The Vietnam War was our generation’s horror, prolonging the disorientation caused by Kennedy’s assassination. The tentacles of anger, grief, and support affected many of us in various ways. While there is no single definitive text, there is no end of books on the subject, and we shall look at three. The Things They Carried /1990 by veteran Tim O’Brien centers on a narrator who is in a platoon of close-knit soldiers. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam /1986 & 2002 outlines the activities of soldiers in a “typical” tour of duty. These are real letters collected after the war. The Sorrow of War shows a Vietnamese side of the war and how it affected both soldiers and citizen.. The emphasis will be more on how events felt as opposed to what actually happened. Strap yourselves in and join us for discussions of the many things that the war and the memory of the war.  

The format of the class will be a seminar with discussion.  Please read the first 8 stories of The Things They Carried for the first class.  Preparation time will be approximately 1.5 hours a week.