1. The Thing They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Historical Context

3. The Vietnam War
a conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1955 to 1975
Also called the Second Indochina War
Known in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War

4. What was all the fighting for?
While the U.S. perspective is usually that the Vietnam War was a cold war-era proxy war between America and the Soviets, this is only partially true.
The real story of the Vietnam is much more complicated and nuanced, involving numerous sides and perspectives.

5. Crash Course History: The Cold War in Asia
Video: Overview
Crash Course History: The Cold War in Asia

6. The Main Players

7. The Viet Cong (based in south)
North Vietnam
Soviets, Chinese
Ho Chi Minh
The Viet Minh 
North Vietnam Army
The Viet Cong (based in south)
National Liberation Front

8. The United States Military President Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnam
JFK, Johnson, Nixon
The United States Military
President Ngo Dinh Diem
The South Vietnam Army (SVA)

9. The Novel
The Things They Carried focuses primarily on the lives of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam. 
CBS Evening News, 1970: Platoon Comes Under Fire
Charlie Company: Bloodied and Trapped in Jungle of Vietnam