The Vietnam War is possibly the most confrontational war in American history. With America entering Vietnam at the peak of civil right protest and student activism, it was a war that the general public did not feel was necessary. Joe on the other hand felt it was absolutely necessary because the Vietcong were killing innocent people and trying to become world leaders. What he did not approve of was how the United States went about carrying it out. He felt we needed more troops and that we were politically split at home. This division can be taken on a national level and even a domestic level in many cases.
Like his father, Michael (the eldest child) attended Christian Brother’s Academy. In a military environment such as that, activism and any form of protest was highly unacceptable. But like so many other youth of Michael’s age, he felt his voice had to be heard. So at a parade that the academy was taking part in, Michael attempted to wear a black arm band over his dress blue uniform with some of his fellow cadets to protest America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. When Joe spotted it, he immediately forced him to remove it because he knew Michael could have gotten in serious trouble. Joe also believed the lack of support that the troops received was another direct influence on our nation’s success. This difference in thinking not only shows the division of political believes but a symbolism of the feud between protective parents and rebellious children.
1 comment:
This is good; I like the detail about Michael wanting to have his opinion understood.
What does Joe mean about the Vietcong wanting "to become world leaders"? Can you clarify this, and then maybe place it in a context that reveals the actual goals of the Vietcong (which was much more about their own country than about world leadership)? In other words, you could examine attitudes about the war in the context of what was known or not known about the actual events.
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