Tear Gas I lay down on the bed of my dorm room and look at the ceiling. It was the spring of 1966 and I had just got back from my service in Vietnam and am currently attending Ohio State University. The sun had just rose and I had just gotten up to get ready for my morning class on the oval. I was walking down the metal spiral stairs and then out the red door to leave my dorm when I heard the sirens of multiple cop cars in the area. I still continued my walk to class and finally got to the brick building where I take my psychology class. I sat in my seat in the classroom. My class was very small only about twenty five students and about seven of them had served in the Vietnam war. I asked one of the fellow classmates “Did you hear the sirens this morning?” He replied with “Indeed I did, I had just left for class.” …show more content…
The professor walked in wearing a greyish black suit with a red tie and a pair of black glasses. He was a tall man and seemed to be extremely strong. “Everyone sit down and get out their textbooks and turn to page 545 and read to page 550.” He spouted out. I turned to my friend and asked, “ Can I look off of your textbook, I left mine back at my dorm.” “Of course,” He said. We read the text together and continued on with class. About five minutes later you could hear a scramble going on outside. Our professor stopped teaching to see what was going on. He cracked open the window to see students protesting the Vietnam War. There were students and police enforcement all over the oval. I leaned to my friend and said “I figured out what the police sirens were about.” He replied back with “I guess so, always protesting somewhere or at least that's what it seems like.” “a rally was held on the Oval to protest on-campus military recruiters and research with companies involved with the war.” (Lauren Hallow and Dylan Tussel) I said, “There truly always
...f the innocent is what captured my attention the most. Hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians were killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Caputo mourns not only for the dead, but also for the men that are now emotionally and psychologically scarred for life. The images and sounds of death will forever be carved into their minds. Throughout this history class, I have been able to learn and understand new vocabulary and apply it to my reading. I would not have been able to understand the book, as well as I do, without becoming familiar with the terminology. A Rumor of War changed by view on the Vietnam War. Before reading this narrative, I did not realize the number of lives lost or the poor environments soldiers were subjected to. Philip Caputo was extremely detailed in his descriptions and painted a brilliant picture of the war.
The Vietnam War has become a focal point of the Sixties. Known as the first televised war, American citizens quickly became consumed with every aspect of the war. In a sense, they could not simply “turn off” the war. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a firsthand account of this horrific war that tore our nation apart. Throughout this autobiography, there were several sections that grabbed my attention. I found Caputo’s use of stark comparisons and vivid imagery, particularly captivating in that, those scenes forced me to reflect on my own feelings about the war. These scenes also caused me to look at the Vietnam War from the perspective of a soldier, which is not a perspective I had previously considered. In particular, Caputo’s account of
Throughout history, the American people have, for the most part, stood united during times of war. The people of America always seemed to rally behind each other. Most people were either willing to fight in the war or willing to take up the responsibilities of those who left for war. The majority of Americans supported the decisions of our nation’s government. This was not the case during the Vietnam War. For the first time in American history, widespread revolt against our nation’s decision to fight in the war influenced the outcome. This is what saved our country and the lives of soldiers who were fighting an unwinnable war.
The Vietnam War led to what is currently the largest anti-war movement in American history (Skarda 4; Dunn). With over 500,000 participants, the protesters in the fall of 1969 all marched on Washington to show their opposition to the war (Skarda 4; Herbers). Protests got so vast and expansive that the FBI got involved (Miller). The FBI went as far as forging a letter to the newspaper as a “parent” who complained of “immoral character” (Miller). This incited many prestigious and well known people to step in and voice their anti-war statements and opinions, such as the speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence” by Martin Luther King Jr (King Jr).
The taxpayers were upset because the cost of war was approximately $100,000,000,000 dollars and the American taxpayers had to pay for it. Students were against the war because of the African Americans. they were the next to be drafted. The students saw the Vietnam War as something they could fight against. They held peaceful Archer 10 demonstrations and protests at universities all across the country.
Avery’s Critical Book Analysis In 67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence, Howard Means researched the tragic events of May 4, 1970. When the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University, resulting in the deaths of four students and the injuries of nine others. Means's purpose in writing this book was to explore the problems of that fateful day, the political and social climate of the time, and the lasting impact it had on American society. I chose this book because of the issues this event raised.
