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DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

The War in Vietnam - A Story in Photographs

Making Connections

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The War in Vietnam - A Story in Photographs

About this Activity

  • Created by:National Archives Education Team
  • Historical Era:Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
  • Thinking Skill:Historical Analysis & Interpretation
  • Bloom's Taxonomy:Analyzing
  • Grade Level:High School
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Please use a tablet or desktop computer to use this activity.
This activity asks students to analyze photographs from the Vietnam War. After analysis they will categorize the photos by topic and write captions in preparation for a photography exhibit about the war that "tells the story of the young men and women who fulfilled their duty to their country by serving in the war in Vietnam."
https://www.docsteach.org/activities/student/the-war-in-vietnam-a-story-in-photographs

Suggested Teaching Instructions

This activity can be used during a unit on the Vietnam War and the Cold War. For grades 6-12. Approximate time needed is 90 minutes.

Begin the activity and display (or ask students to open) the first photograph. Students will be asked to study it for 2 minutes, then to answer:
  1. List the people, objects, and activities you see.
  2. Where is it?
  3. What was happening when this photo was taken?
  4. Why was it taken? 

And:
  1. How might you categorize this photograph — what topic of the war does it cover? (For example: battle tactics, weapons, jungle warfare, or roles of women)
  2. Write a caption for the photograph (one or two sentences describing the image and how it relates to the topic).

After they have analyzed this first image, direct them to the remaining images in the activity. They can work individually or in small groups to do the following for each photo:
  1. List the topic of the war that the photo covers.
  2. Write a caption for it.

When they have worked through all of the photographs and clicked "When You're Done," they will be presented with the following assignment:
Military photographers took these pictures to document military operations, equipment, and personnel — but their photographs also tell a story. It is a story about America's sons and daughters, young men and women who fulfilled their duty to their country by serving in the war in Vietnam.

You are a curator who has been asked to use these images to plan a photography exhibit. The exhibit should help people understand the impact of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
They will be instructed to:
  1. Write one sentence summarizing the main message of their exhibit.
  2. List the sections that the exhibit will be divided into (these should be based on the topics of the war that they already identified for the various photos).
  3. Under each topic, list the names of the photographs that fit in that topic and the captions they wrote for them.
  4. Think of other resources that they could use to learn more information about the war to provide more historical background in their exhibit.

After completion of the activity, ask students to share their lists of topics. As a class, discuss whether any topics of the war are missing, and brainstorm how they could find out more about those topics.

Ask students to share the main messages they came up with for their exhibits. In a class discussion, ask them to consider:
  • Why do you think you came to those conclusions?
  • Do you think you might feel differently about the war if you had only read about it instead of seeing photographs?
  • What impact do you think photography had on the American public who saw these images during the war?

An optional extension activity is to print out the photographs from the activity (follow the links below) for students to create a physical exhibit for the classroom using the captions they wrote and additional research.


This activity was adapted from an article written by Linda Darus Clark, a teacher at Padua Franciscan High School in Parma, Ohio.

Documents in this activity

  • Aboard the Hospital Ship USS Repose off South Vietnam
  • Operation "Oregon" Search and Destroy Mission
  • Company A Gathers Around a Guitar
  • Navy Seal Team One Moves Down the Bassac River
  • Soldiers Carry a Wounded Comrade Through a Swamp
  • Intensive Care on the Hospital Ship USS Repose
  • Red Cross Volunteer Playing Cards with Marines
  • Home is Where You Dig It
  • A Marine Stands Watch During Mass
  • Keeping Track of Time Left on His Helmet
  • A Marine Walks Through a Punji-staked Gully
  • Marines on an M-48 Tank in Vietnam
  • A Marine Keeps a Battery Pack Dry Through Mud

CC0
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "The War in Vietnam - A Story in Photographs".

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