affect our
understanding of the leadership of government? Be sure to consider the question from all
three perspectives: government, soldier, citizen.
1. Have students respond to the above prompt.
2. Allow students 5-10 minutes to generate some ideas on the questions, and then have them
share with their table group.
3. Have each group discuss their answers and come up with a consensus on what the group
believes is the best answer to this question.
4. Next have each group share their best answer and explain why they felt this was the best.
5. Once students have finished writing, have them reread what they have written and begin
to list reasons why this list is an accurate description of how our memories of the
Vietnam War affect our understanding of the government’s leadership, or list questions
that you need answered.
6. Allow students time to write their reflections in their journal at the end of this activity.
Activity 5: Building Context In Their Own Words- Free Response
Distribute copies of letters from Vietnam soldiers to each student. Have two or three students
read each letter aloud. Ask students to write for a few minutes a short response to the letters (just
respond—what are reactions, thoughts, ideas about the text?) Students who would like to may
share their responses with the class.
Next, distribute the interview questions and have students read the interview using the following
questions to guide their reading and note taking:
 What is the purpose of the article/video?
 What is the argument of the article/video?
 What claims are advanced?
 What evidence is used?
Partner Share: Have students review their responses with a partner, and then have them discuss
the soldier’s experience. How does the soldier feel about the leadership of the government?
What evidence from the text shows this? What is your response/reaction to the soldier’s view?
Whole Group Share: Allow students to debrief their discussion as a whole class.
Stop & Write: Have students record their thoughts from the readings and discussion.
H/W: Read Chapter one “The Things They Carried” and keep a list of objects that each man
carries. What does this say about his character?
Activity 6: Building Cultural and Historical Context for Students
Cultural and historical contexts give birth to the dilemmas and themes at the center of the book.
Studying these contexts and appreciating intricate details of the time and place help readers
understand the motivations of the characters.
The Things They Carried was published in 1990, twenty years after Tim O’Brien returned from
his tour of duty in Vietnam. By most estimates nearly 9 million men served in the military
between 1964 and 1975. Of that number, approximately 3.5 million men served in the Vietnam
theatre of operations. The draft called more than 2 million men for military service during the
Vietnam era. It has also been credited with “encouraging” many volunteers to join the armed
services rather than risk being drafted into combat.
Discussion Activities: Read Handouts: Conscription and the U.S. Draft and the Reader’s Guide
essay “The Vietnam War” (see resources). As a class, discuss the pros and cons of instituting a
draft during a time of national crisis. Using the homework assignment, make a list of items that
the soldiers in the story carried. Ask your students the following questions: Which, if any, of the
items is specific to the time period of the Vietnam War? Which items are timeless? Why might
Tim O’Brien choose to give each man specific items in addition to the typical soldier’s gear?
What do the items tell us about each solder’s duties and personality? What do we learn about
their hopes and desires?
Quick write: Define O’Brien’s approach to the first chapter “The Things They Carried”. Why
does O’Brien write about the objects men carry and even go so far as to include the weight of the
objects? Why is all this information important to chapter one?
Debrief: Have students turn to a partner and share their responses, and then have a few
volunteers share. Next, have them respond to the following prompt in their journal:
Journal: Does what one carries give clues to one’s personality? Using O’Brien’s position about
objects, tangible and intangible, what do you carry?
Discuss: Have students share their response to the journal prompt with a partner. Allow about
five minutes for students to discuss as a whole class.
H/W: Read “Love,” “Spin,” and “On the Rainy River” (pp. 27-61). Have students write a oneparagraph synopsis of each piece. Also have them respond to the following question:
How does each story deal with O’Brien’s memories of times before, during, and after the war?
Activity 7: Understanding the Function of a Chapter Within the Complete Work
Explain to students they will be examining a chapter to determine how it functions within the
larger context of the novel.
Assign 1/3 of the students to re-read “Love” another 1/3 to re-read “Spin.”
Have the rest of the students look for quotes in “On the Rainy River” that show O’Brien’s
argument about the effects of war on citizens and their beliefs about the leadership of
government during the Vietnam War. (Differentiate by assigning the shorter chapter “Love” to students
who may need more time to read and sift through the text for evidence )
Allow students to work with a partner as they read. Ask students to respond in writing explaining
how the chapter functions within the larger context of the text. In completing this task, they
might consider the following questions: How is this chapter functioning? What is the purpose of
the chapter? What has the writer done to establish focus? What does this chapter reveal about
the characters and their relationships and their attitude towards the war?
Triad Discussion: Have students discuss their findings in their topic alike groups for about 5
minutes, then have students create triads with a member from each of the topic groups. Allow the
triads about 10 minutes to share findings, and then have a whole class debrief on their findings.
Persuasive statement: Have students write a persuasive statement indicating how these chapters
extend Obrien’s argument about the effects of war on soldiers, citizens, and government.
Discuss: Give students about 5 minutes to share their persuasive statement with a partner
H/W: Read “Enemies,” “Friends,” “How to Tell a True War Story,” and “The Dentist” (pp. 6288). Ask your students to identify the protagonist of each story.
Activity 8: Analyzing Character
Small Group Discussion: Discuss the stories “Enemies,” “Friends,” “How to Tell a True War
Story,” and “The Dentist” (pp. 62-88). Ask students to identify the protagonist and antagonist in
each story. Break your class into groups. Have each group list the titles of the eight stories the
class has read so far and the names of the prominent characters from each story. Are some
characters emerging as the book’s major characters while others have a lesser role? If so, which
characters seem to be the most important and why? Are some of the characters rising as leaders
while others have character flaws that diminish their potential as leaders? Who are the soldiers
willing to follow and who do they refuse to follow?
