Unit 3: Vietnam War Grunt's Little War

Author/Filmmaker: Al Austin, 1969

MBC Tape Number: TV-1099

Learning objective:
• Students will gain insight into the realities of combat during the Vietnam War.
• Students will glean understanding of ground battle waged in a country and culture very different from our own.
• Students will see a reality-based, historical film documenting the pathos and painful processes of war.

Background information: Grunt's Little War profiles a composite grunt, i.e. combat soldier in the Vietnam War. Often called the "jungle war," the Vietnam War was wrought with misunderstanding and tragic means to uncertain ends. This documentary provides personal glimpses of war fought by young Americans in substandard living conditions and challenging environments.

Bibliographies:
The Vietnam Reader, Editor Stuart Nonan, Publisher Anchor Books, ISBN 03854911182
   A definitive collection of American fiction and nonfiction about the war.

Vietnam: A History, by Stanley Karnow, Penguin Books, ISBN 0140265473
   Companion to PBS American Experience Series

Vietnam : Four American Perspectives, Editor Patrick Hearden, Purdue University, ISBN 1557530033
   Series of lectures by Sen. George McGovern, General William Westmoreland, Edward Luttwak, Thomas McKormick
   presented at Purdue University.

Encyclopedia of Television, Museum of Broadcast Communications, Editor Horace Newcomb, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, ISBN 1884964249
   A comprehensive collection of historical and definitive information regarding television broadcasting.

Documentary summary: In Grunt's Little War, Al Austin takes his camera inside the trenches of the Vietnam War. The sights and sounds of ground warfare are documented in an area three miles from the demilitarized zone with glimpses of Saigon and Firebase Son. Actual footage of combat soldiers on the front line provides historic images of grunts in battle. Interviews with ground combat soldiers filmed during the war enhance the dramatic pictures of the way it was, framing a clear perspective of Grunt's Little War.

Standards: Standards met according to Chicago Public School academic standards, located at http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Standards/CAS/cas.html:

• CASD,CFS1
• State Goal 16 : Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, United Stance and other nations.
• Learning Standard: As a result of their schooling, students will be able to apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation.
• Benchmarks: 16B5AW 16B5BW 16A4A 16A4B
• State goal 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess and communicate information.
• Learning Standard: Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.
• 5C5a: Using contemporary technology, create a research presentation or prepare a documentary related to academic, technical or occupational topics and present the findings in oral or multimedia formats.

Pre- and Post-Discussion Questions

Pre-Discussion Question

1. Discuss what students know about the Vietnam War and those that fought it (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc).
   
2. Show at least a 1-3 minute clip of the movie “Good Morning Vietnam.” Discuss how the stage has been set by the movie industry to depict the life of a soldier in Vietnam.
   
3. Inform students that the documentary opens with the words “Good Morning Vietnam.” Have them look for similarities and differences between the imagined and the reality.

Post-discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the real film vs. the Hollywood version of war. Why are war movies popular?
   
2. Documentaries like Grunt’s Little War are produced to show the truth behind an event or cause. Movies are produced to entertain. Do you believe that there should be more or less documentaries produced on controversial subjects that have been glorified by motion pictures?

Suggested Projects/Activities

1. In groups of 4, write and publish a "Grunt" newspaper written by and for combat soldiers.
   
2. In groups of 4, produce one 10-minute radio broadcast of their own "Good Morning Vietnam."
   
3. In groups of 4, write a Readers' Theatre production of Grunt's War, with student-written script, acting, and directing. Using Thornton Wilder's Our Town as the format, it could be titled "Our War."
4. Using the resources of the Museum of Broadcast Communications and your own community, produce a documentary on war. Using their perspectives, students will document the perception of war by today's teenagers. Interviews with military officers, civilians, teachers, and their peers will lift the concept of war from the pages to a learned perception. This activity is suggested to follow the Docufest units on World War II and Vietnam.

Feedback: Have suggestions or comments regarding this lesson plan? E-mail us at education@museum.tv.