1. Vietnam War Tracers, by 7 veterans

3. Vietnam Conflict/War 1959-1975 (dates of American involvement) Vietnam’s history of resisting colonizers: China, France, Japan. Cold war conflict: 1954 temporary partition pending elections; North was socialist, South a republic. Human rights abuses both sides. US perceived communist threat everywhere post WWII. 1964: Gulf of Tonkin. Attacks on US recognizance ships leads to resolution allowing US military action, not called “war.”

4. War continued 1964-68 War escalates under LBJ Minimal info policy to press; gov’t loses credibility Brutality of conflict, guerilla warfare, new chemical weapons (Napalm) 1969-73 Slow pull out; Nixon’s “peace with honor” Pullout of troops, but failed to supply money and other needed aid, as agreed in Paris Peace Accord April 1975: N overruns S Vietnam Casualties: US 57.5K; S Vietnam: 240K; N Vietnam: over 250 K

5. Hair! 1968, USA Pacifist, anarchist, and counterculture; depicts youth protesting the war … among other things Vietnam as a waste of human life, on both sides Improvisation in performance Loose structure as concert, with story elements of love affairs, drug use, paternity, draft dodging and war protest. Rock and roll -- first musical to use it. Hits: Age of Aquarius, Let the Sunshine In Concept musical -- based not on plot but concept of hippie tribe taking over theatre

6. Miss Saigon US’s final departure of military in 1975, with flashbacks to earlier times US military and Vietnamese civilian love affair. Prostitution of women for US military; hope of love (Kim and Chris) safety (Gigi, Kim) Amerasian children have no life there (Bui Doi) Based on Puccini’s Mme Butterfly; Frenchmen Schonberg and Boublil wrote in 1989; Richard Maltby: English lyrics Video “The Heat is On” documented audition thru opening night

7. Tracers, 1983, conceived John DiFusco Slips in time, but 3 basic ones: 1960’s basic training Williams is harsh to help them survive: 18 weeks vs. 18 months (USSR. p. 23) Vietnam - the life of the average, teenage soldier Patrols,drugs, rats and rabies,prostitutes, killing, blanket patrol 1980’s veterans discuss ongoing problems PTSD, war wounds, birth defects in children, cancer, children left behind, ingratitude of nation

8. Evolution of Tracers Workshoped by actors who are also veterans, with a writer to help shape text Director, lead writer, actor DiFusco Workshop performance to complete writing All scenes based on real events Characters are composite of experiences Veterans of today, looking back, is the frame of the play

9. Tracers Quotes “Eighty percent are targets; we have no time to train them to be more. Ten percent are fighter. One in a hundred may become a warrior.” Williams, p. 23 “The unwilling, led by the uneducated, to do the impossible for the ungrateful” Habu, p. 61