Whole Group Debrief: Allow class time to debrief answers.
Writing Activity: In “How to Tell a True War Story,” O’Brien writes:
In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to
happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way. The angles of
vision are skewed.… The pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot. And then afterward, when you go to
tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact
represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed. (p. 71)
Ask students to find an instance where O’Brien’s writing reflects the surreal nature of war and
the effects it has on soldiers and citizens alike. Write a short response to how he achieves this
effect. What kinds of truths can surrealism reveal?
*Make sure students respond to prompt in their journal.
H/W: Read “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” (pp. 89-116). Have students annotate for
O’Brien’s use of figurative language such as imagery, simile, and metaphor to build character
and setting. Also note any imagery in the following: setting, Green Berets, and Mary Anne.
Activity 9: The Use of Imagery to Evoke a Reader Response
In this activity students will analyze “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” to gain an
understanding of how O’Brien uses imagery to evoke a response from the reader.
Divide the class into three groups. Assign each group a topic: the topography of Vietnam, the
Green Berets, or Mary Anne’s transformation. Each group should find instances of how O’Brien
uses imagery to appeal to the readers’ senses and to build character.
Have students use the following questions to help them look for evidence that describes the
topography/setting of Vietnam, the Green Berets, and Mary Anne’s transformation:
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What do I see, hear, taste, smell, or feel?
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Why did the author choose to incorporate these descriptive details? What effect is the
author trying to convey with these images?
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How do these images and sensory details contribute to the meaning and effect of the
excerpts?
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What kind of information do they provide about Mary Anne Bell and the circumstances
and environment in which she now exists? How has Mary Anne changed as a result of
these circumstances/environment?
Discussion: Have students discuss finding in their topic alike groups for about 5 minutes, then
have them create triads with a member from each of the topic groups. Allow the triads about 10
minutes to share findings, and then have a whole class debrief on their findings.
Writing Prompt: Have students write a short essay on Mary Anne’s transformation from an
innocent high school girl into a predatory killer. How does her gender change the reader’s
expectations about her reactions to the war? How does she defy those expectations? What does
the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War? What does it tell us about the effects of
war on citizens? If students run out of time, have them finish as homework.
H/W: Read “Stockings,” “Church,” “The Man I Killed,” “Ambush,” and “Style” (pp. 117-136).
Students should review the stories they’ve read, identify at least one object that functions as a
symbol, and come to class prepared to discuss its symbolic importance.
Activity 10: Symbolism & Character
Symbols are persons, places, or things in a narrative that have significance beyond a literal
understanding. The craft of storytelling depends on symbols to present ideas and point toward
new meanings. Most frequently, a specific object will be used to refer to (or symbolize) a more
abstract concept. The repeated appearance of an object suggests a nonliteral, or figurative,
meaning attached to the object. Symbols are often found in the book’s title, at the beginning and
end of the story, within a profound action, or in the name or personality of a character. The life
of a work of fiction is perpetuated by generations of readers interpreting and re-interpreting the
main symbols. By identifying and understanding symbols, readers can reveal new interpretations
of the book.
Discussion Activities: There is a great deal of symbolism in The Things They Carried. Readers
are told in the title story that Henry Dobbins carries his girlfriend’s nylons wrapped around his
neck. In “Stockings,” O’Brien tells the story of how the stockings became a symbol of comfort
and protection.
Ask your class to identify some of the many other symbols in the book (i.e., Kiowa’s moccasins
and feathered hatchet, Mary Anne’s tongue necklace, Lieutenant Cross’s pebble, the young
Vietnamese soldier, Kathleen, Linda, the thumb Norman Bowker carried in Vietnam, and his
desire for the Silver Star Medal). How does the symbolic value of items help the reader better
understand the personality of the character? If the character is a symbol, what does that person
represent?
Writing Prompt: How does O’Brien use symbols to develop his characters?
H/W: Read “Speaking of Courage” and “Notes” (pp. 137-161). Have students respond to the
following question: What is O’Brien saying about the nature of courage? What is it? Are the
men in Alpha Company courageous?
Activity 11: Defining Character Through the Effects of Experience
One’s character is tested through adversity. Most characters in a text contain a complex balance
of virtues and vices. Internal and external forces require characters to question themselves,
overcome fears, or reconsider dreams. The protagonist may undergo profound change. A close
study of character development maps, in each character, the evolution of motivation, personality,
and belief.
Let students know that you’d like them to frame the day’s work using one of the essential
questions. Ask them to think through the lens of leadership as they are writing and discussing.
Use the following question to frame the day’s work:
What does the text show us about the nature of courage and leadership under extreme adversity?
Give students about 15 minutes to review their homework notes and the text for evidence of
Norman Bowker’s evolution of character. As they review their notes, have them consider and
take notes on the following questions:
 How does “Speaking of Courage” show us the complex relationship between one man,
his fellow soldiers, and his family and friends in his hometown?
 Does learning about Norman Bowker’s post-war life change the way we feel about his
actions during the attack that took Kiowa’s life?
 How do Norman’s experiences in the war affect his ability to lead under extreme
adversity?
Have students use the Microlab Protocol to discuss the evolution of Norman Bowker’s character
throughout the book.
