Peace and Aggression: A Challenge of Our Time
Joan Rapczynski and Florence Zywocinski
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Lesson Plan #3
You Are In the Army Now????
Objective
to give students an idea of the various reactions that young men had concerning being drafted during the Vietnam War.
Procedure
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1. Give the following information to the class:
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Let’s turn the clock back to November 13, 1969. President Nixon has just made the following statement to the Senate: “I know this war is she most difficult and controversial war in our nation’s history.” Since 1968 it had been the longest war in which the U.S. had become involved and more Americans had been killed in Vietnam than in the Korean War. Many Americans were becoming impatient and wanted to put an end to the war. “Let’s bring our boys home was what was being heard across the U.S.” In October, 1969 a Moratorium Day was declared. The Vietnam War was clearly one of the most divisive foreign policy issues of our history.
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2. Role playing. Inform the students that they have just received in the mail notification that they are to report for their physical in order to be classified by the Selective Service. Being drafted is now on their doorstep. What would they do if it really was their decision to make? Assign the following roles to the various students. Have them split up into groups with one person from each role. Once they are in their groups tell them to discuss the various options that they have. (listed below)
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a. 18 year old high school graduate
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b. 22 year old college graduate
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c. 18 year old high school drop out
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d. 22 year old college graduate who had been active in the ROTC
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e. 19 year old high school graduate, working a full time job; 23 year old brother had already been killed in Vietnam
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f. 22 year old college graduate from a military family
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3. What are your options? The following were various decisions that young men of draftable age made in the 1960’s.
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a. enlist in the branch of service of their choice instead of waiting to be drafted in the army
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b. waited to be drafted in the army, yet hoping their lottery number would be high enough so as not to be called
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c. try and get into the Reserves
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d. try and get a conscientious objector status
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e. try and get a medical deferment
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f. leave the United States and move to another country
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g. refuse to go, burn your draft card and suffer the consequences in the United States
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4. After the students have discussed the various options as a group bring all the groups together as a class and discuss the outcomes with the entire class.
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5. Questions for class discussion:
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a. How did you come to your decision concerning the draft? What factors did you take into consideration?
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b. Should individuals give obedience to authority without questioning its morality?
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c. Should individuals refuse to be a participant or question anything that they believe is immoral?
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d. Was U.S. participation in Vietnam necessary to stop communist aggression?
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e. Would you consider it to be “unAmerican” to refuse to participate in a war you thought to be immoral or unjust?
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f. Would you consider it to be “unAmerican” to refuse to participate in a war in which the United States was deliberately attacked on their own soil?
