The Vietnam War had a profound impact on Americans’ views concerning war, peace, the Cold War, and politics. One way to investigate this impact further is to learn from someone who was, in some way, connected either directly to the conflict or to the Vietnam Era in general. By completing Project 1, you will do just this.
In a minimum of 750 words (approximately 3 pages), you will write a report and analysis of an interview that you conduct with a person with ties to the American Vietnam War. This person can be a veteran who served during Vietnam, a spouse or child of a veteran, a student during the war, or simply a person who was alive during the war.
***If you cannot, due to circumstances related to location, conduct a personal interview, you may select one of two alternative options. First, you may conduct an “asynchronous interview” via email with a person who meets the parameters described in the previous paragraph. The second option is to “interview” a person who meets the same parameters through an examination of a first-hand account written by the person (such essays are generally available online—for help finding such information, contact your instructor).***
Use the following guiding questions as you prepare to write the paper:
- What was this person’s relationship to the Vietnam War?
- What were the subject’s personal views of the Vietnam War during the Vietnam Era?
- What is this person’s general view of the Vietnam War today?
- How does the subject believe the Vietnam War impacted the evolution of the United States as a nation?
- In the subject’s estimation, what is the “legacy” of the US-Vietnam War?
- What is your personal reaction to the subject’s responses? Where they what you expected? Were you surprised by any responses?
Required Organization of the Interview Report and Analysis:
- APA (Links to an external site.) or Chicago (Links to an external site.) – style title page
- Introductory paragraph
- Body of the report (500 words)
- Concluding paragraph
