OH_Reflection

Oral History Reflection I had planned on interviewing my Uncle John, who had actually fought in the Vietnam War. But when he decided that did not feel comfortable talking about his experiences, I was not sure what to do. Having already done most of my research, I decided to stick to the topic of the Vietnam War but interview my mom. My mom grew up during the war and I learned a lot from our interview. Before this project, I did not know anything about the Vietnam War. Now I have a clear understanding of how, why, and when it started, why the US got involved, what the fighting was like, what life was like on the home front, why people opposed the war, and how the war ended. I found it //very// interesting to hear my mom’s perspective because she was about my age during the war. Throughout our interview it became obvious that what had struck her the most as a child was the number of casualties; she remembered seeing the number of soldiers who had been killed everyday on the front page of the paper. Our interview made me realize what it would be like to be living during a war as serious as Vietnam; the horror of reading the names of killed soldiers, the frustration that the war was no where near ending, and finally the relief that it was all over. I certainly hope I never have to live through a war like Vietnam.