Times of Change - Second Reading

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)
-no one had a clue what Vietnam was
- didnt find anything for two months
- he was not that well trained to be fighting
- he walked right into a big boobie trap
- he had to fake to be dead
- he wittnissed many people dying
- he wittnissed almost all of his freinds dying.

How does Smith’s attitude toward war change?
- he realized how bloody and brutal it was
- he also realizec that when your in combat you fight for completely different reasons. you fight in order to protect your buddies


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”?
- to enlist in the army and fight in vietnam

… the “generals” to do?
-move fast and you could make your big break here and go get the reds.
… “Wall Street” to do?
- to publicize this war because there is good money.
… “mothers” to do?
- send their boys off packing
Write down four specific lines from the song that display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war
- "woopie were all gonna die"
- " to have your boy come home in a box"
- "were gonna have a whole lotta fun"
-" and you know that peace can only be won when weve blown em all to kingdom come"

What do these two poems and the article say about the impact of the war on the native Vietnamese? That it is murdering the civilians and the US dont care at all we are just fireing away at babies, women, children, and old men. And it is causing people to go crazy like set themselves on fire.

Can you think of any other ways in which the war will impact the native Vietnamese?
it ruins their homes and pust their lives at risk