The Date is July 28th, 1971
You have turned 18 today and you have to register for the
draft. You don’t want to break the law and go to jail for not registering or
run away to Canada but you also don’t want to go to war. You have seen images
from the Vietnam War on your T.V. every night for the past six years. You have
an older cousin who was killed at the battle of Khe Sanh and your girlfriend’s
brother is in a wheel chair because he stepped on a land mine in Cu Chi and now
has no legs. You know that you want no part of this war.
You have decided to register as a conscientious objector which means you
can still be drafted but you can’t be made to carry a gun. If you get drafted
you will likely be trained as a medic and taught to save lives rather than take
them.
The only problem with your decision is that your father is
a World War II combat veteran who would be very proud if you were to follow in
his footsteps. He feels that anyone who doesn’t fight for their country is a
coward and anyone who protests against the war is a traitor.
Your point of view has been influenced over the years by
the anti-war movement and you have decided to do some research so you can
present your position to your father and hopefully change his opinion about the
war.
· One of the images from T.V. that you recall vividly is the 1968 Democratic national convention in Chicago.
· You read the Port Huron statement which you feel gives a voice to your generation and explains why students in this country don’t want anything to do with the war in Vietnam.
· You were disturbed and upset at the Kent State massacre last April.
· You watched on T.V. as John Kerry spoke before the U.S. House of Representatives. Kerry was speaking for the Vietnam Veterans Against The War .
· You were shocked and horrified by the massacre at My Lai. If this is what the war is about you want no part.
Your father gets very upset when you try to tell him about how you feel about the war and starts yelling. You have decided to use the information you have gathered on the Anti-War movement to write a 2 page (500 words) letter to your father describing the many reasons why you think that U.S. involvement in Vietnam is wrong and why you feel you can’t be involved. In order to convince him, you will use at least one example (documented CD) from each of the links on this page. That means there will be a minimum of six documented CD's in the letter. Type your letter and give (send) it to your teacher so he can deliver it to your father.
P.S. I do not expect you to read all of the documents in detail. Please skim them so you get a good idea of what they are about and find at least one solid CD in each for your letter.