Blog Critique -2

I enjoyed reading Kelsey's blog very much. Her ability to paint a picture in your mind of just what she is describing is a very strong quality and makes reading so mush more enjoyable. The length of her blogs is also very efficient for she gives a valid amount of information and not too much where it seems as if the blog is never going to end. One paticular blog that I enjoyed reading was her favorite memories from Europe. Kelffey, I loved spending that day with you and Mommy Ruddel, it was so adventurous and hilarious!!!


Adam's blog is also very interesting to view. His use of vocabulary and ability to use different words to describe a thing or idea is very strong and i admire that for I often have trouble with accomplishing this idea. Something there should be more of within Adam's blogs is to use more quotes. This would strengthen any ideas or arguements made within his blog. I beleive adding more quotes and links would with quotes would be very useful within Adam's blog.


Alex's blog is another blog in which I enjoyed reading and evaluating. He writes in a very personable manner and it is as if you are talking to him in person and I believe this to be a strength in writing. I would suggest maybe clicking spell check before posting his blog. Good blog though Alex.


Aurora's blog is also very interesting to read, though she only has one post on her blog homepage, I still find it very interesting and her personal view of life is very evident through the the way ion which she writes within her blog. I do not know if she had to start a new blog, but if I'm sure if she had more posts they would be very well written and expressive. I believe to add your own opinion on an event or idea is a very strong characteristic to have within life.


When reading Joe's Blog I was actually reminded of my blog. The format of his blog in which the way he writes and places links within the body of his information is similar to the way in which I write my blogs. He provides a little bit of information and then provides a link to show what he is talking about. Compared to the blogs above it is more of one word as the link, not a link with a small definition as to what it means. I think in writing like this it shortens the length and depth of a blog. I am glad I read Joe's blog for it opened my mind to realize that my blogs need to be written in more depth and not only written with a single link, but with that link I need to provide a definition or explanation with that word. I also suggest this for Joe's blog.

Vietnam War Project Wrap Up

In looking back at my work on this project I realize how much knowledge I have gained in researching the Vietnam War. I have learned that many lives were lost and how much America was effected by this war in short and long term effects. The most interesting thing I have learned in researching the Vietnam War is the fact that after all of the fighting, that communism still was the result and that America was unable to apply a Democratic way of politics. I think the blogs were a very effective way in which to learn about this conflict. I think the blogs were a different and interesting way to research and gain information especcially in a large project as the Vietnam Project. In my opinion, this project will be a very effective way in which to teach the eighth grade class about the Vietnam War and especially the biography on a person whose name is on the Vietnam War Memorial wall. I look forward to teaching the eighth graders about this project and painting the full picture in what occured during this war.

Lt. Sharon Ann Lane

Sharon A. Lane's name can be found on the The Vietnam Women's Memorial. Lt. Sharon Ann Lane was born July 7, 1943 in Zanesville, Ohio. When she moved to North Industry, in Stark Country with her family when she was just two years old she attended North Industry grade School. In June of 1961, June graduated from Canton South High School, and after, in September, entered the Aultman Hospital School of Nursing. After graduating from Aultman Nursing School on April 25, 1965, Sharon went to work at the hospital until May 1967. While at the hospital Sharon decided she wanted to try her skills within the business world. It was after three quarters of attending Canton Business College that she quit to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve on April 18, 1968.

"Sharon Ann Lane truly epitomized that unselfish healing I received. She tenderly administered to the slings and arrows of that most terrible beast called war. She gave of her very essence in this greatest act of love, meting out her healing to nourish and restore not only abundant physical wounds, but also by her goodness assuaging insidious mental afflictions that a treacherous war implants in the minds of “boys next door.”"

Post War History-Vietnam

"America's postwar troubles pale in comparison to conditions in Vietnam, which I revisited in early 1981. I rediscovered a land not only raveged by a generation of almost uninterrrupted conflict, but governed by an inept and repressive regime incompetent to cope with the challenge of recovery. Rebuilding Vietnam would have been a stupendous task under the best of circumstances. The war shattered its economy, disrupted the social texture, and exhausted its population in both the north and the south."(Karnow,27)

Prime Minister Pham Van Dong's take on the conditions in which Vietnam faced after the war was "Yes, we defeated the United States. But now we are plagued by problems. we do not have enough to eat. We are a poor, underdeveloped nation. Waging a war is simple, but running a country is very difficult."(Karnow,27-28)

"The Vietnam War devastated that nation in many ways, but the horrendous death toll often overshadows its other effects. One long-term effect that is seen now and will persist is the ecological damage. Many point to Vietnam, where dense jungles were another enemy to subdue, as one of the clearest examples of environmental damage during warfare." (Lanier-Graham, xxvii). Within the Vietnam War many new technologies were inroduced some of which contributed to Vietnam's ecological change from a once-pristine habitat to an almost apocalyptic state following the war. These technologies included, chemical deforestation techniques, Rome plows and new, more destructive bombs. Many effects of the Vietnam War on the environment within Vietnam were evident that they could not be changed or reversed. Many species of animals and vegetation were greatly reduced and, in some cases, became extinct. In these situations, little can be done to amend the problems that the war created for the ecology of Vietnam.

