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Books > History > American history > From 1900
From Andrew Wiest, the bestselling author of The Boys of '67:
Charlie Company's War in Vietnam and one of the leading scholars in
the study of the Vietnam War, comes a frank exploration of the
human experience during the conflict. Vietnam allows the reader a
grunt's-eye-view of the conflict - from the steaming rice paddies
and swamps of the Mekong Delta, to the triple-canopy rainforest of
the Central Highlands and the forlorn Marine bases that dotted the
DMZ. It is the definitive oral history of the Vietnam War told in
the uncompromising, no-holds barred language of the soldiers
themselves.
American discussions of the Vietnam War tend to gloss over the
period from 1972 to the final North Vietnamese offensive in 1975.
But on the battlefields, these were brutal times for America's
South Vietnamese allies combined with a period of intense
diplomatic negotiations conducted under the increasing reality that
America had abandoned them. In Peace and Prisoners of War, written
in "real-time" as events occurred, Phan Nhat Nam provides a unique
window into the harsh combat that followed America's withdrawal and
the hopelessness of South Vietnam's attempt to stave off an
eventual communist victory. Few others could have written this
book. Phan Nhat Nam saw the war for years as a combat soldier in
one of South Vietnam's most respected airborne divisions, then as
the country's most respected war reporter, and for fourteen years
after the war as a prisoner in Hanoi's infamous "re-education"
camps, including eight years in solitary confinement. In the war's
aftermath anonymity became his fate both inside Vietnam and here in
America. But now one of his important works is available, enhanced
by an introduction by Senator James Webb, one of the most decorated
Marines in the Vietnam War. Webb describes this revealing work as
"an unvarnished observation frozen in time, devoid of spin or false
retrospective wisdom." Phan's reporting makes clear the sense of
doom that foretold the tragic events to come, on the battlefields
and in the frustration of negotiating with an implacable enemy
while abandoned by its foremost ally. Readers will find this book
both enlightening and disturbing, its observations until now
overlooked in most histories of the Vietnam War.
Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968 is the long-awaited
sequel to the immensely influential Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam
War, 1954-1965. Like its predecessor, this book overturns the
conventional wisdom using a treasure trove of new sources, many of
them from the North Vietnamese side. Rejecting the standard
depiction of U.S. military intervention as a hopeless folly, it
shows America's war to have been a strategic necessity that could
have ended victoriously had President Lyndon Johnson heeded the
advice of his generals. In light of Johnson's refusal to use
American ground forces beyond South Vietnam, General William
Westmoreland employed the best military strategy available. Once
the White House loosened the restraints on Operation Rolling
Thunder, American bombing inflicted far greater damage on the North
Vietnamese supply system than has been previously understood, and
it nearly compelled North Vietnam to capitulate. The book
demonstrates that American military operations enabled the South
Vietnamese government to recover from the massive instability that
followed the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem. American
culture sustained public support for the war through the end of
1968, giving South Vietnam realistic hopes for long-term survival.
America's defense of South Vietnam averted the imminent fall of key
Asian nations to Communism and sowed strife inside the Communist
camp, to the long-term detriment of America's great-power rivals,
China and the Soviet Union.
"He seems to have brought to this book the ear of a musician and the eye of a painter . . . the premier war correspondence of Vietnam."--Washington Post. "The best book I have ever read on men and war in our time."--John le Carre." . . . Dispatches puts the rest of us in the shade."--Hunter S. Thompson.
Studies of air combat in the Vietnam War inevitably focus on the
MiG-killing fighter engagements, B-52 onslaughts or tactical
strikes on the Hanoi region. However, underlying all these was the
secretive 'electron war' in which highly-skilled electronic warfare
officers duelled with Soviet and North Vietnamese radar operators
in the attempt to enable US strike forces to reach their targets
with minimal losses. Orbiting at the edge of heavily-defended
territory, the vulnerable EB-66s identified and jammed the enemy's
radar frequencies with electronic emissions and chaff to protect
the American bombers. Their hazardous missions resulted in six
combat losses, four of them to SA-2 missiles and one to a MiG-21,
and they became prime targets for North Vietnamese defences when
their importance was realised. This illustrated study focuses on
the oft-overlooked B-66 series, examining their vital contributions
to the Vietnam War and the bravery of those who operated them in
some of the most challenging situations imaginable. Author Peter E.
