Very few Oak Forest High School students have firsthand experiences with war, so when Oak Forest High School English teacher Jenny Schanz started teaching The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, a story about a group of men who fought in the Vietnam War, she knew that students would need help conceptualizing scenes from the book.
On January 24, students in Mrs. Schanz’s classes had the privilege of meeting with three Vietnam War veterans who shared their firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War.
Speaking to the students were veterans Jerry VanBladel, Tom Newton and Gary Sieroslawski, from the organization Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 11. These veterans described different things they went through and the different jobs that they held. Only one of the speakers, Jerry VanBladel, was not drafted, but decided to enlist in the Navy.
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Oak Forest High School student Mark Faltynek said that it was “interesting to hear the Veterans speak. It’s not every day you hear about a war back then. It was interesting to see how people dealt with the war and all of the death and nasty things that went along with that.”
The speakers explained the draft board, how they passed their time waiting until their next set of orders, snakes and other deadly creatures that they encountered in the jungles, and how heavy their clothing and day packs were.
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Oak Forest High School student Jenna Minahan said, “I have a lot of family that fought in the Vietnam. It was cool to learn more about their experiences. The fact that the soldiers had so much clothing on was amazing because I couldn’t even imagine that.”
The veteran speakers also spent time discussing the reception they received from their fellow veterans when they finally returned home. Veterans of other wars ignored them and considered them not to be true veterans because Vietnam was not a real “war” it was a “conflict.” They met with a lot of outright hostility. They were very proud of the fact that it was Vietnam veterans that were welcoming current Iraq War veterans home.
Students Samantha Cerda, Mark Faltynek and Cami Clark each wore clothing that soldiers would wear. Samantha wore a field jacket, a flak jacket and carried a day pack. Mark also wore a field jacket, and Cami wore the uniform of a Viet Cong soldier. Mark said “The flak jacket was heavy and worse than football equipment. As soon as I put it on, I started sweating!”