Stop & Write: Give students a few minutes to add their thinking to their journal.
Have students reflect and respond to the following quote:
In “On the Rainy River” O’Brien writes, “Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in
finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting
it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the
account must be drawn down” (p. 40).
Have students respond to the quote using the following questions:
 What is O’Brien’s definition of courage?
 Do you believe there are any heroes in the book? If so, how do they display courage?
 Does the narrator’s opinion of courage change during the course of the book?
 What does the book show us about the nature of courage and leadership under extreme
adversity?
Journal: Give students a few minutes to add their thinking to their journal.
H/W: Read “In the Field,” “Good Form,” and “Field Trip” (pp. 162-188). Read handout: The
Quang Ngai Province and the My Lai Massacre.
Have students write a short reflection considering how “Notes” expands the way we read
“Speaking of Courage.” How does the last paragraph of “Notes” demonstrate O’Brien’s struggle
to find the “truth” about the Vietnam War? How does finding the “truth” affect O’Brien’s beliefs
about America’s involvement in the war?
Activity 12: Building More Context
O’Brien’s search for shifting truth in the ugliness of war provides continuity between the
following stories and, in some ways, increases the reader’s tension by forcing us to question
what is real and what realities soldiers faced under extreme conditions.
Have students re-read: The Quang Ngai Province and the My Lai Massacre & view John Kerry’s
speech to the foreign affairs committee. To view entire speech start at minute 8:00-25:00—17
minutes total.
Kerry, John, Speech to Foreign Affairs Committee, 1971, youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucY7JOfg6G4
As students read and view video, have them use the following guided reading questions to take
notes:
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What is the purpose of the article/video?
What is the argument of the article/video?
What claims are advanced?
What evidence is used?
Video & Article Discussion: Have students debrief the video and article using the following
questions (if time, allow students to respond in writing first, and then debrief with discussion:
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What is the relationship between truth and fact in The Things They Carried?
Why are facts important? How much factual information do we need to understand the
truth?
How might knowing all the factual information about O’Brien’s service in Vietnam
hinder us from understanding the book?
How does the search for truth enhance the book’s plot?
How does it shed light on the effects of government intervention?
How is the leadership affected?
What are some of the problems that inhibit the soldiers’ ability to lead?
Stop & Write: allow students time to reflect in their journals.
H/W: Read “The Ghost Soldiers” (pp. 189-218). Have students respond to the following
questions:
Based on what you have read so far, what are the effects of war on leadership in The Things They
Carried? What themes rise up in the text that alludes to this? What evidence?
Activity 13: Expanding on Theme
The Things They Carried explores the social pressures the soldiers faced, both in choosing
whether or not to serve in Vietnam and in the way they conducted themselves while on patrol. It
also examines each soldier’s personal moral code and, more subtly, the politics surrounding the
Vietnam War.
Let students know that you’d like them to frame the day’s work using one of the essential
questions. Ask them to think through the lens of leadership as they are writing and discussing.
Use the following question to frame the day’s work:
How does the relationship between social pressure, personal moral code, and truth affect
leadership during times of war? How is this reflected in the text?
Have students work in pairs to review their previous night’s homework writing prompt. Give
students about 5 minutes to share what they wrote. This will help frame their thinking as they
begin digging into themes and preparing for the culminating writing task.
Next create three groups and assign each group one of the following topics to write a written
response. Give them about 10 minutes to write:
Social Pressure
Many of the soldiers’ actions are the result of social pressure: O’Brien’s unwillingness to dodge
the draft by fleeing to Canada even though he opposed the war, the dark humor the unit displays
in the villages, and the fact that they would kill and die “because they were embarrassed not to”
(p. 21). Ask your class to identify instances where social pressure affects a character or the unit
as a whole. Is this pressure positive or is it a negative influence? How does this impact the
leadership in the unit? Have students support their answers with passages from the text.
Personal Moral Code
Divide students into small working groups. Assign each group a character and ask them to write
a short analysis of the character’s individual moral code by quoting passages from the book.
Have each group share its findings. How do the characters’ morals differ from one another? How
are they the same? How do the characters’ moral code contribute to who leads and who follows
in the text?
Truth
O’Brien plays with the line between fact and fiction throughout the book. “By telling stories, you
objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You
make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened . . . and you carry it
forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and
explain” (p.158). Ask your class to discuss ways O’Brien blurs the lines between reality and
imagination. How does this contribute to our understanding of the war? How does the influence
of politics during the war impact our beliefs about the war and the actions of soldiers?
After students have written a response, have them debrief as a whole class. Have students enter
the discussion through the lens of leadership in the novel. Use the following question to frame
the discussion:
How does the relationship between social pressure, personal moral code, and truth affect
leadership during times of war?
*Allow students time to add their thoughts to their journal.
H/W: Read “Night Life” and “The Lives of the Dead” (pp. 219-246). Have students respond to
the following prompt:
How does the collective memory of the Vietnam War affect our understanding of the realities of
war on the government, soldiers, and citizens? How does this affect our understanding of the
leadership of government? Be sure to consider question from all three perspectives: government,
soldier, citizen.
Activity 14: Before/After Reflections
To consider how much a text has influenced a reader’s thinking, students should write some
before and after reflections by free-writing responses to the following questions about the text.
Students have finished reading the text, so allow them time to flesh out their thinking. Give
students about 10-15 minutes to respond to the following questions:
1. What is the intended effect of this text? What kind of change does the writer hope to
make in my view of the subject?
