RR

media type="youtube" key="BJkiMw6hxjA" height="344" width="425"** Although he is my grandfather, his presence makes me stand a little taller, breath a little faster. I arrived at his house at 12:06 on a Saturday, for an "appointment" that was arranged for 12. No "Good Afternoon" or any variation of a greeting. I crossed the aged threshold of the quaint house that he has inhabited for over 20 years, and he merely points out that I am six minutes late. My grandmother, on the other hand, rushes over as fast as any aged woman with knee problems possibly can, and offers me one of her [|freshly baked oatmeal cookies]. Practically cornered in the kitchen, she warns me that I'm venturing into uncharted waters with these questions of mine. I ask if we should establish a safe word, which I would yell if I need to be saved from the horror I'm being warned about. But, like most, she is oblivious to my sarcasm and says "No. That’s not necessary." I leave the kitchen, freshly baked goods in hand, and sink down into the plaid love seat. Raymond Marchand is of French descent and has the attitude that accompanies the stereotype of his nationality. His physical features don’t quite soften his image either. He is an impressive height of six foot four and his stance could stop me dead in my tracks. But his face contradicts his constant critical mood. Raymond Marchand’s hair is a light wispy blonde with little curls that appear to be thinning, with his growing age. He has light blue eyes under ashen eyebrows that are all encased in thick-glass wire framed bifocals that rest on the arch of his nose. He always sits on his ratty old brown velor recliner and watches various “television programs” while simultaneously balancing his personal mountain of pistachios on his belly, which has the capacity to have two different piles for the shells and the uneaten nuts. He is a fan of C-Span, and any governmental news…unless a woman is presenting it. In that case, he just turns the channel until an “adequate news caster” can give him the newest update in the presidential race. I’m walking on eggshells. Asking about his day, what he ate for lunch, what he plans to eat for dinner. Basically things I don’t really care to know about. He hates talking about his war days, and will forever hate discussing that period of his life…so I might as well just spit it out. “When did you find out that you were drafted? What did you feel?” Nothing. No response. Not even a blink. I was debating whether or not I should give up and get out or repeat the question when he blankly stated. “I was not drafted. I enlisted” Crap. I made a mistake already. Strike one. For the next hour or so I’d be rephrasing each question in about three different ways. I couldn’t afford another falter. My grandfather [|enlisted] on a whim. He considers the decision "foolish" fifty years later. He was not one of those who glorify war, waiting at the edge of their seat until the 18th birthday. His father, who routinely called him the unaffectioniate moniker "Big Stupe", and refused to pay for college. Unwilling to accept a lifetime of being underestimated, Raymond made one of the biggest decisions of his life and was [|shipped off to Korea.] "So was there any concern from your family?" I cautioned. He twirls his thumbs. I'm searching his eyes for pain, wondering if I should approach these question more carefully. "I don’t remember any great concern; I remember when my father took me to the train station. He said to keep my nose clean and watch out." "That was it?" "That was it." The novel idea of eye-contact is behind us. When i ask the question I stare into the computer stationed on my lap and through the duration of his responses he gazes off in other directions. Meanwhile, dinner is being prepared in the next room over. The clangs and clashes of the pots and pans permeate the silence between each of my questions. As I arrange the notes I just jotted down, keeping one eye on my grandfather. He fidgets with his hands a bit more. Rearranges the remote on the table in between us. Adjusts his glasses. I reposition myself in the seat. Cross my legs, take off my shoes, and my sweater. Perhaps if I lead through example he will loosen up. Turns out the key to getting my grandfather to talk was to ask him to describe Korea. "Very primitive. The people were primitive. It was primarily and agrarian society. And when I got there the cities were all bombed out. Most of the bridged were bombed out. The people, they were so backwards. The women would be working in the fields, tending to the rice patties, wearing a sarong like skirt with nothing on top. When I got there you could smell the land before you had seen it. The country side was like how America was 100 years ago. Manual labor. No machinery. No modern clothing. I arrived there by ship. Then we all took a train and after that I was[|given weapons] and new military clothing. I remember standing outside of the Korean train station and these little kids charging up to the train. All of them, they had big fat bellies, trying to get us to buy anything. Trade anything. I wouldn’t give in to them though because they looked so fat to me. Then a couple of weeks later, I came to realize [|the children were dying of malnutrition]. They were trying to sell their mothers their sisters. Anything." I was smiling as I asked the next question. Overcome with happiness and gratitude that he was finally able to share a moment with me. The whole house was quiet. I could tell my mom, my sister, my grandmother were all tending to their own projects but listening intently on the budding conversation. "Did you ever want to go home? Just leave?" "Well I knew how many days I had left. Everyday was one day less. Was I homesick? No. Would I have run home if I had gotten the opportunity? No. I accepted it. Being amongst a bunch of men that are in the same boat as you. There was a camaraderie." "Being at war, is it constant danger? Or are there moments you don’t feel threatened?" "I was not in the infantry. I was not a combat soldier. I was an [|ordinance soldier] and we repaired all kinds of equipment. I had a couple of machine shop trucks under me. Repaired anything from small engines all the way up to armored caterpillars. We were in a sector where there were reps from many nations. It was a UN operation. There were so many countries that sent over troops with their support units. The area I was in was primarily Australians. Many of them were convicted felons who got into the army and if they got out they got a pardon." As mentioned before Raymond is not the cuddly old man with suspenders and chocolate hidden in his front pocket, spoiling his grandchildren every moment he can. He enjoys his solitude and I have never once seen or heard him mention any sort of friend or buddy or pal. But when i probed him about the relationships with his fellow soldiers, he expanded on the camaraderie that he touched upon earlier. Always the slightly demeaning person he is he promised he would "try to put it in term I might understand." Oh thanks gramps. "It was like being at camp. You had no where to go. Either you got along with people or you didn’t. No animosity that I remember. The only animosity was toward the guy that was in charge of the unit" we shared a tired chuckle. It felt extremely liberating, even for me, to be the first of the family to be able to obtain this kind of information from him. Not waiting for my next question he repositioned himself as if to prep for the memory he was about to explain. I eagerly awaited hands on the keyboard. Eyes on him. "When I got home there wasn't any hoopla. No parade or cheers. I just continued with my life went back to work. They had to give you your job back. It was the law. The boss couldn’t fire you."
 * Interview With a Korean War Soldier

