# Why teach WWII and Vietnam in History Classes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937 "2010-10-03T18:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/81 "2010-10-08T14:48:49Z")
As big a military history fan as I am, I can agree that it’s probably not that important to teach high school students the minutiae of WWII. They need to know when it began (September 1939, because Hitler invaded Poland), some of the key events (Battle of Britain, the Blitz, Barbarossa, Japan & The US enters the War, Pacific Theatre, D-Day, Hitler’s defeat, A-bombs dropped on Japan) and from there start to look at things like The End Of Colonialism (with a Special Guest Appearance by The Vietnam War) and then move into The Modern Era, with the Fuel Crisis of the '70s and closing out with The Development Of Computers & The Internet in the 1980s & 1990s. Having said all that, if you’re going to study WWII, you really need to look at WWI as well- otherwise you’re not really going to understand _why_ Hitler was able to get into power in the first place, for example. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/82 "2010-10-08T17:11:52Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > To claim that either war had no long-term impact is simply asinine… The “importance” of past events in inversely proportional to time that has elapsed since they occurred. This is because we can act only in the present, and we can’t assure ourselves of any particular future. Because all discussion of history is by nature interpretation, I see nothing wrong with expanding the “importance” within the curriculum of more recent events, even though one might conjecture that their long-term importance will be minimal. I find it unprofessional for a history teacher to play God by insisting that he knows the long-term impact of anything, let alone a world war. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/83 "2010-10-09T03:17:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > If your family would not tell you , then it is not hard to find out on your own. > > > > 1. If you want to learn about ww2, then read the book: “ **Why the Allies Won** ”, and then go get 3 dozen documentary DVD’s of actual footage of the war, and you are good to go. > > > > 2. If you want to learn about Vietnam, then read the book: “\*\*Lyndon Johnson’s War: America’s Cold War Crusade in Vietnam, 1945-1968 \*\*”, and then go to Blockbuster or your local library and rent the 24 set TimeLife series documentary of Vietnam…and you will be an expert on Vietnam and you will probably know more about Vietnam than most h.s. history teachers. > > > > 3. If you dont take the time to do 1. and 2. above, then you werent going to learn it anyways. > > > > Anyways, the point is, you dont need a h.s. teacher to learn about WW2 nor about Vietnam - there are plenty of better alternatives. > > So why have schools at all? One’s family can teach the kids to read, and from there the kids can learn about any subject from simple math to calculus, history, biology, government, and every other subject just by seeking out the proper books and videos! Schools are fine, esp subjects like math, biology, chemistry, etc. I dont think most parents can teach those subjects. My main points about WW2 and Vietnam, is that those 2 wars are so recent, none of us need a teacher to tell us about those wars, there are still plenty of people around who can tell us first hand or second hand and we also have gobs of actual film footage to see for our selves. I personally knew hundreds of people who were in WW2 and I can remember, and retell, all the stories they told me. We dont need a hs history teacher to tell us about Vietnam, just rent some DVDs and talk to your uncles who were in it. As far as the civil war, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican WAr, etc, we can not get a DVD which shows actual color film footage of Washingtons battles, nor can we talk to any uncle who served under General Lee, so maybe we could use a good hs history teacher that can tell us about those earlier wars. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/84 "2010-10-09T03:23:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > I also think that if Hitler had ruled all of Europe for 400 years, then it would be worth studying… > > At the very least, we would want to find out how he lived that long. The point is that Hitlers direct influence on the world lasted only a few short years, and didnt really change the long term course of history. 400 years of French rule in the British Isles would be more significant than Hitlers 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/85 "2010-10-09T03:29:42Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > By and large, it also was not important here either. > > > > I remember that war vividly. Even \*\*during \*\*the Vietnam war, most Americans did not think it to be very important nor worth learning about unless either they were draft age or had a son of draft age. The average person in the United States back in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s didnt give 10 seconds thought to the war effort in Vietnam and most of them could not even find it on a world map. > > There were no lines at recruiting centers stretching for blocks of Americans lining up to join the Army. Nobody outside