2. Before reading this text, I believed this about the topic:
But after reading the text, my view has changed in these ways:
3. Although the text has persuaded me that:
I still have the following doubts:
4. The most significant questions this text raises for me are these:
5. The most important insights I have gotten from reading this text are these:
After students have written their responses individually, they should share their thoughts in small
group discussion, and then have them write in their journals.
Activity 15: Responding to the Culminating Task
In this activity students should draft a response to the culminating task prompt:
What are the effects of war on leadership? Write a well-organized essay in which you explore
the effects of war on leadership. In crafting your response you may consider the following
questions: How does war affect who leads and who follows? Who rises as a leader? What role
does war play in determining who rises as a leader? Is it the expected person, or the unexpected?
Be sure to provide evidence from the text to support your answer.
Whether responding to the prompt for a timed write or developing a full essay under more
relaxed conditions, students should spend some time generating ideas, mulling over the subject,
jotting down thoughts, and exploring insights they might have.
The key elements in any writing situation include the subject to be discussed, the sources of
available information, the purpose, the audience, and constraints such as length, design, and time
limit. An effective thesis (main focus, central idea) should be a generalization, not a fact, which
is limited to the intent or scope of the assignment. As a response to a specific prompt, thesis
development should be a three-part process. First students must define or identify the task set by
the prompt. Then, they must consider what needs to be addressed in the response. Finally, they
must decide how best to respond.
As a way to deconstruct the prompt, ask students to apply the three-part process to their thesis
development:



Define or identify the task.
Consider what needs to be addressed.
Decide how best to respond to the prompt.
Once students have deconstructed the task, determined what needs to be addressed, and
determined how best to do so, they should draft a response to the culminating task.
Activity 16: Self-Evaluation
The following activity will help students develop self-evaluation skills.
Students will use the PAMDISS strategy to reflect upon their own writing.
Directions to students: Writers spend time thinking about their own writing. PAMDISS gives
you the power to justify how you wrote your piece. In complete sentences, answer each of the
following sets of questions/prompts thoughtfully.

Purpose: What was your purpose? What did you want your readers to understand or
think about after reading what you have written?

Audience: What assumptions have you consciously made about your readers’ experience
with and knowledge of this topic?

Mode (exposition, argumentation, narration, description): Briefly explain how you used
one secondary mode in addition to your primary mode and how this strategy was
especially useful and effective. If you used only one mode in your essay, explain why
this strategy was the better choice.

Diction: List two specific word choices you made to convey your attitude toward your
subject or to make a subtle point. What other word choices had you considered in these
instances?

Images/Concrete Details: Select one sentence that illustrates your effective use of
imagery or concrete details. Briefly explain why you think your use of these elements is
effective in this part of your writing.

Syntax: Identify one or more sentences that illustrate how you deliberately manipulated
the sentence structure, rhythm, or length. Then briefly explain your reason for doing so.

Structure: Briefly explain why you constructed the piece of writing the way you did.
Why did you start your essay the way you did? What internal logic is there to the way the
ideas in your body paragraphs move from one to the next? Why did you end your essay
the way you did? Did you wish to surprise, perplex, or provoke your audience in some
part of your essay’s structure?
*After students have engaged in the self-reflection, teachers may wish to ask students to rewrite
their essays reworking ineffective elements discovered in the reflection process.
RESOURCES:
Activity 5 Handouts
In Their Own Words
The following is an actual letter sent from a soldier in Vietnam to his wife.
25 May, 1968
Dear Roberta,
Today is probably the worst day I have ever lived in my entire, short life. Once again we were in
contact with Charlie, and once again we suffered losses. The losses we had today hit home, as
my best friend in this shit hole was killed. He was only 22 years old and was going on R&R on
the first of June to meet his wife in Hawaii. I feel that if I was only a half second sooner in
pulling the trigger, he would still be alive.
Strange how short a time a half of a second is--the difference between life and death. This
morning we were talking about how we were only two years different in age and how we both
had gotten married before coming to this place. You know, I can still feel his presence as I write
this letter and hope that I am able to survive and leave this far behind me.
If there is a place called Hell this surely must be it, and we must be the Devil's disciples doing all
his dirty work. I keep asking myself if there is a God, then how the hell come young men with so
much to live for have to die. I just hope that his death is not in vain.
I look forward to the day when I will take my R&R. If I play my cards right, I should be able to
get it for Hawaii so our anniversary will be in that time frame. The reason I say this is by Sept., I
will have more than enough time in country to get my pick of places and dates. I promise I will
do everything necessary to insure that I make that date, and I hope that tomorrow is quiet.
We will be going into base camp soon for our three-day stand down. I will try to write you a
longer letter at that time. Please don't worry too much about me, as if you won't, for I will take
care of myself and look forward to the day I am able to be with you again.
Love,
Stan
copyright © 1997 by Stanley Homiski, all rights reserved
Activity 5 Handouts
In Their Own Words
The following is an actual letter sent from a Vietnam soldier to his family.
11-Sept.-69
Dear Mom and Dad,
Getting short, Mom, coming home pretty soon. Going to quit flying soon, too much
for me now. I went in front of a board for sp/5 will know soon if i made it. I have now
20 oak leaf clusters and some more paper for you. I have flown 1500 hours now, and
in those hours I could tell you a lifetime story. I have been put in for a medal again,
but this time I have seen far beyond of what ever you will see. That is why I'm going
to quit flying. I dream of Valerie's hand touching mine telling me to come home; but I
wake up, and it's some sergeant telling me I have to fly. Today I am 21, far away but
coming home older.
