Music in American History Project, APUSH, Travelin Soldier, Dixie Chicks, PTSD, Vietnam War

1. The Role of Rock
Music in American History
By Alexis Gonzales

2. Travelin‟ Soldier
 Performed by the
Dixie Chicks
 Released 12/9/02
from their album
Home
 In „03, peaked #1 in
U.S. Billboard Hot
Country Songs and
#25 in U.S. Billboard
Hot 100

3. The Dixie Chicks
 Martie Maguire, Emily
Robison and Natalie
Maines (lead singer)
 American country band
from Dallas, TX
 Won 13 Grammy Awards
 Been active since 1989 to
present
 Well-known for their
independent spirit and
controversial comments
on war and politics

4. Summary
 The song is a story about the agony of waiting for a loved someone to
come home from a war
 A tale about a shy, lonesome, young American soldier, enlists in the Army
to fight in the Vietnam War
 Meets a high school girl working there where they talk for awhile at a pier
 He explained how he feels alone and asks if she could write to him while
he's away
 He leaves for war and continues to write her letters saying that he thinks he
loves her, the things he's afraid of, how he thinks about her all the time
 The man tells her he won't be able to write for awhile and that she
shouldn't worry
 Story picks up at a high school football game in the girls town where she
hears the man she loved was killed in Vietnam
 The chorus states that all she ever does is cry thinking about how she'll never
love anyone again because she's still waiting for the soldier to come home,
even though she knows he never will

5. Lyrics
Two days past 18, he was
waiting for the bus in his
army green...and he said
would you mind sittin'
down for a while and
talking to me, I'm feeling
a little low.
• Soldiers who entered
the Vietnam War were
around 18-20, young
men fresh out of high
school
• Go off into war feeling
lonely, no family,
looking for a better life
CHORUS - I cried never
gonna hold the hand of
another guy. Too young for
him they told her, waitin' for
the love of a travelin' soldier.
Our love will never end, waitin'
for the soldier to come back
again. Never more to be alone
when the letter said a soldier's
coming home.
• Disapproved war where many
American lives were lost
• Agony and sadness of waiting
for a loved one to come home
•Realizing that you can never
love again due to losing a
significant other in war
One Friday night at a football
game The Lord's Prayer said
and the Anthem sang. A man
said folks would you bow your
heads for a list of local
Vietnam dead crying all alone
under the stands was a piccolo
player in the marching band
and one name read but
nobody really cared but a
pretty little girl with a bow in
her hair.
• Displaying public prayer for
the lost loved ones
• Hearing upon the death of a
loved one, devastating feeling
• Many couples experienced
falling in love with someone
before they go off to war,
movies such as Dear John

6. Relevant to the Vietnam War

7. Vietnam Draft
 Primary Targets -Young
American men graduating
high school, college grads
 About 60% of eligible men
escaped military service
during the Vietnam era
 1969-1972 Selective Service
used a lottery to determine
the order in which draft age
men would be called up for

8. Vietnam Draft
 Draft Lottery: Mason, Illinois, 1969. No. 317: Take My Chances With The U.S. Army
 "In March, 1969, my draft board in Buffalo, NY sent me a form requesting my graduation date from
Duke. I wrote back that it was June 2nd. I spent April and May exploring alternative services. My
eyesight kept me out of the Air Force, and my GPA of way below 3.4 prevented me from applying for
the Navy Supply Corps officer program
When I got home from Duke on June 3rd there was already a letter there from the draft board
reclassifying me as I-A. During the summer, I checked out enlisted programs, and finally decided to
take my chances with the U.S. Army.
I was inducted the first week of September, and finished basic training at Ft. Dix in early November.
Apparently because I had majored in business and did well on the Army intelligence test, my MOS was
73D20--Finance & Accounting. I was assigned to the Ft. Dix Post Finance Office immediately following
basic training, and served there at the time of the lottery drawing, when I received a high number. I
served with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam starting in June 1970.
Both at Ft Dix and in Vietnam I met several other Duke grads, as well as those from many other
universities and colleges. Several years later I used my VA benefits to go back to school for my MBA. I
only wish I'd come home to a better reception in 1971. For several years I've been active in the 1st
Cavalry Division Association, supporting deployed troopers, homeless veteran initiatives, and other
causes for our less fortunate brothers and sisters in arms."
http://www.vietnamwardraftlottery.com/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=517

9. PTSD (POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER)
 estimated that at least 50%
of all Vietnam vets have
struggled at some point
with PTSD
 resulted in large population
increase of homeless and
drug addictions in veterans
 affects other family
members as the survivor
may often be distant,
overly-stressed, have
temper problems, dramatic
and tiredness

10. Letters from Gary Canant
 Left his wife to go to
Vietnam 18 days after
they got married
 Wrote Maxie everyday he
was gone and made a
website for everyone to
read his love letters
 Departed May 19, 1968
and returned January 14,
1969, spent 240 days in
Vietnam
 They‟re still happily
married!
“Sometimes we did not know the day of the
week, the day of the month, the actual month
or the season of the year, but we always,
always knew how many days we had left.”

