Students then write essays expressing their opinions on why it is still difficult for Americans to candidly and comfortably discuss the war. Review the Academic Content Standards related to this lesson. Discuss what they know about the Vietnam War. Explore why it was so difficult for people who fought in Vietnam to comfortably discuss their military experience once they returned home. Express their opinions in an essay on why the Vietnam War is still a difficult and complex chapter to discuss.
Students discuss what they have written.
Divide the students into small groups. Explain that each group represents people who served in Vietnam, people who opposed the war, or people who stayed home and didn't have a strong opinion about the war. Explain that this is not a debate on whether the war should have been fought, but rather an attempt to capture why Vietnam veterans often didn't find themselves engaged in meaningful conversations about their experiences once they returned home. Each group now rereads the featured article and brainstorms why it might have been difficult for veterans to discuss their experiences with someone who had not served in Vietnam. Students write their explanations in journals and then prioritize them in order of importance.