Hook Exercise:
1. Would you follow the orders and help torch the village of Cam Ne?
A: I would not have the heart to burn the village huts. The villagers of Cam Ne
were just simple farmers with strong family bonds and
...
Hook Exercise:
1. Would you follow the orders and help torch the village of Cam Ne?
A: I would not have the heart to burn the village huts. The villagers of Cam Ne
were just simple farmers with strong family bonds and to lose your home to these
foreigners claiming to burn your family home down is the most tragic thing that
could happen, especially when these poor families were not allowed to excavate
their prized possessions. However, to go against a sergeant could be considered
treason based on the circumstance such as not destroying a possible enemy
base. If I were a soldier, I would realistically have the families take their stuff out
of their houses and have them safely escorted out of the village, and then I would
apologize profusely to the families as I am escorting them.
2. If you refuse to follow those orders, what do you think will happen to you?
A: If I were to refuse the orders of my sergeant to burn the village huts down, I
would probably be tried for treason and be seen as a communist spy. The reason
for burning the village down was to eradicate the Viet Cong, and if I refuse to
burn down the village, I would be seen as a spy.
3. How do you think Americans back home will view these actions as necessary
to protect the democratic freedoms of the people of South Vietnam?
A: The Americans back home would most likely believe that burning down thevillage was redundant to the war effort. The whole purpose of sending US troops
to South Vietnam was to protect them from the communist North Vietnam, and to
see that the US troops are burning down South Vietnam villages that the troops
are supposed to be protecting can be interpreted as hypocritical and
unnecessary.
4. Is treating everyone as if they are an enemy first the only way to succeed in
this situation? Can you offer any other suggestions for dealing with this problem?
A: Treating everyone as if they were the enemy is not the only way to succeed in
this situation; in fact, this strategy fails in this kind of situation. If everyone
assumed that everyone else was the enemy, then there would be hysteria
amongst everyone and nothing would be accomplished and would just result in
hysteric fire. However, if everyone treated the South Vietnamese as if they were
comrades, then there would have been better support for the US troops who
were perceived as killing children and burning down family homes. Honestly, if
the troops assumed everyone in South Vietnam was an ally, then there would not
have been a need for them to want to burn down the South Vietnamese villages,
and the skeptical South Vietnamese would have leaned toward the US support
rather than go for the communist North Vietnam. This method of trust could have
mitigated the hysteria and there would have been more support for democracy in
Vietnam
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