Source Analysis

Vietnam War Cartoon

1971

Scholar Analysis

Professor Meredith LairListen to George Mason University Professor Meredith Lair discuss the Vietnam War cartoons and their context in the overall conflict. Meredith Lair received her Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2004. Her book, Beauty, Bullets, and Ice Cream: Re-Imagining Daily Life in the ’Nam, examines the mythos of the citizen-soldier in American history by discussing the non-combat experiences of American soldiers in Vietnam. Her research on this topic continues, especially the role that culture can play as an instrument of war. Professor Lair also taught for several years as an adjunct at Penn State before coming to George Mason in 2005.

Classroom Practice & Teacher Analysis

picture of Joseph JelenWatch MCPS teacher Joseph Jelen’s U.S. history students learn about the Vietnam War through primary source documents and listen to Joseph discuss his approach to creating the lesson.

Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will evaluate public reaction to the My Lai massacre and extend that understanding to better understanding public perception of the Vietnam conflict.

Get the Sources

Download the Vietnam War source documents and cartoon this lesson is centered around.

Transcripts

Access transcripts of the scholar analysis and teacher analysis videos.

Credits

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following institutions and individuals for the use of images from their collections: