Final Post

        I would like you to read my “C.P. Ellis and Andy Johnson” post and my “Jane Yoder, Tom Yoder, Peggy Terry, and Mary Owsley” post.  In my C.P. Ellis and Andy Johnson post, I talked about “What it means to be an American” This has been our central topic this year, and I was able to explore it though the readings of C.P. Ellis and Andy Johnson.  I also believe that C.P. Ellis had one of the most interesting stories.  He explained that people join the KKK not because they are racist, but because they need a place to belong.  I think that’s a very interesting concept that we should listen to today.  Today, people join gangs for the same reason.  They join gangs for a sense of belonging.  We need to create more support groups.  I would also like you to read my “Jane Yoder, Tom Yoder, Peggy Terry, and Mary Owsley” post as I connected their stories to “Just War.”  Like “What it means to be an American”, this has been a central topic this year.  I was able to come to a conclusion that World War 1 wasn’t Just after reading their stories.  We need to think twice when entering wars.

Heinemann and Dollinger

       Larry Heinemann was a Vietnam War veteran.  Larry Heinemann didn’t want to get drafted.  He tried everything to get out of it, such as staying in college.  He said, “I wasn’t willing to go to jail.  Nobody told me I could go to Canada.”  This reminded me of a book we have been reading in English.  We have been reading The Things They Carried , and this reminded me of the main character Tim O’Brian.  Both O’Brian and Heinemann didn’t want to fight in the war but fought anyways.  I don’ think it’s fair to make someone fight and risk their life in war.  I don’t think its ones duty.  I think that if America can’t get enough volunteer soldiers, then they shouldn’t be fighting the war.  If they can’t get enough volunteer soldiers than that means that there isn’t enough support for the war.  Guys should not have to risk their lives for something they don’t believe in. I chose to write about Larry Heinemann as we just studied the Vietnam War and I wanted to learn more.

Genora Johnson Dollinger took part in the first sit-down strike in 1937.  She writes about her memories of that first sit-down strike.  She provides an image that allows the reader to try to understand what it was like.  She said, “The police were using buckshots and rifles and tear gas and everything against us. The men were throwing back whatever they could get their hands on; nuts and bolts and hinges.  Any tear-gas bomb that came unexploded, they’d throw back into the ranks of the police.”  It is really hard for us to understand what the sit-ins were like.  By hearing what Dollinger had to say, the men and women who sat got abused.  Yet, they didn’t were asked to not fight back.  This took a lot of bravery and was an important moment in U.S history.  I chose to read Dollinger’s story as I was very interested when we talked about the sit-in movement.