"Oh they don’t have that now. I don’t think." I said attempting a discussion "Yes. They do." Shut down. " The women would do our laundry. We went right next to a stream and they used to put our clothes on a rock and beat it with a stick. The compound I lived in was all tents. No permanent buildings whatsoever. In the winter the tents were heated by stoves fed by a 50 gallon drum of diesel oil. We dreaded when it would get so cold that the diesel would freeze. Only happened a couple of times. No toilets. Just latrines. In the summer the side of the tent would be rolled up to let the air in. The smell from the latrine was worse then ever. Someone had the unfortunate task of having to empty the various stations with this giant bucket, called the Honey Bucket. One guy, got drunk one day, woke up to that smell wafting through the open tent. Took his weapon. Shot the thing up. What a mess. Every once and a while there would be the "Bed Check Charlie”. Do you know what that is?" Not enough time allotted for an answer. He was off again "Either a Chinese or a North Korean in a small plain and they would throw out bombs before we went to sleep. The first night I got there they had an artillery duel I could hear it all night. Every so often you’d be on guard duty at night. Every time you heard a tin can rattled against a barbed wire you'd think 'is this a person, animal, wind?' Sometimes we didn’t even know what it was. Mostly they were animals. Couple a times I went to their capital city to get something down there and every building was just wiped out. There were no civilian vehicles. Everything that moved was military. There was a Korean something or other, I guess you would call them day laborers, and there dinner was the left overs of our dinner that we put in the garbage. Times were tough for them. Did you know they were buried sitting up? I don’t know why. Could be to save room. They would take the Honey Bucket into the field and use it on the rice patties. That’s why you could smell where you were before you could see it." Dinner time.

