The Truth of War Project Reflection

This project began by discussing what communism, capitalism, and socialism meant at
the time the Cold War was happening. After we had a basic knowledge of those three terms we
were able to go into more depth with how and why the Cold War occurred. Once we went
through the timeline of the Cold War we started to read a book named The Things They
Carried, which is about a group of soldiers in Vietnam and talk about the experiences in the
war. The soldiers also talk about why they have the things they carry. The things that they carry
refer to both literal and figurative things. After learning about the Vietnam war we were able to
start thinking about the truth we were going to convey in our art piece for the exhibition. The art
piece was a big piece for this project because it had to be something you could relate to and be
willing to go deep on.

Throughout this project I have grown tremendously in two areas. The first area that I
think grew in was during the Gulf of Tonkin time write, where we had to focus on our critical
thinking skill. This skill has always been challenging for me but by focusing on improving on this
aspect of writing, helped me in writing a good essay. Another skill that I think grew in was in my
artistic skills during the making of my art piece. For my art piece I wanted to try something new
that could get my topic across in a meaningful way. I had never painted for an art piece before
so this was a new area I hadnt had much experience in. Through this project I have grown
tremendously in areas and have experienced new forms of expression for artistic pieces.

The main thing that I would take away from this project is to be thankful to those who are
risking their lives for us. I understood this idea while I was doing research for my art piece about
PTSD and when we had a veteran come to talk to us about his experience in Vietnam. The big
takeaway that I got from the veteran is that when they come home they dont want to be ignored
or not noticed for what they did. The thing that I took away from doing research on veterans with
PTSD, is to just be kind and not to try and ignore them or get them to talk about what they went
through. This project has shown me several new aspects, but these two stuck out to me the
most.