TIMES OF CHANGE- Vietnam

Jack Smith
1.
- Almost every soldier was inexperienced and had never seen combat
- Had to navigate through the thick jungle brush
- Hard to find the Vietcong with all of their tunnels and booby traps
- Every one was extremely dirty
- Always the constant fear of machine gunners
- Hard to dig foxholes because of the hard ground
- Could always be ambused by enemy troops in the dense shrubbery
- Napalm attacks common

2. Jack Smith's attutude about the war changes from a positive and laid back pont of view to a very cynical and angry point of view. At the begining of the war Jack thought that he wouldn't see any combat in Vietnam and he was just joining the army because that was what evreyone else was doing. Even the first time they went into battle he really didn't realize the seriousness of what he was doing. Then his friends started falling around him, and Jack realized just how horrible war is. He became angry at the people he was fighting and at his own leaders for making stupid decisions.

I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag

1. The song asks all of the big, strong men to help Uncle Sam in Vietnam because he is 'in a jam'. The songs asks the generals to come to Vietnam to blow up all of the communists, that this is their 'big chance'. The song tells Wall Street that now they can make a ton of money selling war supplies to the soldiers in Vietnam. Lastly, the song asks the mothers to send their boys of to Veitnam to fight.

Four Lines That Display sarcasm, cynicism, or anti-war sentiment:

1. "Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! We're all gonna die."

2. "Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box."

3. "Uncle Sam needs your help again, He's gotten himself in a terrible jam."

4. "And you know that peace can only be one when we've blown 'em all to kingdom come."