Times of Change – Vietnam and the 60s (for wendays hw)

Jack Smith by Ron Steinman 9 pages - complete by Wednesday May 23

What challenges does Jack Smith face as a soldier in Vietnam? (a bulleted list is fine)

Horrible smell when they came of the ship
The possibility of a bullet heading straight into your head at any moment
Annoying grass some as tall as jack
The constant sound of bullets firing no less than 20 feet away
The constant unknowing as i lay there covered in blood if they will find out that i am alive
My friends dieing right beside me as i fire my army issued m-16 at the Vietnamese around me.

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?

"No matter what people go into war thinking they're fighting for, ultimately when you get into combat you fight for completely different reasons. You fight in order to protect your buddies. That's why you form intense relationships in an atmosphere of death and self-preservation."



I Feel Like I’m Fixing To Die Rag by Joe McDonald 2 pages - complete by Wednesday May 23

What is the song asking the “big strong men to do”?

Hes asking the big strong men to pick up a gun and go kill the Vietnamese and have some fun

… the “generals” to do?

Come down here is your chance to shine, kill all those reds, and the only way we will win this war is to put them into heaven

… “Wall Street” to do?

Supply the army with anything that it may need in order to defeat the Vietnamese

… “mothers” to do?

To let their boys go to Vietnam and to fight in the war, and they need all the support they could get.

Write down four specific lines from the song that display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war sentiment.

Gotta go out and get those reds
be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box
Whoopee! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE
Don't ask me, i don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam