Interior Monologues

Put yourself in the position of someone portrayed in Regret to Inform.Write a detailed first-person reflection from one of these individual's perspectives. Some writing possibilities include:

Barbara Sonneborn, when she learns that her husband and childhood sweetheart, Jeff Gurvitz, has been killed.

Barbara Sonneborn, after she has learned Jeff has died, deciding whether or not to listen to the tape that he made in Vietnam.

April Burns, thinking about smashing the hand of her husband, Bill, so that he would not be able to go to Vietnam.

Grace Castillo's son, thinking about his dead father who went to Vietnam because "he always wanted his son to be proud of him."

Nguyen Ngoc Xuan, deciding whether or not she wants to return to Vietnam as Barbara Sonneborn's translator.

Jeff Gurvitz, thinking about whether or not he will go to fight in Vietnam.

Diane Van Renselaar, after her husband returns to Vietnam having just told her that "he felt his number was coming up."

Truong Thi Le, sitting before an American filmmaker, telling her how the American soldiers killed nine members of her family.

Nguyen Ngoc Xuan, thinking back over her life, asking herself whether or not she is a "bad person" or a "good person."

Grace Castillo, after her doctor told her to pray for her husband to die, because of the severity of his injuries.

April Burns, when she receives the package in the mail with her husband's wallet, with mud on it.

Norma Banks, as she rubs her husband's back to ease his pain from Agent Orange poisoning.

Le Thi Ngot, a Vietnamese woman whose husband was killed in the war, as her son asks, "Why did my father die?"

Diane Van Renselaar, thinking about the questions about her husband that she poses in the film: Is he a hero? Is he a murderer?

Barbara Sonneborn, as she walks around the region where her husband was killed.

Nguyen Thi Hong, when she learns that an American, Barbara Sonneborn, will be coming to see where her husband was killed. This is the area where Nguyen's National Liberation Front unit was active during the American war.

Barbara Sonneborn, as she prepares to show this film to a group of American men who fought in Vietnam. Or, as she prepares to show this film for the first time in Vietnam.

Lula Bia, wondering why her husband would not write about what he was doing in Vietnam—wondering, "What did he have to do?"

Phan Ngoc Dung, when she is told to collaborate with the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces, or her daughter and mother will be buried alive.

Any of the women interviewed in the film—American or Vietnamese—as she tries to compose a letter to her dead husband.

Any of the women interviewed in the film, visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. (Remember that the wall memorializes only the Americans who died in Vietnam.)

Another imaginative writing choice

In Regret to Inform, Barbara Sonneborn says that "I remember before Jeff left, we talked about how afraid I was that he would get killed. We never talked about the fact that he would have to kill people, maybe even a child. I realized that we hadn't ever talked honestly about what war means."

Imagine and write that honest conversation about war between Barbara and her husband Jeff. Or, if you prefer, between any of the women in the film and her husband.