I’m not sure but, I think I was still in what the kids call “the dumb hallway”. After a few months a new student came and we became good friends. We had a lot of thing that we liked, she always dragged me around to people and she was slowly pulling me out of my shell. I was becoming so happy. After a few months, I was in my room and I was thinking back about my life. There were a few tears and I was thinking to myself, what I was doing. I came to realize I didn’t have it bad as other people; I wasn’t the only one that was lonely. I went to sleep after that I found out it was 6:00 so, what I did was went down stairs and went to my garage. I went down there because, there was a punching bag sitting there to relive my stress. After, hour my grandma came down and said to
The war in Vietnam is not simply something to draw information from. It’s a story too. It was a battle between Western technology and Eastern tolerance; between two different social systems; between the New World and the Third World. Within these battles are countless gruesome stories. The stories of political struggle, soldiers in war, and hometown protests of the actions of the government in both the United States and Vietnam.
After the events that had spread-out the night before, on May 2nd several students helped with cleaning up the mess that they caused in downtown Kent. The events had only led to “rumors of radical activities” and put the Kent State ROTC building as a main target for militant students (Kent Chronology). This action reveals that the student’s intentions were to take down the presence of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) building. This action strictly shows that the students do not want graduates of the ROTC program to go into military service and fight in Vietnam. They are trying to do the impossible to stop the involvement of the U.S in the foreign war. This persistence in the students led to a success “in forcing the removal of the ROTC from their campuses”(Kent Chronology). Following the cleanup, a curfew was put in place on the entire city of Kent
It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting.
Hearing news on the wars in the US is an everyday occurrence for the current generation. One may be flipping through channels on the television and hear President Obama giving a speech, scrolling through facebook and see a news article or hear breaking news on the radio while driving to the mall. Americans in the 1970s however, received their news very differently. On May 1st, 1970, President Nixon declared that America had gone back to war with Cambodia. This was a life changing event for many people in the US, including the students at Kent State College. After receiving the news about the war, students from Kent State started protesting and soon enough, May 2nd approached when they’re protest became a rally, stated Jennifer Rosenberg. And this was no longer a protest or rally that could easily be stopped. Houses were burnt, tear gas was used and the National Guard was called in. Four people were pronounced dead and nine severally injured (Rosenberg). People did not find out about this tragic event until long after it had happened. During this time, people did not have a way to contact their loved ones and if they did, more than likely they did not have service because cell phones were still an idea at that time. Today if this were to happen, ...
As the teacher gathered their messy homework that they all left on her desk, she shoved the stack of paper into her bag. Pushing her glasses upward, “You
The first day of class came and my mom dropped me off at the Sears in Fairlane mall. I felt so anxious and excited to start classes because it meant that I was growing up and slowly starting to gain my independence. I walked in the classroom filled with 30 other kids that were around my age. As I sat down I received a folder, notebook and textbook for the class. At that moment I felt like a student in a subject that I liked.
The sound of my alarm clock rang loudly at 7:15 A.M on a Wednesday morning. I remember waking up exhausted as I got out of bed and completed my daily morning routine. As I was downstairs eating cereal, my father had asked if I heard the doorbell ring and the obnoxious pounds against the door. I clearly stated no as I finished my breakfast and packed my belongings for class while he went to the garage. All of a sudden, a loud bang against my main door filled my ears and my heart began to race. Shadows of more than 30 heads began to cover the windows of my door. I screamed for my parents as I was terrified and could barely grasp the situation. I was in the 8th grade when the S.W.A.T team invaded my home.
It was December 4, 2014 and it was snowing outside. I was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. All my family was downstairs, so I was all alone. My English teacher told us to write a paper about how I am different from my classmates. I was thinking about what in my life makes me different and slowly my whole life was playing like a movie in my head. The first memory that popped into my head was my fourth birthday party. It was supposed to be the best birthday ever. My dad was going to come. It was February 24, 2002 at my birthday party. There were so many people there, but I was so focused on my dad coming, no one else seemed to matter. My cake was pink and yellow with a bicycle on it. I had a red and blue inflatable that kids were