11. Glad That We Are Married
23 May (Day 4, 136 Days Left)
Dear Maxie,
Forgive me if the letter I wrote earlier today sounds too depressing. At times I can‟t help it, hon. I get to
thinking about being away from you and life and it‟s pretty hard to take. I was so happy being with you, especially
after we were married, and leaving was like leaving everything. All I want now is to find some way to make the
time pass faster so I can be back with you again.
One favor that I ask of you is call mom and let her know that I‟m all right and working in an office. I will write to
her later, but now you are the only one I feel that I can write to and say how I feel. I wouldn‟t want to write to her
now as depressed as I am. I feel so much closer to you and feel that you are the only person that I can write to and
say exactly what I feel. I do feel close to you – even though we‟re thousands of miles apart; I still feel that
somehow we‟re together and that we‟re together in spirit if not in body. It‟s amazing how much I think about you
now – seems like all the time. Could it be that I love you? Guess so.
I so glad that that we got married before I came over here. I feel so much better knowing that I left a wife
behind instead of a girl friend or even a fiancé. I feel good every time I say “I‟m married” or “My Wife”. I also feel
good every time I tell someone that I‟m Jewish. No matter what some people say – I think we did the right thing
getting married when we did instead of waiting until I got back. For some reason I like the idea of going home to
a wife.
Now it‟s nice and cool again. Everyone else has gone to the movie and it‟s quiet here for a change. It‟s kind of
ironic that we even have movies here – war and all.
Maxie, I miss you terribly. I miss your kisses, your pulling the blanket off me, your being late and your love
most of all. One thing that will never change while I‟m away is my love for you – it can only grow. I‟ll love you for
the rest of my life.
Yours,
Gary
http://dearmaxie.com/day4.html

12. Telling Maxie I‟m Safe
Sunday (Day 15, 125 Days Left)
Dear Maxie,
I got a beautiful letter from you today – last Monday‟s after you got 4 letters from me that stopped you from
worrying. About that, hon, I would feel kinda bad if you didn‟t worry about me every now and then. I just don‟t
want you getting too worried. Actually I am pretty safe here. Dong Ha is a big base and we don‟t have incoming
that often. We‟re lucky where we have the office too, we‟re at the bottom of a small hill and all of the rounds
coming this way usually hit on the hill past us. It‟s just weird to hear them going by. There‟s not much chance of
this place being invaded because it‟s a pretty important place. If you could see our jets working out and hear the
B-52‟s dropping bombs, you wouldn‟t worry too much. It‟s so safe here that we had jets bombing something on
the other side of the base and we could stand on top of the sandbags and watch it from here. It must be terribly
discouraging for the NVA to know that they can be attacking one side of a base and people on the other side will
be writing letters and listening to music. What gets me is that we have all of this power and it‟s going to waste. If
Israel had what we‟ve got, the war would be over in 6 hours instead of six days. I‟m convinced that we don‟t really
want to win this war and that the US just wants to force a stalemate for political reasons. It‟s terribly dis-hearting
to know that people are not fighting to win but just to stall for time.
I did not tell Maxie that our mess hall was on the hill where most of the incoming rounds hit.
How did I get off on that subject, I was talking about your letter? I am very lucky to have found your (or did
you find me) and will never let you go or stop loving you. I intend to grow old with you and watch our children
and grand children grow up beautiful like their mother and grandmother. They‟re going to have brown eyes and
raven black hair like their mother – just wait and see. And if any of our sons ever want to join the Marine Corps,
I‟ll make it so they won‟t be able to sit down for a week. I hope that they‟ll be smarter than I was in that respect.
Dreams, yes, but in the not too distant future it will be reality and great. I love you, hon, and we‟re going to have
a great life together. Together with the love we have we can do anything that we set our minds to. I love you,
Maxie. Just a day or two over 5 months and I‟ll be holding you again. I love you
Love,
Gary
http://dearmaxie.com/day15.html

13. Impact

14. Sources
 http://us-flag.net/pictures/wallpapers/american-flag-wallpaper.jpg
 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/dixiechicks.JPG
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dixiechicks454827.jpg
 http://www.militaryministry.org/wp-content/uploads/Soldier-Crying.jpg
 http://www.glogster.com/media/3/9/69/72/9697227.jpg
 http://www.veteranshour.com/charliez1.gif
 http://www.mutanteggplant.com/agog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/vietnam-
protest.jpg
 http://www.veteranshour.com/vietnam_war_statistics.htm
 http://military.sheknows.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/HOME.jpg
 http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/ptsd-16a.jpg
 http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/2009/06/large_funeral%20wide.jpg
 http://www.landscaper.net/images/drftnote.gif
 http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oI0grsy_0P4/ShquDsdYWaI/AAAAAAAAAP8/qGUvzyc
e7Sc/s1600-h/memorial+day.jpg