Vietnam War Program
1964-1975

Program Objectives

    The program objectives are to familiarize students as to why America went to war in Vietnam, how Americans felt about going to war in southeast Asia, and how it was to be a soldier in Vietnam. The students have the opportunity to manipulate original and reproduced artifacts relating to the Vietnam War.

Program Materials

• American Soldier’s equipment including a flak vest, steel helmet, web belt, Battle Dress Uniform shirt, gas mask, grenades, and combat boots
• North Vietnamese Army Soldier’s equipment including a uniform, straw-woven helmet, Ho Chi Minh sandals, "Coke" can fragmentation booby trap, and Pungi-stakes
• AR-15 and possibly an AK-47
• hand-outs

Outline

    The program objective will be achieved through the following process: the students will gain some insight into the Western, Democratic World’s policy of "Containment" of the Soviet "virus," how America’s actions in the Korean War precluded America’s involvement in what was then known as French Indo- China, how Americans were divided over the very volatile issue of involvement in Vietnam, and how Americans’ opinions were influenced by the changing values of American society since the late 1950s. Program materials will augment the presentation by allowing students to interact with the items.

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