Davies also explores how the technology and tactics devised during
the period made possible the development of the EF-111A Raven, an
invaluable component of the Desert Storm combat scenario over Iraq
and Kuwait in 1991, and the US Navy's EA-6B Prowler, which entered
service towards the end of the Vietnam War.
This is the story of the friendships that defined one of America's
most beloved Presidents. Chris Matthews, who has been following and
studying the Kennedys most of his life, has interviewed President
Kennedy's closest confidants - family, friends, and those who
served with him--to create a moving portrait of a man many loved
but few really understood. These friends were with Jack Kennedy as
he took surprising risks, struggled with chronic illness, and
repeatedly confronted "the thin membrane between life and death."
As Matthews describes it, Jack Kennedy was a rebel, an adventurer,
and a great enjoyer of life precisely because he understood its
fragility. Being with Jack Kennedy was great fun for his friends.
Now readers will share in that experience.
The tactics and technologies of modern air assault - vertical
deployment of troops by helicopter or similar means - emerged
properly during the 1950s in Korea and Algeria. Yet it was during
the Vietnam War that helicopter air assault truly came of age and
by 1965 the United States had established fully airmobile
battalions, brigades, and divisions, including the 1st Cavalry
Division (Airmobile).This division brought to Vietnam a
revolutionary new speed and dexterity in battlefield tactics, using
massed helicopters to liberate its soldiers from traditional
overland methods of combat manoeuvre. However, the communist troops
adjusted their own thinking to handle airmobile assaults.
Specializing in ambush, harassment, infiltration attacks, and
small-scale attrition, the North Vietnamese operated with light
logistics and a deep familiarity with the terrain. They optimized
their defensive tactics to make landing zones as hostile as
possible for assaulting US troops, and from 1966 worked to draw
them into 'Hill Traps', extensive kill zones specially prepared for
defence -in -depth. By the time the 1st Cavalry Division
(Airmobile) withdrew from Vietnam in 1972, it had suffered more
casualties than any other US Army division. Featuring specially
commissioned artwork, archive photographs, and full-colour battle
maps, this study charts the evolution of US airmobile tactics
pitted against North Vietnamese countermeasures. The two sides are
analysed in detail, including training, logistics, weaponry, and
organization.
Western historians have long speculated about Chinese military
intervention in the Vietnam War. It was not until recently,
however, that newly available international archival materials, as
well as documents from China, have indicated the true extent and
level of Chinese participation in the conflict of Vietnam. For the
first time in the English language, this book offers an overview of
the operations and combat experience of more than 430,000 Chinese
troops in Indochina from 1968-73. The Chinese Communist story from
the "other side of the hill" explores one of the missing pieces to
the historiography of the Vietnam War. The book covers the
chronological development and Chinese decision-making by examining
Beijing's intentions, security concerns, and major reasons for
entering Vietnam to fight against the U.S. armed forces. It
explains why China launched a nationwide movement, in Mao Zedong's
words, to "assist Vietnam and resist America" in 1965-72. It
details PLA foreign war preparation, training, battle planning and
execution, tactical decisions, combat problem solving, political
indoctrination, and performance evaluations through the Vietnam
War. International Communist forces, technology, and logistics
proved to be the decisive edge that enabled North Vietnam to
survive the U.S. Rolling Thunder bombing campaign and helped the
Viet Cong defeat South Vietnam. Chinese and Russian support
prolonged the war, making it impossible for the United States to
win. With Russian technology and massive Chinese intervention, the
NVA and NLF could function on both conventional and unconventional
levels, which the American military was not fully prepared to face.
Nevertheless, the Vietnam War seriously tested the limits of the
communist alliance. Rather than improving Sino-Soviet relations,
aid to North Vietnam created a new competition as each communist
power attempted to control Southeast Asian communist movement.
