Continued

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)

-Seeing tons of filled body bags

-Seeing friends get killed in war

-Being forced into adulthood at a young age

-Hearing hundreds of bullets being fired in his direction

-Killing other soldiers

-Blowing another guy's head off

-Being covered in a friend's blood

-Playing dead for prolonged periods of time and being sat on by a man with many pounds of baggage

-Hot shell casings burning his skin

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?

He basically says at the end of the essay "war is pointless". So many people lose their lives and if you don't win then is it really worth it?

I Feel Like I’m Fixing To Die Rag by Joe McDonald

2 pages - complete by Wednesday May 23

This song by Country Joe and the Fish became one of the first protest songs of the Vietnam Era. Read the lyrics to the song, and then respond to the following:

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

… the “generals” to do? to kill the Vietnamese and to help return to peace

… “Wall Street” to do? to make money to provide war materials

… “mothers” to do? encourage boys to go fight in Vietnam

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

1) It says "Be the first one on the block to have your boy come home in a box" that is sarcastic because if your son comes home in a box that means that he is dead.

2) In the last stanza the lyrics say "what are we fighting for? Don't as me, I don't give a damn" this means that many people didn't even know why they were at war with Vietnam. This displays anti-war sentiment.

3)Also, it says "whoopee we're all gonna die!" that is somewhat sarcastic because no one wants to celebrate about dying.

4) Also, it is cynical and sarcastic when it says "peace can only be won when we've blown em all to kingdom come". That is somewhat ironic because it talks about blowing their country up and that's the only way we can accomplish peace.