Love,
Larry
I'm sad to say, Larry died within 24 hours after this letter was written
Activity 5 Handouts
In Their Own Words
The following are interviews conducted by two High School students with a Vietnam Veteran.
Human Shields
Copyright © 1970
by:Gene Kuentzler
Dear Student: I will try to answer your questions for your research project.
1. Q: What branch of the military did you serve in?
A: U.S. Army, 19th Combat Engineers (I would like to invite you to visit our 19th Combat Engineer
Battalion, Association Vietnam webpage). We built the roads and bridges, while being ambushed,
stepping on landmines and booby traps.
2. Q: What was your rank?
A: Sergeant. I had 18 men, with lots of explosives and weapons of various types of firepower. I got
out and came home in August of 1967 and couldn't buy a beer for four months, as I wasn't yet 21.
3. Q: Where were you stationed?
A: Near the village of Tam Quan, 1/2 klick away, on the South China Sea, the same place where,
then LTC Schwartzkopf took 50% casualties on his ARVN Ranger battalion in just 3 hours as they
tried to cross a rice paddy at the village of Tam Quan.
4. Q: Where and when did you see battle? What was it like?
A: Tam Quan. We were operating large and noisy air compressors to run two-men air driven
chain saws ten feet long. My crew was clearing the jungle and coconut trees just outside our
perimeter to create a safety zone, when we were caught in the cross-fire of an ambush by the VC and
1st Cav.
We didn't notice right away because our equipment was noisier than the battle. In a typical noisy
Engineer task, one doesn't know you are being shot at until the dirt spits up at you or windshields
start shattering or someone gets hit.
5. Q: What do you remember most about your service in Vietnam?
A: This is just one example of many which occurred: Even then, my crew would always remark
that we are so lucky to have been born an American. In Vietnam, the people of the North are of a
different descent, class and culture from those of the South. The people of the South feared those of
the North, who many times would enter a village and grab the town mayor, school teachers and
others who were educated, line them up and force the entire village to watch as these people were
executed. Then, they would instruct the others that Americans were the "true" enemy and they
would suffer the same penalties if they were seen aiding the Americans, then they would impose a
crop "tax" where each family had to provide a large percentage of their crops to the VC and NVA.
Most Americans do not realize how fortunate we are. Other than the Civil War, our country hadn't
been destroyed by war, our women didn't have to sell their bodies to feed their children, while
living in filthy unsanitary conditions.
6. Q: What was the saddest thing that happened to you during the war?
A: Each and every time I lost a buddy to an ambush, mine, or booby trap. And after a crew was
ambushed and didn't survive, when we go out to do a body recovery . . . many times they had been
castrated, sometimes, some had still been alive at the time--then they were executed. It was very
disappointing that Walter Cronkite (national news commentator) never reported this to the
American public.
7. Q: What was the most rewarding?
A: To see that we were doing some good in helping the people. Guys in our unit wrote home and
asked family members to send clothes that their children or siblings had out-grown. It was great to
see the smiling faces on the children of St. St. Joseph's Orphanage, near Qui Nhon, each and every
time we would take a load of clothes and other items to donate to them.
Also, the villagers of Bong Son, who always warned us of an ambush or where a mine was placed.
The villagers did this because in Oct 1966 they had been used in a battle as "human shields" by the
22nd NVA regiment.
When the NVA attacked, the 19th was repairing a major bridge they had blown. The battle lasted
all through the night. The next day our Battalion Surgeon, Thomas Reardon, had his 5 medics set-up
5 tents and for the next 36 hours they treated over 800 villagers non-stop and with no sleep. They
had lost about 700 or 800 of their relatives because of the NVA attack.
8. Q: At the time, what did you think you were fighting for?
A: We were there at the request of the people of South Vietnam to aid and teach them in how to
improve their lot so they could resist the infiltration by the North Vietnamese Army. Those of the
South, were not as technically educated as those of the North.
9. Q: Who was the enemy?
A: North Vietnam, and the United States "State Department," and our Secretery of Defense
(Robert McNamara), who would not allow our military leaders to do the jobs they had been trained
for. That job was to conduct battle with as few allied casualties as possible, while inflicting the
maximum damage on the enemy. But we were also trained to render assistance to the civilians who
were affected as well--something North Vietnam did not do.
10. Q: How have your war experiences changed your life?
A: A better understanding that our government and our politicians do not represent the best
interests of the American people. Even when the nation is engaged in a war, politicians are more
concerned about their next re-election, and how they can line their pockets for future retirement.
Election promises are not kept, and lately, credibility and integrity are not in today's politicians
vocabulary.
11. Q: What one lesson do you think I should learn from remembering Vietnam?
A: The success of WWII was a direct result of the WWI soldier's generation maturing and making
strategy plans for the way WWII would be conducted. They bombed the beaches before the D-Day
invasion, as well as the ball-bearing factories at Schwienfurt, Germany. They were prepared to win
and not fight only to a political stalemate.
The 18 or 20 year old soldier of WWII, was the generation who were the Commanders and Staff
Planners for the Korea War and Vietnam War. In Vietnam, they were restricted by orders from the
State Department and Secretary of State, and not allowed to pursue strategic bombing of Hanoi
when it would have been most effective. Our pilots were not allowed to bomb acres and acres of
SAM missiles stored in the Haiphong Harbor and around Hanoi. Only after they were established as
actual missile sites in the jungle were our pilots allowed to engage the SAMs. They weren't allowed
to bomb the Ho Chi Minh Trail in countries bordering Vietnam (Cambodia and Laos), although
those countries were looking the other way when the NVA were using them for a safe haven. Had
the WWI soldier who made the plans for WWII conducted themselves in such a manner, the result
of WWII would have been much different.
Gene Kuentzler, Sgt.
19th Combat Engineer Battalion
S-3 Battalion Operations, '66-'67
1. Q: Upon your return to the United States, what was your reaction to the news coverage on the
war in Vietnam?
A: I was devastated, Upon my return in August 1967, I was very disappointed to see the biased
news coverage showing Americans as having a disregard for the people. They weren't showing the
many good things were continually being done by the soldiers in my unit, and others. Although we
took casualties on a regular basis. Ours were not the only humanitarian efforts being performed,
many other units were also contributing to efforts to help the people. The news media has never
shown how our unit supported an orphanage, and also a leper colony. Our guys would write home
and have used clothing from their siblings or children shipped over, and regularly these items were
part of what we continually donated, as well as food.
Also in portraying us as baby killers when they played up the Mi Lai killings. What was never
made public is that Mi Lai was colored "pink" on all our maps, it was nicknamed pinkville which
meant it was a very strong communist village. Each and every time that unit patrolled past there,
they lost more & more buddies. Upon entering the village to search out the enemy, they would only
find women and children who were the families of the VC, the males all hid and could not be found.
To better understand, look around your classroom and visualize that today the friend next to
your left dies, tomorrow the one seated behind you dies, then next day the two or three to your
right are gone. Imagine this taking place daily for a month. How would you feel? Not-ONCE did the
media ever show what the enemy was doing to American soldiers they captured. One example was
when our heavy equipment platoon was ambushed, after running out of ammunition and putting up
a good fight, they were overrun. When the bodies were recovered they had been stacked in the road
like cordwood . . . everyone had been castrated, I heard that some had still been alive at the time. 2.
Q: What do you remember about your trip home?
A: The first thing I had to have on my return was a gallon of vanilla ice cream, a gallon of milk, a
steak, and some private companionship, not necessarily in that order.
I'll never forget my first morning home. I was outside just at daybreak and enjoying the early
morning smell of the fresh air with a cup of coffee. (Vietnam smells awful, everything is either
growing or rotting) I was unable to sleep because of the time change and my inner thoughts . . .
Wondering if I was just dreaming and something again would startle me awake to reality that I was
still there. Once I realized I was actually home, I started to feel as if I'd abandoned my buddies . . .
here I was now safe . . . as it was now morning for me . . . when it would be morning for them I could
visualize everything they'd be doing. Washing, eating chow then going out on the road to do
minesweeps and my crew clearing more jungle and encountering more boobytraps and mines left
by the NVA.
3. Q: How did you feel about the anti-war protests at home?
A: I feel the anti-war protestors added to our casualties by inspiring the enemy. Without the
protestors, the list of 58,000 names that are now on The Wall would have been much much smaller.
When I left in 1967 we had won every major engagement with the VC and NVA, they were on their
knees and on the verge of surrender. Besides the NVA losing every major battle, their supply
channels through the Ho Chi Mihn trail had been cut, their troop moral was at its lowest. The Tet
'68 offensive was designed to be one-last-effort to try to raise the moral of the NVA troops. When it
was over, General Giap (commander of NVA troops) considered it to be a failure, until they saw
Walter Cronkite (TV commentator) describe Tet '68 as a communist success.
4. Q: Did you enlist or were you drafted? If enlisted, why?
A: I enlisted, my father died when I was 8 years old and the Social Security was going to end when
I turned 18. I was sending money home to help support my six siblings. Also, President John
Kennedy had just been assassinated and it was the theme of Americans to: "Ask not what your
country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".
5. Q: Are you proud to have been a soldier in the Vietnam War?
A: Yes, we soldiers did exactly what we had been trained for. The result was not due to the efforts
of the soldiers, but for the misguided shackles that were bound upon us by the likes of LBJ and
Robert McNamara not leaving decisions with the commanders, but making the decisions
themselves over breakfast in the White House. You should also know that McNamara has quite a
track record . . . Prior to being posted as Secretary of Defense, when he was employed by Ford
motor company it was his hand that created the Edsel, another of his failures.
6. Q: Did you constantly support the war, were you always against it, or did you flip-flop?
A: Do this . . . Next time the TV shows the communist invasion of the south in 1975, two years
after America pulled out to leave it in the hands of the South Vietnamese. Turn the sound off so as to
not be influenced by the commentator. Watch what is happening . . . the South Vietnamese are
fleeing in fear ahead of the NVA advance. They did not wish to be controlled by the communists,
they wanted to have their own country and be able to plow their own fields for their families and to
sell the rice on the open market as they had done for centuries, and not have to plow the soil which
would be owned by the state. Especially for the North Vietnamese who had assassinated and
murdered their relatives during night invasions of their villages.
7. Q: How long did it take you to readjust to American life after serving in the military and spending
a year in Vietnam?
A: We still ask if we ever will . . . I came home 20 going on 45 and all the things my old friends
were placing a big importance on . . . was so childish to me.
8. Q: What do you want people to remember about the Vietnam war?
A: The success of WWII was the result of the WWI veterans, who were no longer 20 years old
soldiers as they themselves had been during WWI. During WWII they were now the Commanding
Generals and Staff Planners who made sure everything of the enemy was bombed and destroyed.
