Thursday 3/16: The draft, combat and strategy

Zoom link to attend this class can be found here.  Passcode is 463495

Zoom recording of this class can be found here.

Read or view before class:

● Loren Baritz, “The Warriors”

● Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim, "The War," Four Hours in My Lai

● Tim O’Brien, “Days” and Step Lightly” from If I Die in the Combat Zone (what combat was like)

● Unarmed and Under Fire: An Oral History of Female Vietnam Vets

● Watch:  “America Takes Charge,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnLDi7Ia9uo

Prepare or organize before class:

● Question to consider:  how did the draft shape the American experience in Vietnam?  Make a list of arguments for and against a military draft.  We’ll discuss them in class.

● Put together a list of words or phrases, drawing on Baritz, O’Brien, and the oral histories, that describe what combat was like for American soldiers in Vietnam.  We’ll discuss them in class.

● How, if at all, did the way the US chose to fight in Vietnam – attrition, use of massive firepower, body count as a measure of progress – shape the experiences of American soldiers?