Vocabulary:
Napalm is a mixture of gasoline and other substances, such as plastic compounds, which creates a jelly like substance that, when ignited, adheres to surfaces, including human skin and will burn within ten minutes. Napalm can generate temperatures from 1, 500 to 2, 200 degrees fahrenheit, and very few human victims of napalm survive.
In 1965, American soldiers first used napalm in flame throwers to eliminate forests as hiding places for guerrilla fighters. Later, B-52 bombers began dropping napalm and other incendiary bombs, which were much more devastating than napalm's use in flame throwers. Throughout the duration of the war, 1965 - 1973, 8 million tons of bombs were dropped over Vietnam, more than three times the amount used in WWll.
Napalm was manufactured by the Dow Chemical Company, a company which was selected by the Pentagon after seventeen other companies placed bids to manufacture the substance for the war effort.
There is an iconic photo of a little nine year old Vietnamese girl who had been hit by napalm, her clothes burned off by the searing heat of the chemicals, running screaming down a road with her brothers. In the background of the black and white photo are American soldiers sauntering down the road, seemingly oblivious to the horrors in front of them.
Read "How to Tell a True War Story"
Find all the references to listening in this story. Write them down.
What does Mitchell Saunders mean when he says, "Nobody listens!"
Read pages 81 - 82, from "To generalize about the war" to "...but now is not."
Reflect and write a response to the following questions:
When is someone the most alive and feels the deepest kinship with other living things?
Find the phrases on page 81 which supports the idea of a soldier's kinship with other living things.
Why does someone want justice and kindness and compassion in the world after going through battle?
Why does Rat Kiley shoot repeatedly at the water buffalo?
What does Mitchell Saunders mean when he says, "Well, that's Nam. Garden of Evil. Over here, man, every sin is real fresh and original."
