Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
Graphic Novel
I Remember Johnny
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
I Remember Johnny
I Remember Johnny
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
I Remember Johnny
I Remember Johnny
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
I Remember Johnny
I Remember Johnny
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
I Remember Johnny
GRAPHIC NOVEL
Background Summary
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this page for classroom use.
Like the Vietnam War itself, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial proved to be somewhat controversial.
The design for the memorial was chosen from more than 1,000 entries in a nationwide competition. The winner of the competition was Maya Ying Lin, a 21-year-old female architecture student
at Yale University.
Lin’s design consists of two sloping black granite walls, set into the ground at an angle to one
another, which meet in the middle at their high ends. The names of all soldiers killed or missing in
the Vietnam conflict are inscribed on the wall. Over 58,000 names are listed in the order in
which the soldiers died or were reported missing. The granite walls are highly polished, and,
when looking at the memorial, a person sees not only the names of the dead, but his or her own
reflection. Some veterans and other Americans felt the wall focused too much on death and not
enough on patriotism and heroism. As a compromise, the statue of three servicemen, along
with a flagpole, was added to the memorial. Later, the statue honoring women nurses in Vietnam
was placed at the site.
Today, like the main character in the graphic novel, many people visit the memorial searching
for the names of fallen comrades or family members. Some visitors make pencil rubbings of the
names on the wall. Others leave small tokens in remembrance of their loved ones, such as letters,
photographs, cards, medals, and toys. All of these items are carefully collected and preserved by
the National Park Service.
Activities
Illustrating
Discuss why the Vietnam War was so controversial. How was it similar to American wars before
it? How was it different? Have students discuss the experiences and emotions of the main character in the story. What emotions does he experience as he visits the Wall? How does the artist show
this? Do students think the man’s visit to the memorial will help him feel better about his
experiences? Have them explain their answers.
Opinion Writing
Ask students to conduct research on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as well as other veteran
memorials and monuments in Washington, D.C. Have students write a short paper providing their
views on the appropriateness of each of the memorials to its subject. In a class discussion,
compare the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to some of the others. Ask students to speculate about
how a memorial’s design reflects attitudes about the war each memorial is dedicated to.