Teachers find ways to make Vietnam War real for teens

Michael Tierney explained to his 11th-grade history class at Deer Park High School that President Lyndon Johnson's bombing campaign during the Vietnam War was known as "Rolling Thunder."

"Cool," exclaimed Sean Casey, 17.

Tierney then asked his students what it was called during the Iraq War under President George W. Bush's leadership. When no one answered, Tierney told them, "Shock and Awe," which brought out a lot of "oh yeahs," indicating they were familiar with the phrase.

A present-day war is allowing teachers to draw parallels that help them teach students about the Vietnam War, Tierney said.

"I try to use a lot of what's going on today," he said.

During a recent class lecture, he incorporated pictures from the Vietnam War to get students thinking about the differences soldiers returning back then experienced versus the homecoming today.

"I think my uncle went to Vietnam," said Dominick Giammona, 16.

Tierney asked if his uncle was drafted, and Giammona said he volunteered, which led to a discussion about how some used college to defer being sent to Vietnam.

Because some students likely have relatives who are Vietnam veterans, it makes the war more interesting to today's teens, Tierney said.

"It's a living history," he said. "There are a lot more resources."

Tom Morturano, who teaches Advanced Placement history to sophomores at Centereach High School, said it's a topic that's "near and dear to my heart" because his father served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.

"It's something I would do a whole class on," he said. "The kids are not fascinated by war, but they are fascinated by the stories that people have gone through."

While most New York students learn about the war in eighth- and 11th-grade history classes for a few days near the end of the school year, Morturano said he has more leeway to focus on it with more depth.

Richard Stevens, a 10th- and 11th-grade history teacher at Roosevelt High School, said because the Vietnam War tends to come at the end of history books "it can feel rushed," with teachers worrying about getting students ready for state Regents exams. He said he devotes one or two days to the war in his 11th-grade class, but for 10th-graders it's included in lessons about post- World War II nationalism and the Cold War.

Because all students at Port Jefferson Middle School are reading "Shooting the Moon," a novel about a girl whose brother goes to fight in Vietnam, teachers have been using Newsday's Summer of '69 installments in classes, said Maureen Hull, the district's director of English language arts and social studies.

"The Vietnam War is a complicated war to explain," she said. "It's really stimulating a whole school conversation about Vietnam."