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In this reading I found it interesting that Severo and Milford bring about the idea that Americans do not truly do not know war. It is easy for them to say what they want about wars and soldiers when they are on the outside looking in. They do not know the harsh reality which is war. The American citizens are not constantly being shot at, or watching their best friend beside them get killed. They are ignorant to the truth. Even through this, besides the Vietnam War you truly only hear of the positive sides of war.

They want you to know the great things that America has done. Yes, America has done some great things, but there are also negatives in which we have been apart of. It is interesting me how people always tend to be quick to point the good the happen, and quick to put the negatives in the closet so to say. I believe both the government and the citizen should be aware of what war is, and how it affected the soldiers lives.

In the Greatest Generation you see a different view of the veterans. You can see through the years how the relationship between veterans and government have approved as time as went on. Once starting at the bottom of the barrel when it came to their benefits, but now they can live off of their funds from their military service. It is good to see that the treatment of veterans have made a change for the better. Veterans deserve to be treated with kindness and respect because they have done a lot for us. Thanks to them we are able to live the lives we live now.  We often take their sacrifice for granted. It is good to see them finally getting treated well.

The guest speaker was very intellectual. He truly knew a good deal on what he spoke of. I believe he could have spoken with more emotion. He spoke very quietly, but I guess this can be credited to his age. It was interesting to hear him talk about James Farmer. He had a lot of respect for this bright man. He went on for over ten minutes just talking about how he greeted James Farmer. The speaker said every time he addressed him he would say Mr. Farmer or Mr. James farmer. I found this interesting because the guest speaker could not have been to young when this was going on. This shows you the kind of respect he had for James Farmer, and the kind of man James Farmer was.

In the reading, we see the mistreatment of American veterans. The mistreatment of veterans is a common characteristics of the books read in this course. The government turned their back on the veterans of many different wars. They often received little to no pension, which means they fought and died for free. A common theme in our readings are the way society relates their national issues to that of the veterans.

Like the Vietnam War, the veterans of the Korean War were looked down upon. The veterans were often blamed for all the problems America was facing such as, political and  financial. I think it is wrong to treat American veterans so negative. If you think about we owe them our whole way of life. If it was not for them we would be under the rule of a different country. American veterans sacrifice a lot for us, and all we do is look down at them. We should be honored to give them the pensions and respect they deserve. They make us who we are.

How life in the service led her to social work. I chose this one because it is interesting to me how she used her life in the military to better herself after service, and how it help lead her to her future career.

Surviving the pressures of dive school. I chose this one because it was entertaining to me to hear of her experiences in dive school. It truly caught my attention.

  The first interview I watched was Darlene M. Iskra. In listening to her interview you can truly hear in her voice and see on her face how much she enjoyed the Navy. She was involved in the Persian Gulf War.  She joined the military tyring to get away from the things in her life, but little did she know the change that was about to happen. She fell in love with the Navy, and what she was doing.  Her dedication led her to the role of commander. This was a honor no women before her time had ever experienced. I believe she opened up doors for women of later generations.

   Secondly, I watched the interview of Frances M. Liberty. During her time in the military she served as a nurse.   As a women in the military she faced much scrutiny. Often being looked down upon, but this did not stop her from sticking it out. She participated in WWII, Korean War, and the Vietnam War after being negatively treated in the first war she was in. She over came many difficulties and rose to the ranks of Lt. Colonial. This was a huge honor for a woman to be so highly ranked. She shows that good things can happen if you hang on.

   Finally, I watched the interview of Violet Gordan. She was  African American who participated in WWII. Ms. Gordan talks about how the military changed her life for the best. Being black and a woman she had to learn how to break out of her shy ways and become a leader, or she would not have gained any respect.  She talks a lot about the time she spent in service with her friends, and her free time.  She talked about being persuaded by her friends to enlist. Even though she was convinced by her friends to enlist she still gained her lot from serving in the military. She gained an education, and a new found sense of confidence.

