The APUSH class is reading the book The Killing Zone by Frederick Downs. It is a true account of a Mr. Downs experiences in the Vietnam Conflict. In his book, he uses vocabulary that may be confusing to some. For example, a "deuce and a half" is a big, metal military truck. Kind of strange, right? Well, he also refers to other things by slightly weird names...
One day in the library, I was talking to a few other classmates who read the parts in the book I had read already. We were talking about the events that had occurred already. We mentioned bombs and explosions and the things you would expect to happen in a war. I brought up Kool-Aid and peanuts. Those who hadn't gotten as far as I had in the book yet looked at me like I was crazy. In the book, when someone is referred to as a "Kool-Aid", it means that they are a dead solider. If someone is called a "peanut", it means that they are injured. You may be wondering what this has to do with my life? Well, as it turns out, I had made grape Kool-Aid the night before and peanuts were served at lunch today. It is strange how ordinary and everyday things take on a totally different meaning in war.
Wow - look at you! Nice correlation between our novel and the fact that you can connect the dots. It is amazing how terminology can have different meanings depending upon the situations, etc.
ReplyDeleteNice post!