Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a costly conflict between the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies, the Viet Cong, and South Vietnam, allied with the United States from 1961 until 1973. This lesson relies on the Christopher D. Ammons Vietnam War Collection at TSLA to explore the experience of one American soldier during this conflict using primary sources such as letters and photographs.

Weblink address (URL): 
Vietnam War
Home Page- source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

In the course of the lesson, students will:

  • Compare and contrast other wars in American history with the Vietnam War by analyzing several different TSLA photography collections and completing achart.
  • Construct a list of questions about the Vietnam War and will try to answer those questions by evaluating letters from the Christopher D. Ammons collection.
  • Analyze and reflect upon a photograph from the Christopher D. Ammons collection by completing 10 questions from the TSLA Worksheet for Analysis of a Photograph.
  • Compose a letter based upon a Christopher D. Ammons' photograph and will examine the causes, course, and consequences of the Vietnam War by including at least three of the following in the letter: Geneva Accords · Gulf of Tonkin Resolution · Tet Offensive · Roles played by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon · Vietnamization · Ho Chi Minh · Bombing of Cambodia · Henry Kissinger· Napalm and Agent Orange.
  • Complete a response letter from the home front while evaluating the issues of the Anti-War movement, draft by lottery, and the role of television and the media.
Essential and guiding questions: 
  • What do primary sources such as photographs and letters tell us about the Vietnam War?
  • What was life like for soldiers serving in the Vietnam War?
  • How was the Vietnam War similar and different from other American wars?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Analyzing

Helpful Hints

Materials Needed:

  • Access to TSLA website and the Christopher D. Ammons
  • Vietnam War Collection
  • Copies of the letters and photographs from the collection
  • Copies or access to the background information on
  • Christopher D.Ammons
  • Copies of TSLA's Worksheet for Analysis of aLetter
  • Copies of TSLA'S Worksheet for Analysis of aPhotograph
  • Access to TSLA website and the Civil War Soldier Photographs Collection, Tennessee in World War I Collection, and The Volunteer State Goes to War: A Salute to Tennessee Veterans Collection.