They also made sure that patriotism was alive a well in this country, they did not allow their sons to
return home from WWII to silence as they had experienced. They orchestrated the flag waving and
parades for their sons return, which helped keep patriotism alive in this country.
The WWII generation did not do likewise for their sons from Korea or Vietnam. During Vietnam,
our pilots were not allowed to bomb the SAM missiles sitting on ships in Haiphong harbor, or in the
vast acres of storage facilities that looked like a huge new-car lot. Only after the SAMs were hidden
in the jungle would our pilots be allowed to bomb them. This is just one of many examples limiting
what we could and could not do . . . controlled by politicians.
The low casualties of Desert Storm were the result of the Vietnam veterans who were no longer
20 years old, but were the Commanding Generals and Staff Planners who made the decisions on
how the war would be conducted.
9. Q: How do you think educators should cover material on the Vietnam war?
A: By the keen manner in which you have directed your questions. Apparently you are not taking
as written in stone, the typical media hype. You are seeking to find other information from one who
has actually been there and has seen things differently than what was actually being reported back
home by the media.
10. Q: What information is most important, in your opinion?
American Politicians and the South Vietnamese Army. We left in 1973, and the ARVNs only held
out for two more years before losing their country in 1975.
Our State Department has always stepped in and stopped the military just as victory was truly at
hand. In WWII the Americans were halted, and had to wait so the Russian Army could catch up and
meet them in Berlin. In Korea, Gen. McArthur was stopped when he was on a roll. In Desert Storm,
our State Department advised President Bush to call it to a halt so as to not have Iraq without a
leader and cause an imbalance in the region, with Iran still powerful.
Billions of dollars being wasted in Bosnia in efforts to boost the credibility of the U.N. and its'
One-World-Army concept. Can you name even one U.N. mission which was a success?
The expense of supporting these many failed U.N. missions are such a drain on our military
budget, that our politicians are covering it up by closing military bases, deactivating units, and
reducing our military strength to be the lowest it's been since before WWII. The 1930's was also a
time when politicians were not concerned with our weak military strength. Our military equipment
was old and antiquated up to the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Today, communist Red China is
building their military just as Japan did in the 1930's and all the while proclaiming to be our friend,
just as Japan did during that time.
I have concern over what will be our next Pearl Harbor. Especially since many people tend to
forget, these are not simply American soldiers. They are our sons, daughters, husbands and wives.
Thank You for you interest and I hope this veteran's view will help you in your project.
Our 19th Engineer Battalion website is at: . Another good veterans site where you may find some
useful information can be found at: .
Gene Kuentzler, Unit historian
19th Combat Engineer Battalion
S-3 Battalion Operations, 1966-1967
Activity 6 Handout
Conscription and the U.S. Draft
Although the United States Constitution does not directly mention the word “draft” (or even the
older term—“conscription”), it does give Congress certain power. Article I, Section 8, states that
Congress shall have the power to declare war; raise and support armies; maintain a navy; and
provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining a militia.
In both peacetime and periods of conflict, men have been drafted to fill specific needs in our
country’s armed forces. The draft in the United States is administered by the Selective Service
System. On September 16, 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and
Service Act, which created the country’s first peacetime draft and formally established the
agency. Even today, men ages 18 through 25 are required to register with the Selective Service.
This provides a way for Congress
to fill vacancies in the armed forces which cannot be filled through voluntary means. During the
Vietnam War, there were not enough volunteers to staff the military. A lottery was held on
December 1, 1969, to determine the order of call for men of draft age. Three-hundred-sixty-six
capsules containing birth dates were placed in a large glass
container and drawn by hand to establish the order in which men would be drafted. The first birth
date was assigned the number 1, meaning the men with
that birth date would be called first. The drawing continued until all days of the year had been
paired with numbers. Families across the country hoped their young men would get a high
number. Conscription has always been controversial, but during the Vietnam War draft evasion
and resistance reached levels that hampered the war effort and ultimately helped end the conflict.
Many draft resisters filed for conscientious objector status. A conscientious objector can declare
that military service or combat duty is counter to his religious or moral beliefs, but must be able
to demonstrate that the objection is long-lasting and sincere. Some men facing the draft fled to
Canada. As antiwar protests took hold on college campuses, students began burning their draft
cards as acts of defiance. Though resisting the draft can carry stiff fines and even prison
sentences, during the Vietnam War there were far too many people to punish. In 1977, President
Carter granted amnesty to all those who had fled abroad in defiance of the draft, allowing them
to return to the United States. Although the U.S. does not currently have an activedraft, young
men must register so that, should a draft ever be instituted, the Selective Service will have lists of
those eligible to serve. Since September 11, 2001, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have kept the
idea of reinstituting the draft in the public’s mind, but Congress has rejected all bills that call for
conscription, and all the troops serving in the U.S. military have enlisted voluntarily.
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was one of the longest military conflicts in U.S. history, claiming the lives of
more than 58,000 Americans and wounding more than 300,000. Estimates place the number of
killed or wounded North and South Vietnamese at roughly four million soldiers and civilians—
roughly 10% of the population.
In 1959, North and South Vietnam were divided along what is known as the "17th parallel." The
North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front sought to unify the country under
Communist rule; the South Vietnamese army struggled to maintain independence. In 1964, the
U.S. Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to take steps "to prevent further
aggression" and keep the South Vietnamese government from collapsing, or as Woodrow Wilson
once pledged, to "make the world safe for democracy."