   This was an interesting blog for me. I like history, but the true experiences of women is something you don’t often learn to much about. It was good to see the military through their eyes. I enjoyed listening to the interviews, and learning about their past experiences. Even though it took me forever to get the videos to work.

    The government always left a mess that ordinary members of society had to fix. Often these brave men and women got little to no respect from the government they were sacrficing their lives to protect. At the end of wars, and even doing the wars the government always gave the soldiers the short end of the stick.  In this reading we finally see the government do something for the thousands of people who put their lives on the line, and that was by building memorials.

    We finally see the government give the veterans something to be proud of by building memorials. Even with this we saw people go against the building of memorials and the government complain about the finances necessary to build the memorials. I feel like the government had money to send soldiers to war, then they have money to recognize them back home. I believe memorials were a great idea, and provided a way for people to remember the sacrifice that people made during the wars. They legacy is always enshrined in America’s history.  I was happy to see the government move in the right direction in remember America’s finest.

  After reading chapters 23-27 and talking to my veteran the Vietnam War was a terrible thing. It was so bad that you had veterans who were against it, but not only were they against it they  joined anti-war groups. This was never seen in history before this. After the war many people lost respect and trust in the government. People were not happy at situations they heard and seen from the media. The media opened the public’s eyes to what really happened during war.

   The Vietnam war was the first real war where the media shoed action from the war. The public actually saw people getting killed and shot instead of just reading about. This changed the way people viewed war. They always knew the seriousness of, but now that they saw it their opinions of it was on a whole other level. The media always played a whole in the public’s opinion of war if it was from news articles to propagandas, but this time they actually showed real scenes from Vietnam. This is a huge reason why many were against the war becasue they saw what truely was going on.

  Another serious situation was that of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was designed to destroy the gorilla’s resources. It did so, but it also affected American troops. Many Americans and innocent Vietamize people were affected by this herbcide. The government wanted to use something they did not truely understand, and in turn they hurt people they were not tring to.  The government did little to nothing to help these people accidently affected. I am so shocked to see that more action was not taking to fix the problem they created. This was a difficult reading for me because I do not see how the government could be so heartless. I can see why veterans and the public lost trust in these people who were suppose to protect them.

• I believe it played a huge role. He was injured in the war and even saw people die in this would lead to strong feelings over the situation. Experiencing something first hand compared to to just reading about it has a dramatically different effect on you. He saw first hand what actually happened during the Vietnam War, so he was able to interpret the facts from opinions on the war.
• I feel like they went such extreme measures because they did not know how else to handle the veterans. The thought of all the angry veterans scared them. The government fear led to harsh actions by the police. I also believe they used such harsh actions to show everyone they were in control. They did not want others getting the idea that they can do what ever they wanted to and get away with it.
• I feel that the previous veterans believed in what they were fighting for unlike in this war. They believe they were fighting for a good cause, so there were no need to be against it. Plus looking back at the earlier wars such as the Revolutionary War and the Civil War they were fighting at home and for their freedom. They were passionate about the reasons behind the fighting.

           It was amazing for me to see  how one event could change Kovic’s whole perspective on the war. After being hurt doing battle Kovic views of the war changed; he quickly turned against it. This was so crazy to me because the veteran I interviewed had a similar experience. Going into the war my veteran and his friends were excited about fighting for their country, but soon after that enjoyment turned to pain. He talked about being shot at, stabbed, and the different things he saw and how it opened his eyes to the seriousness of war. He said it changed his life just like being wounded changed Kovic’s life. It was weird to me to see how these events changed everything these two men stood for.

1. He was so cold because he lost both his hands, and he did not know if her feelings for him would be the same.
2. Yes, because they had to try to adjust back to the lives they had left behind. It was hard for them because they were away for so long.
3. The war was for nothing, and they fought for the wrong side.
4. I think Fred because many people were quick to get married before they left for war. Not always knowing what they were getting themselves into with their relationship.
5. In some cases relationships grew stronger because their time apart showed each other how much they loved each other. In other cases the couples grew apart because their time apart led to a lost in feelings.