The+Killing+one

**Requirements**:

 * ====**PERSON A - GROUP LEADER** - This group member will be responsible for both keeping the group on task throughout the meeting as well as responding to the week's topical questions, listed below.====
 * ====**PERSON B - QUOTATION FINDER** - This group member will be responsible for finding 5 important, meaningful quotations from their section of the text. They will also facilitate a discussion regarding these quotations.====
 * ====**PERSON C - KEY QUESTIONER** - This group member will be responsible for providing 5 open-ended questions regarding the week's reading section. These questions, and their responses, will be posted on the group's wiki.====
 * ====**PERSON D - GROUP SUMMARIZER** - This group member will be responsible for posting a thorough, two-paragraph summary of the group's Friday meeting, to be posted on the group wiki no later than the Sunday following the meeting.====

Assignment:
====1. On your group's wiki page, discuss your final reflections on this book. Would you recommend it to peers? Why or why not? Has this topic been discussed more/less effectively in another book or books? Should this book be considered for the school's curriculum? (B)====

**Week One:**

 * Ryan Lewis (C)**

====“I asked one of the men how they could tell that it was a bar that had been fired. He answered that every weapon had a distinctive sound. And that after I had been shot at by a certain weapon I would never forget it.”====

====“My first opportunity to show the captain my abilities had been miserable. Two lessons: claymores and thunderstorms don’t mix, and reading a map under pressure is not like reading one in a training exercise.”==== ====Fredrick Downs learns that in the field and under pressure it is harder to preform tasks he normally would have found easy. It is a key part in his gaining of experience because he has learned how to better handle pressure.====

====He graduated six months earlier from the U.S. Army’s OCS program at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was part of the fourth Division, which is based out of Pleiku, up in Central Highlands. He is getting ready to go into war in a little while since he graduated early from the program. He was trained to use the M-16.====

====Today the Mr. Gotliffe came to us and talked to us about the book. After he left we went over the quotes. Then we discuss the questions. Then we discussed the book. Then when class started to end we finished our discussion.====

"It was a fact of life, but the terror of an explosion never failed to send a shiver through our guts no matter how many times we heard them."
====This quote represents how people are told that in order to be in the military you can not fear death at all and be ready to sacrifice anything for your country. Well these who are high-ranked soldiers still hear an explosion and still shiver in the fear if they ever run across such an explosion.====

====Ari started off with his five quotes and was asking questions about his quotes. Then after the quotes we did questions. Harrison was person C and was asking his questions. The entire group got a chance to answer them.====

What challenges do the U.S soldiers face inside "The Jungle"?
====Answer: To the U.S soldiers they are literary walking blind-folded. The enemy has a major advantage over them, because this where their knowledge of the land helps them the most. To a U.S soldiers its just another tree, but to them it might be a significant land point.====

====In this weeks discussion Ari asked his questions from the section. The Questions that were asked focused on how Robert Downs had matured as a soldier and grown more accustomed to the war life. They also focused on the US soldiers and how they handled the stress of war. We also discussed what happened in the selection such, as Robert down’s injuries.==== ====Everyone answered the questions posed by Ari. We all answered the questions thoughtfully and had a meaningful discussion about the questions. Ryan led the discussion and made sure everyone answered. Then Ryan and Ari spent time looking at baseball stats.====


 * Matt Velthaus (B)**

====" The dink had been carrying an M-16 which was laying in the grass. The front basket had held about fifty homemade wooden Chi-com grenade handles with holes carved down the middle. Flat sheets of tin were bundled together, precut, and hammered out to resemble what a tin can would like if the ends had been removed and rolled"====


 * Ryan Lewis (B)**

“As each boat was unloaded, the men would search through to see if they could find anything incriminating.”

“The son-of-a-b---h”

“Delta Six told us to get into position. The coppers were on the way. We stood nervously in the mist, hoping that we were going to get out this time. We were ready to hump to the ocean rather than spend another night in the jungle.”

“ The chaplain flew out to hold a memorial service for the men who had been killed on the operation. He set up some C-ration cases to spread his purple cloth across and put his cross and cup on top of the cloth. The sky was cloudy and drizzly as the chaplain prayed for the souls of the men who had been killed for understanding of the fight we were in.”

