Vietnam War
At the beginning, when we were informed that the class would be looking at letters from the 60’s, I wasn’t really interested. I thought to myself that it was just the beginning of something so dull and boring. I didn.t know it was going to be about the Vietnam War. I had little knowledge of the war and its outcome. I never liked history so anything I was I taught, I forgot.
The Vietnam War occurred during the years 1955 – 1975. The conflict started because North Vietnam and South Vietnam, also known as (Viet Congo) were fighting to free Vietnam from being communists. North Vietnam was supported by Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies. South Vietnam was supported by The United States, Philippines, and other anti-communist. At the beginning the citizens from the United States were in favor for the war to continue, but after they realized it was taking quite some time they started to rebel.
The first lecture of University 198, Professor Matt and Professor Sean gave the class the honor to read letters of citizens’ reactions about the Vietnam War. When I started to read the letters that citizens were sending to the congressmen I found myself attached to some. One that really caught my attention was a postcard sent by a woman pleading she wanted her son back. Her name was Betty Wellengak. It caught my attention because my brother has always wanted to go to the military but my mom refuses to accept his decision. He’s the only male sibling out of 4 females so I can see why my mom disagrees with his decision. My mother always says that it will break her heart to find out that her son has passed away. She always says, “A heart of a mother is based upon their children. If something ever happens to one of them a piece of their heart is ripped off.” I still don’t understand the pain of being a mother or how it feels to lose a son/daughter. But I see where my mother is coming from.
Another important thing that caught my attention was a quote the mother stated. She said, “Killing in the name of peace does not make anyone less dead.” This quote intrigued me because a lot of lives were going to be lost and no one was going to be able to replace them.
Doing this research, reading quite a number of letters, and watching the documentary made me understand the real meaning of history. I always thought that history was boring but I can actually admit that I’m getting interested and would like to do more research relating to it.