In 1965, the U.S. sent ground troops to South Vietnam and began a series of bombing missions
over North Vietnam called Operation Rolling Thunder. Densely forested countryside prevented
the effective use of tanks, provided cover for guerrilla fighters and medical evacuations, and
allowed helicopters to transport troops and supplies. By the end of 1966, the U.S. had nearly
400,000 troops fighting in Vietnam; by the start of 1969, the draft was in full force and that
number had increased to 540,000.
In mid-1969, strategies shifted as it became more evident to American soldiers, politicians, and
citizens that the U.S. efforts in Vietnam were not prevailing. Newly elected President Richard
Nixon responded by withdrawing 25,000 troops.
Unlike in World War II, there was no front in Vietnam, the danger was pervasive and
unrelenting, and the most common measure of "success" was counting the dead bodies of the
enemy. The average age of U.S. service members in Vietnam was 19, seven years younger than
in WWII, making soldiers even more susceptible to psychological strain.
Although the war claimed countless Vietnamese civilian casualties, Americans were shocked
when they learned about an incident that occurred in March of 1968. In what is known as the My
Lai Massacre, members of a U.S. infantry company slaughtered more than 300 Vietnamese
villagers, including women, elderly men, children, and infants. As news of this incident and
other failures of the war broke in Western publications, the American peace movement gained
momentum.
Large antiwar protests spread across America. The morale among troops—particularly those
coming home from the war to a country with little empathy for what they had experienced—was
low. Suicide, alcoholism, divorce, and unemployment were more rampant among veterans of
Vietnam than of any other war in U.S. history until then.
In January 1973, the warring governments signed a peace accord, ending open hostilities
between North Vietnam and the U.S. However, the conflict between Vietnamese forces
continued until the fall of Saigon in South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The complexity of the struggle and the reasons for America's involvement are still widely
debated. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is the most famous tribute to the
war. Designed by Maya Ying Lin and constructed in 1982, the memorial is a stark black granite
wall with the names engraved of American service members killed and missing in the war.
"War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure
and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is
nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you
dead."
—Tim O'Brien, from The Things They Carried
The Quang Ngai Province and the My Lai Massacre
The Quang Ngai Province, located on the south central coast of Vietnam, was targeted early in
the Vietnam War because U.S. military officials suspected it of being a Viet Cong stronghold.
By the end of 1967, most of the homes in the province had been destroyed and many thousands
of civilians were homeless. On March 16, 1968, the soldiers of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade,
America l Division, entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai six miles northeast of Quang
Ngai. The company had sustained many casualties in the area over the previous weeks and
emotions ran high. The troops, under the leadership of Lt. William Calley, entered the village
firing although there were no reports of enemy fire. Eyewitnesses reported seeing old men
bayoneted, women raped, and unarmed villagers—including children—shot in the back of the
head.
Tim O’Brien served in Vietnam well after the horrific events of My Lai had taken place, but The
Things They Carried examines the desensitization and brutality many troops experienced. In
1994, O’Brien accepted an assignment from the New York Times to return to Vietnam and write
an article about it. “The Vietnam in Me” described O’Brien’s experiences in the Quang Ngai
province as a member of the 46th Infantry, and his reaction to the massacre at My Lai.
In the article, O’Brien writes:
What happened, briefly, was this. At approximately 7:30 on the morning of March 16,
1968, a company of roughly 115 American soldiers were inserted by helicopter just
outside the village of My Lai. They met no resistance. No enemy. No incoming fire. Still,
for the next four hours, Charlie Company killed whatever could be killed. They killed
chickens. They killed dogs and cattle. They killed people, too. Lots of people. Women,
infants, teen-agers, old men. […]
Eventually, after a cover-up that lasted more than a year and after the massacre made
nationwide headlines, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division produced sufficient
evidence to charge 30 men with war crimes. Of these, only a single soldier, First Lieut.
William Laws Calley Jr., was ever convicted or spent time in prison. Found guilty of the
premeditated murder of “not less than” 22 civilians, Calley was sentenced to life at hard
labor, but after legal appeals and sentence reductions, his ultimate jail time amounted to
three days in a stockade and four and a half months in prison[…]
Calley aside, only a handful of men faced formal court-martial proceedings, either for
war crimes or for subsequent cover-up activities, with the end result of five acquittals and
four judicially ordered dismissals. […]
Now, more than 25 years later, the villainy of that Saturday morning in 1968 has been
pushed off
to the margins of memory. In the colleges and high schools I sometimes visit, the
mention of My Lai brings on null stares, a sort of puzzlement, disbelief mixed with utter
ignorance.
Americans first learned of My Lai in November 1969, when journalist Seymour Hersh published
a story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch based on his conversations with Ron Ridenhour. A
Vietnam veteran, Ridenhour learned of the events from members of Charlie Company. He had
immediately appealed to Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon, asking them to
investigate the matter. In September 1969, as a result of a military investigation, Lt. Calley was
charged with murderin the deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians.
When Hersh’s story hit the press two months later, it had even farther-reaching effects. As the
shocking details of the massacre reached the public, support for the war began to wane, more
draftees began to file for conscientious objector status, and U.S. draft policy was reexamined. A
military commission found widespread failures of leadership and discipline among the troops of
Charlie Company. For his story, Seymour Hersh won a Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for international
reporting.