Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was on of the World's most memorable wars. There's always the chance that you might find a family member that was involved in this war, maybe even more. The war lasted from November 1, 1955 till April 30, 1975. This war started of between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

The Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France and received 2.6 billion in financial support from the United States of America . The French defeat at the Dien Bien Phu was followed by a peace conference in Geneva, in which Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold the unification elections. By 1958, Communist-led guerrillas known as the Viet Cong had begun to battle the South Vietnamese government.

America thought its national interest was threatened strongly enough to fight in the Vietnam war. Americans feared that the Communist were taking over the world and must be stopped. The US government felt that if they helped South Vietnamese government resist the attacks from the North communist they would help stop the spread of communism. 

After the defeat of the French by the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu, President Eisenhower elaborated on the "domino theory." He stated "You have a row of dominoes set up. You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly." He believed that the countries of South East Asia were tied closely together and if one country fell for communism, the others would also fall for it, like dominoes. 

The involvement of the US in the Vietnam War really damaged the United States overall and to most people it was a pointless war.

Memoir Blog

I picked "Death Lesson" by Mitchell W, from Oregon, age 14. One of the reasons I picked his memoir was because I was able to relate to it. I went through a similar experience with my Grandpa. When I used to live with him, we always had lots of quality time together. And then when I moved, I made sure I would go see him all the time, especially so we could eat together. When my grandfather died from heart failure, it was devastating. My Grandpa meant so much to me that I didn't know what I was going to do without him. So because his memoir was easily relate able, it stood out to me.
Another reason why i picked this memoir was because I liked how it transitioned from a happy story to a sad one. In the beginning of the story, It shows how Mitchell had fun times with his grandparents and how he spent a lot of time with them. This gave a reader sense of significance and devastation his grandpa's death was.
I also liked this memoir because it gave good imagery and vivid ideas. It made me feel like i was right there in the  Albany General Hospital when Mitchell's grandpa took his last breathes. Overall this was a good memoir and was a memory never forgotten.