of draft age really cared back then. > > This is certainly not the way I recall it. I’ve asked my parents, and they don’t recall it this way, either. Did you miss all the 60’s and '70s protests? I was there. I was there in the anti-vietnam demonstrations, but only a VERY few people other than draft age kids were there. The anti-vietnam rallies, and the pro-vietnam rallies, were pretty much insignificant and only involved a tiny tiny fraction of a few people in the 1960’s. The average American was not concerned, nor impacted, nor educated, by what a few college kids or hard hats demonstrating or marching on tv. Except for a few college kids who were ardent anti-vietnam protesters, virtually nobody else in the country at the time really knew anything about vietnam, nor cared about vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/86 "2010-10-09T04:11:10Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Schools are fine, esp subjects like math, biology, chemistry, etc. I dont think most parents can teach those subjects. I would venture to guess that more parents teach their kids those subjects, than there are who give their kids comprehensive history lessons. > [@Susanann](#): > > My main points about WW2 and Vietnam, is that those 2 wars are so recent, none of us need a teacher to tell us about those wars, there are still plenty of people around who can tell us first hand or second hand and we also have gobs of actual film footage to see for our selves. I personally knew hundreds of people who were in WW2 and I can remember, and retell, all the stories they told me. > > We dont need a hs history teacher to tell us about Vietnam, just rent some DVDs and talk to your uncles who were in it. Personally, I don’t know anyone who was in Vietnam or WWII. My dad was off the coast, in the communications department of a cruiser, and his youngest brother was stationed at NAS North Island. And dad’s dead. The main point that I, and I think others are making, is that stories from friends and family are not history. They’re anecdotes. Grandpa may be able to tell you in great detail what it was like to be at the Battle of the Bulge, but it’s unlikely that he could tell you the reasons why the war happened. History is not just a list of things that happened and dates they happened. History is a way of understanding complex dynamics. There are people alive today who were there when Japan attacked the U.S. Anyone can tell you when the attack occurred, and that it brought us into the war. But _why_ did the Japanese attack? Were they just Bad? Few parents are going to explain Japanese expansionism, the embargo on materials imposed upon them because of their fighting in China, and so on. Few parents are going to explain that Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. on 11 December 1941. I suspect that many or most Americans don’t know that the war in Europe had been going on since 1939. How are they going to provide context to explain war broke out? Do you think that many parents/friends/relatives understand why the war broke out? The political situation that led to Hitler’s being elected to office? That WWII and WWI might be considered the same war, with a 20-year ceasefire? There’s the old saw about ‘Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.’ Great-granddad talking about freezing his nuts off at Bastogne puts a human face on the fighting. But it doesn’t teach any lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/87 "2010-10-09T04:14:12Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > The average American was not concerned, nor impacted, nor educated, by what a few college kids or hard hats demonstrating or marching on tv. > > Except for a few college kids who were ardent anti-vietnam protesters, virtually nobody else in the country at the time really knew anything about vietnam, nor cared about vietnam. And this is why it is important to teach history in schools, rather than to depend on friends and relatives that may not be available to large numbers of people. When populations are uneducated, bad things happen. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/88 "2010-10-09T07:31:33Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > > [@Miller](#): > > > > At the very least, we would want to find out how he lived that long. > > The point is that Hitlers direct influence on the world lasted only a few short years, and didnt really change the long term course of history. > > 400 years of French rule in the British Isles would be more significant than Hitlers 4 years. I’m sorry, do you actually believe this, or are you just trying to wind people up? Because either way, it’s not a very sensible thing to be trying to argue. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/89 "2010-10-11T19:41:23Z")
> [@Rubik](#): > > What’s this WW2 thing that Yanks keep yammerin’ on about. > > Didn’t you guys only go into because 'dem silly Japs bombed your vacation islands? It was the Germans bombing our vacation islands that got us into it actually. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937/90 "2010-10-12T02:01:16Z")
**Susanann** , your entire argument is pretty much proof that we DO need to teach WWII and Vietnam in school. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-teach-wwii-and-vietnam-in-history-classes/555937.md?page=4)