Very few events resonate with the American psyche quite like the Vietnam War. Countless films and songs serve to keep the memory of the Vietnam experience alive, even in those who were not alive to...Show moreVery few events resonate with the American psyche quite like the Vietnam War. Countless films and songs serve to keep the memory of the Vietnam experience alive, even in those who were not alive to witness it firsthand. It is often remembered as the only “real” war fought by the United States during the Cold War period, but this is not an accurate statement. The first “real” conflict of the Cold War began right as the battle-lines were drawn in 1950, when North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the South attempting to unify the peninsula on their terms. he Korean War represented the first physical clash between the two ideologies that would dominate the latter half of the 20th century, but its memory and media portrayal do not carry the same impact as that of Vietnam. The primary concern of this thesis is to explore the disparity in representation of the two wars through the medium of school textbooks, and what role the education system plays in emphasizing one over the other.Show less
