Read this excerpt from “not a dove, but no longer a hawk.” i remember distinctly the thrill of climbing aboard a u. s. army helicopter in the cool of the morning and taking off across the rice fields with a south vietnamese battalion for a day’s jousting with the vietcong guerillas. there was hope then that the non-communist vietnamese might win their war. i was proud of the young american pilots sitting at the controls in the cockpit and i was grateful for the opportunity to witness this adventure and to report it. we are fighting now, i used to think, and some day we will triumph and this will be a better country. which choice best describes how the author builds conflict in this excerpt? he reflects back and describes his initial optimism of the war. he makes predictions about the possible outcomes of the war. he criticizes the us government for becoming involved in the war. he shares his hopes for the non-communist vietnamese.

He reflects back and describes his initial optimism of the war

Explanation:

By going through the given extract from Not a Dove, But No Longer a Hawk, particularly in times of where the speaker expresses "...We are fighting now, I used to think, and some day we will triumph...", we can come to a judgement or decision by reasoning that the way of thinking expressed by the speaker in backdating is not the same way of thinking they now expressed. The speaker begins a sentence to then provide the actual elucidation by expressing that "... I used to think..."

Thus, our CORRECT answer is "He reflects back and describes his initial optimism of the war"

b. cronkite, a trusted television personality, declared that the war was unwinnable and told the american people that the government had better find a way out

even though it went against everything the news anchors typically stood for, cronkite voiced an opinion and took a stance, telling the us that there was no way they were going to win, the war was going to end in a stalemate.