A survey points out the numbers for those who died from the "U.S., South Vietnamese, and countless thousands in Laos and Cambodia, and it is estimated that a third of the population of South Vietnam have become refugees in the course of the past seven years. But those figures merely hint at the vast destruction of the social fabric and economies of Indochina wrought as a consequence of this tragic war. There is no measuring the ture cost of a shattered social structure, lost opportunities for development, persistent inflation, black marketing, corruption, and prostitution."(Williams,300)

For both the U.S. and Vietnam the war was a tragedy on both sides. The effect this war had on the two countries was their leadership was weakened, the people were angered with the outcome being that no specific side technically won the war, and they both lost lives that resulted in the thousands and millions. In communism attempting to be stopped and a democracy being put into action, the result of the war never reached this goal; shortly after the Vietnam War, communism gradually gained control.




Karnow,Stanley. Vietnam A History The First Complete Account of the Vietnam War. Penguin Books:New York, 1983

Williams A. William, McCormick Thomas, Gardner Lloyd, and Lafeber Walter. America in Vietnam. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1985

Lt. Sharon Ann Lane

Sharon A. Lane's name can be found on the The Vietnam Women's Memorial. Lt. Sharon Ann Lane was born July 7, 1943 in Zanesville, Ohio. When she moved to North Industry, in Stark Country with her family when she was just two years old she attended North Industry grade School. In June of 1961, June graduated from Canton South High School, and after, in September, entered the Aultman Hospital School of Nursing. After graduating from Aultman Nursing School on April 25, 1965, Sharon went to work at the hospital until May 1967. While at the hospital Sharon decided she wanted to try her skills within the business world. It was after three quarters of attending Canton Business College that she quit to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve on April 18, 1968.

Sharon began her basic training within the Army on May 5 in Fort Sam Houston in Texas with the rank of Second Lieutenant. She graduated on June 14, 1968. Three days later, she was sent to Fitzsimons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado where she worked in three outlying TB (tuberculosis) wards. Sharon received her promotion to First Lieutenant while working at Fitzsimos. After receiving her promotion, she was sent to work in the Cardiac Division's Intensive Unit and Recovery Room. On April 24, 1969, Sharon reported to Travis Air Force Base in California with orders to go to Vietnam.

On April 29, five days after she was ordered to go to Vietnam, Sharon arrived at the 312th Evac Hospital at Chu Lai on April 29, and went to work in the Intensive Care ward. She would work 5 days a week and then one day which would be the sixth day, she would work in the Intensive Care. Sharon would work 12 hours in a day for a few days before being assigned to the Vietnamese Ward.

It would be during the early morning of June 8, 1969 that a Soviet-built 122-mm rocket struck ward 4 of the 312TH Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam. Being within this ward at the time of the accident, Lt. Sharon Lane died instantly at twenty-four years old. Throughout the war Sharon Lane was the only American servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire throughout the time of the war. Sharon Lane was admired by many who worked with her or knew her.

Nursing in the Vietnamese Ward 4 was known to be very difficult, yet Sharon was always ready for whatever orders or injuries were handed her way. She was often offered transfer to other wards, but always declined and stayed within Ward 4. Sharon lived for nursing and was an example to all both professionally and personally. She was an inspiration to patients, Medical colleagues, associates and friends. Sharon was never discouraged or frightened by the conditions in which she worked, but always loved what she did even when she was dealing with many sufferings and constant dangers within her a common workday. Sharon continued to follow her love for nursing by even working during off duty hours. She would volunteer to nurse the most critically injured American GIs in the Surgical ICU. For her bravery under fire, she was buried with full Military Honors in her hometown of Canton, Ohio. Those who knew Sharon were both American and Vietnamese and when hearing of her death were deeeply saddened to lose such a wonderful person within their lives.

On June 10, 1969 a memorial service was held for Sharon A. Lane at a little chapel in Chu Lai. After her memorial service, a Catholic Mass was held on June 11, 1969. Sharon's burial service was held on June 14, 1969 at Sunset Hills Burial Park in Canton. Lt. Sharon A. Lane was awarded with the following medals, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star which had a "V" for gallantry, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the National Order of vietnam Medal, and (South) Vietnamese Gallantry Cross.

