In Country Study Questions & Topics for Discussion

In Country Topics for Further Study

Research the controversy that surrounded the building of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in 1982: Which groups objected to it? What was the basis of their objections? What compromise measures were taken to satisfy those who did not like the memorial as it was originally planned?

When considering military options in the past two decades, in Haiti or Bosnia or Iraq for example, strategists have frequently expressed their concern about involving the country in "another Vietnam." How did that war change the U.S. government approaches military policy? Is this change a new, permanent way of viewing warfare, or will it fade as memories of the Vietnam War fade?

In the novel, Sam reflects that Quang Ngai, where her father died, is near My Lai. Research the My Lai Massacre that happened in 1968. Explain how what happened there, and the Army's reaction to it might, have affected the way...
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