By Rachel Rosenthal

There is an interesting podcast video about the war on iTunes - Type in **Korean War** Go to **Podcasts** and click **Battlegrounds** (The First 40 Days video)
 * OTHER RELATED TOPIC VIDEOS **

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 BOOK 1: Title of Lesson: The Power and Restrictions of Speech

**a)** My group will be able to understand the limitations of speech in this society **b)** My group will relate 1984 society to today and observe the differences in freedom **c)** They will show their understanding of adapting to INGSOC regulations __STANDARD 3.2 (WRITING) ALL STUDENTS WILL WRITE IN CLEAR, CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND PURPOSES__ **a)** Laptop **b)** Pictures of Big Brother from 1984 movie **c)** Copy of the Pledge of Allegiance on wikispace My group will look at[| pictures of Big Brother] that were in the 1984 movie and right down both positive and negative emotions or phrases that come to mind. They will share and discuss. LINKS TO MORE PICTURES: [|Picture 1] [|Picture 2] I will ask the group to look at the [|Pledge of Allegiance] today. We say it every day but is it an invasion on our Freedom of Speech. Do we even know what we are saying? They will examine the Pledge and find out what it really means Then they’ll decide if they want to exercise the right to protest or if they will continue saying it each day  Each student will adapt the Pledge or make a new pledge revolving around Big Brother and the Party
 * What the students understand when they finish your lesson with you: **
 * Main Standard you are achieving (the number and full description): **
 * Materials Needed and Technology Used: **
 * Opening Activity Description (What the students and you are doing): **
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  BOOK 2: Title of Lesson: Secrets of Trickery of a Government

**a)** My group will be able to understand the power exhibited by INGSOC on the media and outgoing news **b)** My group will philosophize about war and peace while examining the thoughts of Goldstein **c)** They will show their understanding of the Newspeak Language and how it controls the people __3.2.12.B.13 Write sentences of varying length and complexity using precise vocabulary to convey intended meaning. __ **a)** Laptop **b)** Headlines from news websites **c)** List of “Possible Outlawed Words” provided on wikispace My group will look at some headlines today that are Anti-Bush or Anti-Government and then change just as Winston might change the articles so that Big Brother is never in the wrong. Good Websites to Check Out: [|MSNBC] [|CNN] [|ABC NEWS] [|USA TODAY] After sharing the altered headlines, the group will discuss what Goldstein means when he states, **"By becoming continuous, war has ceased to exist,"** and the relevance it has for the world in which we live?
 * What the students understand when they finish your lesson with you: **
 * Main Standard you are achieving (the number and full description): **
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I will provide them with certain words that would certainly be outlawed and not allowed in the Newspeak Dictionary and ask them to convert them to something neutral. List of Words can be found here: [|WORDS TO TRANSLATE.doc]
 * Closing Activity Description (What the students and you are doing): **

  BOOK 3: Title of Lesson: Would You Rather...Testing Limits

**a)** My group will be able to understand the difficulty in choosing a book title that encompasses the books meaning and will remain timeless **b)** My group will comprehend the decisions that Winston had to make while in the Ministry of Love and in Room 101 **c)** They will show their ability to creatively devise alternate endings to a book __STANDARD 3.2 (WRITING) ALL STUDENTS WILL WRITE IN CLEAR, CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND PURPOSES__ **a)** Laptop **b)** "Would You Rather" worksheet provided on wikispace   Since 1984 has come and gone and its clearly not what George Orwell predicted...I will have my group think of a new title for the book that will remain accessible even 50 years from now. Make sure to reflect an idea or a theme involved in the novel
 * What the students understand when they finish your lesson with you: **
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Winston was pushed to the limit with his torture and eventually caved in when they brought out his worst fear; rats. The group will play of game of Would You Rather to test their limits of how far they would go in certain situations. We will then discuss the reasoning behind their decisions and what they might have done differently if they were Winston. If you want to follow along with the questions here is the worksheet: George Orwell originally wanted to title his book, "The Last Man." My group will discuss why Orwell might have chosen this title and why he ultimately went with 1984. In such a Distopian Society like 1984, are they eradicating all men? 
 * Middle/Main Activity Description (What the students and you are doing): **
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