Sharon has been honored in many ways since her death. The Daughters of the American Revolution named her the "Outstanding Woman of the Year" in 1969. They also awarded her with <'The Anita Newcomb McGee Medal' at their annual Continental Congress in Washington D.C. on April 22, 1970. On November 11, 1969, the Fitzsimons Hospital named its recovery room the 'Lane Recovery Suite' in her memory. Within this suite is a picture and a plaque of her on display. On May 23, 1970, the 1965 Graduating Class from Aultman's School of Nursing put a plaque, picture, and poem by a classmate in Morrow House (the nursing school residence hall) in her honor. The class of 1970 from Aultman also dedicated their yearbook to her.

On October 18, 1970, Faircrest Memorial Junior High School was dedicated to Sharon and four other servicemen from Canton South who lost their lives in Vietnam. A plaque for Sharon and the four other service men was placed at the entrance to the school. A statue to Sharon was dedicated in front of Aultman Hospital by the William F. Cody Garrison #50 of the Army/Navy Union. The statue in which was dedicated to Sharon was built with funds raised within the community, and was one of the first Vietnam memorials established within the United States.

In March, 1986, Sharon Lane Women's Center was opened in the main lobby of Aultman's Hospital. Two months after the Sharon Lane Women's Center was opened, the Canton (Sharon's hometown) Chapter 199 of the Vietnam Veterans of America was officially renamed to the Sharon Lane Chapter #199. There are also two roads in which are dedicated to Sharon Lane; one in Denver, Colorado, and the other at Fort Belvour, Virginia. On September 12, 1995, Fort Hood, Texas dedicated the Sharon Lane Volunteer Center. In honor of Sharon Lane a permanent display can be seen at the Ohio Society of Military History in Massillon, Ohio.

It is amazing in how much one American nurse within the Vietnam War can affect so many Americans not just within the war, but long after within different areas of the country. Sharon Lane was and is an inspiration to many. Her courage and dedication is admired by many especially those within the medical field. The fact that she has been awarded with many medals, dedications, monuments, and memorials is a true honor not only to herself and her family, but also to our country for having such an inspiring woman within our Army and medical field.

Vietnam War History (vs. America) from 1966-1975

The U.S. deployed large numbers of troops to South Vietnam between 1954 and 1973. The last American troops left the country on April 30, 1975.

"When we marched into the rice paddies on that damp march afternoon, we carried, along with our packs and rifles, the implicit convictions that the Vietcong could be quickly beaten. We kept the packs and rifles; the convictions, we lost"(Philip Caputo)

In 1965, the US began to bomb North Vietnam. Within 1968 there were 550,000 American troops in Vietnam. They could only hold the Vietcong. On January 30, 1968, the start of the Vietnamese New Year celebration, North Vietnam and the VC launched the Tet offensive attacking the major cities of South Vietnam. The attacks were especially savage in Saigon and Hue. This massive attack scared the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson cutback American bombing and failed to approve the request for more troops.

Within 1967, one million tons of supplies each month were being transported to Vietnam in order to support the Americans in the war. If an American was injured, he was transported to the battle scene by helicopter and, if wounded, flown out aboard medical evacuation choppers known as dust-offs because the dust kicked up by their rotors when they landed.(Karnow,436) "All this power intoxicated the Americans who initially went to Vietnam with a proud and overweening sense of confidence. What ever objective of the war-and many could not define its purpose with any precision-they were certain that U.S. omnipotence would triumph."(Karnow,438)

In 1969, after building up South Vietnamese forces, US President Richard Nixon began to pull US troops out of Vietnam, a policy he dubbed Vietnamization. It was in the spring of 1972 that the Communists launched an offensive. The offensive was pushed back and some observers later claimed that at this point the main military thrust of the North Vietnemese had been broken, and if it had been with more perserverence, the United States could have very well won the war. "A congressional staff report written in May 1972 by two experts on Vietnam concluded that-as always- the situation was more complicated and ominous that it seemed."(Williams,304)

The official ceasefire was signed in Paris on January 27, 1973. After the departure of American troops, North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam. It was in 1973, "by the time Nixon administration signed a cease-fire agreement in January 1973, the United States had dropped on North Vietnam, an area the size of Texas, triple the bomb tonnage dropped on Europe, Asia, and Africa during World War II."(Karnow,415) The Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon in May, 1975.

The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam (DRV), South Vietnam, and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government that represented South Vietnamese revolutionaries. The plan was to establish peace in Vietnam and put an end to the Vietnam War. The accords ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily ended the war. The negotiations that led to the accord began in 1968 and were applied to various lengthy delays. The two men responsible as the main negotiators of the agreement were United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho; the two men were awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, although Le Duc refused to accept it.


Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam A History. The Complete First Account of Vietnam at War. Penguin Books: England, 1983

Williams A. William, McCormick Thomas, Gardner Lloyd, and Lafeber Walter. America in Vietnam. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1985