“This is the way it will always end, I thought. Men being killed in the jungle, other men dragging their bodies out, putting them on choppers, and the rest of us going back to the fighting. When they left on the chopper, it was as they had never been. Man’s beginning and man’s end would always be attended by a few.”

“Dragging and carrying Yorder’s heavy body up the side of the mountain kept us cussing and sweating.”

__**Week 5**__ Ryan Lewis (C)

What did you think of the ending? The ending was very moving and the character developed throughout the book.

What was the most important part of the last chapter? When he was fighting the enemy and got his arm blasted off.

What was the main character thinking at the time? He was panicking that his arm had been blasted off.

What did you think was going to happen to the character? The character was going to die.

Did the ending surprise you? Yes the main character survived the blast.

Harrison Milacek “I was standing, peering through the veil of brush in front of me at a group of seven dinks coming towards us. Two boys, twelve to fifteen years old, were in front of two old men and three middle-aged women.” This quote shows that the Vietcong were using every able-bodied person to help their fight.

“ For a brief moment I wondered what kind of person this soldier had been.” Fredrick Downs comes to terms with his having killed someone face to face in this quote.

“This is crazy, I thought. The enemy is all over the place, everywhere is a booby-trapped, there aren’t supposed to be any civilians around here, and here is an old woman with a gunshot wound in her jaw.” This quote shows again the struggle to find out who is the enemy and who is an innocent civilian.

“I had finally become victorious in the battle with myself that each man fights in order to grow.” Downs grows as a person in this quote because he finally wins the war within himself.

“Goddamn! It didn’t even hurt. I must be really zapped, I thought.” Frederick Downs is being evacuated after having lost his arm in this quote. He expresses how the wound is so bad that he can’t feel it.

Matt Velthaus (D)

This is a of summary of our 5th week of the book meetings. Ari was our group leader for this week. Ryan made his questions and then said them for us to discuss questions, and we discussed each question in detail. Harrison put is quotes on the wikispace, and he said them one by one and we talked about what the quote had to do with the book and what the quote meant.

We talked about the end of the book and whether we liked it or not. We discussed the book and how it compared to other books.

=Reflections:= ARI LEVIN The Killing Zone by Fredrick Downs was definitely a classic with moving themes such as brotherhood and survival. This novel was a clear vivid description of the feelings and challenges of the United States men during the Vietnam War. It described how they reacted with the idea of war. Some were stronger than others, while some were scared out of their minds. It showed how when we are in war, we often what we are protecting and fighting for. The idea of ending a life or shooting someone becomes more important than actually fighting. The novel shows how war is not a billion waves upon waves of the enemy that keep coming wave after wave. It explains how the subject of war is not what it seems. I would definitely recommend The Killing Zone for its interesting themes and look into the actual reality of war.

Ryan Lewis Reflection 11/1/10

The book The Killing Zone by Fredrick Downs is very interesting. It was a very good book and really described what the character went through when he was in the war. I would recommend this to my peers because it was very interesting and exciting. The book really gets you on the edge of your seat and you never know what’s going to happen next. The topic has not been discussed in another book; this book is one of a kind. Not many war veterans want to write about their experiences in the war but this one does. He does it in ways you could not imagine. No other book could be this descriptive about the war like this one. He describes it so well it makes you feel like your there and really gets you into character. Harrison Milacek reflection

V I would recommend the book __The Killing Zone__ to future readers who are looking for a book that has a lot of action. There is a lot fighting in the book between the American and Vietnamese forces. The book also had a lot of conflicts that I feel are only experienced in a war when you are fighting to stay alive. Over all it was well written and had a good story line as it followed Fredrick Downs through his tour of war. This book’s topic was well discussed in this book and I think it was also well discussed in other books like __Band of Brothers__. This book is not an appropriate book for a school curriculum. It uses obscene language and has racism in it that could offend some people.

reflection Matt Velthaus

I would recommend this book, __The Killing Zone__, by Fredrick Downs, to anyone that like action and fighting. There are many conflicts in the book most of them being war and fighting. The book is written to follow Fredrick Down's tour through the war. The fighting is between America and Vietnam. The book has a lot to do with survival. If you like war and action this book, __The Killing Zone__, by Fredrick Downs is for you.