Dear America Character Profiles

Letter Writer: Frederick Downs
Military Rank: 2Lt.
KIA/Survivor: WIA, Survivor

Their Experiences:
-Constantly operating under the mud and rain, he comes to hate rain.
-his man got hit by a grenade shrapnel, held his hand, said he got the “million-dollar wound”

Their Feelings and Point of View:
-He goes to war willingly - “it is my job, and I do it willingly”
-“a man can’t feel safe anywhere in this whole country”
- He comforts everyone but no one to comfort him

Their Relationships with Others:
-Good relationship with wife, he writes to his wife all the time, always saying “I love you”
-Hates the ‘dinks’ – told his men that the “first squad to kill a dink with a weapon, he would buy them a bottle of whisky”



Letter Writer: Rodney Chastant
Military Rank: Captain
KIA/Survivor: KIA 22 October 1968

Their Experiences:
-Promoted to captain rank on 1 July 1967. He was one of the 50 men selected for captaincy from 1650 candidates.
-Went to Philippines and saw the graveyards of thousands of Americans in the previous wars.

Their Feelings and Point of View:
-He is needed more in Vietnam than at home – “fight in Vietnam or shut up. I choose Vietnam”
-He is Proud to be an American and is proud to be fighting in Asia
-He appreciates all the letters that he receives - “I have always enjoyed your letters”
-I think he misses his home allot because he always talks about his past together with his family

Their Relationships with Others:
-He cares about his men allot.
-Close to his parents. He writes to them often.



Letter Writer: Marion Lee ‘Sandy’ Kempner
Military Rank: 2Lt.
KIA/Survivor: KIA 11 Nov. 1966

Their Experiences:
-Operation Jackson - travelled through harsh conditions.
-Another patrolling mission, travelled through harsh conditions, saw a thornless flower
-went on a patrol, got ambushed, got shot in the ass, and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Had a little conversation with the general and earned a medal.

Their Feelings and Point of View:
-well, he must’ve hated being in Vietnam because all he did was complain
-Sarcastic about the meaning of “success” in a successful mission. “It was a very ‘successful mission’ since we managed to kill a few probably innocent civilians, found a few caves and burned down a few houses”
-The war is strange,” at day we help them, at night if we receive fires from the general direction of their hamlet, fire generally reach them”
-“You are what you are what you are” – You are who you are.
-He doesn’t like the higher ups because they would turn a blind eye on the problems they are facing. “they finally left me sicker than I was before”
-he has reservations about the war “you are not alone on those feelings” but he also has a reason for fighting. Muggins questioned the American’s presence in Vietnam, and Sandy’s reply was even though the legality is very flimsy, it is still allot stronger than the previous reasons of the Americans’ past involvements in wars.
-“we are here because we think this is where we must fight to stop communist threat.”

Their Relationships with Others:
-he is close to his family. He writes letters addressed to his parents/ brothers and aunts.
-He looks after his men well. He died because he put his man’s life before his.



Letter Writer: George Olsen
Military Rank: Sp/4
KIA/Survivor: KIA 3 March 1970

Their Experiences:
-He’s a Ranger, trained for a month
-Bush recon did a small mistake that could have been fatal: broke contact with the person in front of him.
-Went on a 3-day recon, busted a small NVA base-camp, one of them got his ankles shot
- Went on another mission, ambushed a big NVA camp


Their Feelings and Point of Views:
-He thinks he’s doing the right thing and thus volunteering for the job.
-He is afraid all the time but “you can’t allow that fear to interfere with the job”
-Very proud of his unit
-“We’d shoot a woman without blinking an eye but a child is no one’s enemy”

Their Relationships with Others:
-Very close to Red, his best friend
-Close to his platoon comrades

Dear America: Song Activity

Rolling Stones: No Expectations

Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I've got no expectations
To pass through here again

Once I was a rich man and
Now I am so poor
But never in my sweet short life
Have I felt like this before
Your heart is like a diamond
You throw your pearls at swine
And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind

Our love was like the water
That splashes on a stone
Our love is like our music
It’s here, and then it’s gone

So take me to the airport
And put me on a plane
I got no expectations
To pass through here again


Lyrics taken from: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/NO-EXPECTATIONS-lyrics-The-Rolling-Stones/C06973092E2EAC284825689A0026C5B3





Note that the song is featured in the Dear America Movie when the troops were starting to get pulled out from Vietnam.

First Paragraph:
He is going home from Vietnam, no intention of coming back again to fight.

Second Paragraph:
He used to be a rich man before he was drafted to fight in Vietnam. But now, after several years of being away, he comes back home with nothing. But even so, he never felt so happy in his life (because the war is over)

Third Paragraph:
Her love was very precious to him, but she gave it away to another man. This means that his wife ran away with another guy. As she left, she also took away his soul.

Fourth Paragraph:
Their relationship was very fragile; it collapsed as soon as they were faced with hard problems such as him going to fight in Vietnam. It was there, and then it was gone.

Conclusion:
Well, basically, the song is about a soldier who once was a rich man coming back from the fighting but came home with nothing left, even his wife left him for another man.
I think the song is trying to tell the people of how most of the soldiers are facing real big problems after fighting such a terrible war.

Dear America Character Comparison Chart

Characters: Rodney Chastant Frederick Downs George Olsen Marion Lee “Sandy” Kempner

Similarities

Differences

-All of them are fighting voluntarily -They all use slangs such as ‘dinks, Charlie’ -They all are glad to receive letters -They all talk about their experiences on the field except for Rodney -They talk about the harsh conditions they go through when carrying out missions -They try to use metaphors in their letters to try and give their readers a slight understanding of what they are going through -None of them wanted the ‘Purple Heart’ medal/award -They are all proud of what they do -All of them except Rodney had commented on how incompetent the higher ups are

-Rodney never told his parents about his experiences in Vietnam -They have different roles from each other -Fred has expressed in his letters on how much he hates the dinks. -Sandy is very sarcastic about the meaning of “success” in a successful mission -Only Fred survived the war

All of the main characters know why they are fighting and are doing it on their own free will. Among the four characters, Rodney Chastant is the most dedicated as he voluntarily extended his stay in Vietnam. Though most of them died, Fred Downs, the only survivor also suffered a major injury; his left arm was cut off and will have to make do with an artificial replacement. They are all proud on what they do and had no regrets on their actions.

The main characters have written a great deal about their missions; the weather, the exchange of fires, casualties etc. They used allot of metaphors in their letters to try and express their feelings or to simply give their addressees a small idea of what they are going through during their missions. The words “like” and “same” were commonly used to compare things.

All of the main characters are very disappointed with their higher-ups. They commented on the lack of competency of their superiors; “If there’s one thing I can’t abide, it’s an arm-chair leader who sends his men off to die on hopeless, meaningless operations.” (P.98 George Olsen).

Even all of these, Rodney Chastant still thinks that there is a small light up far ahead. Of the four men, only Rodney showed signs of positive thinking about the war. Sandy was the complete opposite of him since Sandy only focused on the wrong done by the Americans.