China shifted its defense and national security concerns from the
U.S. to the Soviet Union.
Martin Bowman's revealing narrative of the aerial conflict in
South-East Asia, 1965-1972, which had its beginnings in 1 November
1955, engulfed Vi tnam, Laos, and Cambodia and only ended with the
fall of S ig n on 30 April 1975 has resulted from decades of
painstaking fact-finding as well as detailed correspondence with
surviving aircrew incorporating a wealth of first-hand accounts,
some never told before, supported by dozens of rare and unusual
photographs. Together they describe in adrenalin-pumping accuracy
the furious aerial battles of a long suffering and bitter war in
South-East Asia and in particular the frontline action in the skies
over Vietnam that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
They too will find a new and useful perspective on a conflict that
cost the Americans 58,022 dead and brought the USA worldwide
condemnation for its role in Southeast Asia. Nearly 2,500 Americans
remained missing'. This work serves as a tribute to the courageous
pilots who flew the F-104 Starfighter in the Widowmakers' war and
B-52 bomber crews on Arc Light' Linebacker II' strikes and the
eleven days of Christmas which ultimately ended the aerial campaign
against North Vi tnam. And as well, strike aircraft such as the
USAF F-4 Phantom and the F-105 Thud' and the US Navy carrier-borne
jet and propeller-driven strike aircraft and the Americans' sworn
enemy, the North Vi?tnamese MiG fighters, feature large, from
Rolling Thunder' onwards. Equally, the Hueys and Chinooks and other
notable work horses that participated on combat assaults or Ash
& Trash missions and transports like the C-130 Herky-Bird',
C-123 Provider, Caribou and Vi tnamese C-47 - the Haulers On Call'
- that performed sterling service during the gruelling air campaign
are not forgotten either. Here, at first hand, are their stories
which also include some of the less publicised American forces like
the pilots and crewmen who flew the Bird Dogs and all manner of
helicopters as well as the largely forgotten Australian and New
Zealand Air Force units and the Anzac Battalions whose valuable
contributions are too often overlooked. So too is the cost in human
misery, death and destruction.
During the Vietnam War, the United States embarked on an unusual
crusade on behalf of the government of South Vietnam. Known as the
pacification program, it sought to help South Vietnam's government
take root and survive as an independent, legitimate entity by
defeating communist insurgents and promoting economic development
and political reforms. In this book, Richard Hunt provides the
first comprehensive history of America's "battle for hearts and
minds," the distinctive blending of military and political
approaches that took aim at the essence of the struggle between
North and South Vietnam. Hunt concentrates on the American role,
setting pacification in the larger political context of nation
building. He describes the search for the best combination of
military and political action, incorporating analysis of the
controversial Phoenix program, and illuminates the difficulties the
Americans encountered with their sometimes reluctant ally. The
author explains how hard it was to get the U.S. Army involved in
pacification and shows the struggle to yoke divergent organizations
(military, civilian, and intelligence agencies) to serve one common
goal. The greatest challenge of all was to persuade a surrogate-the
Saigon government-to carry out programs and to make reforms
conceived of by American officials. The book concludes with a
careful assessment of pacification's successes and failures. Would
the Saigon government have flourished if there had been more time
to consolidate the gains of pacification? Or was the regime so
fundamentally flawed that its demise was preordained by its
internal contradictions? This pathbreaking book offers startling
and provocative answers to these and other important questions
about our Vietnam experience.
And Bring the Darkness Home is a haunting exploration of how the
mental scars of war destroyed an international cricket career, tore
a family apart and left destitute a man who seemed to have it all.
Tony Dell was the only Test cricketer to fight in the Vietnam War.
His journey to the summit of the game, playing for Australia
against England in the Ashes, was as unlikely and meteoric as any
in cricket history. His descent was painful and harrowing. It was
in his mid-60s, living in his mother's garage, that he learned the
truth about what had led him on a path of self-destruction. A
diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder allowed him to piece
together the ruins of his life and also to search for answers, for
himself and the thousands of other sufferers. The restlessness and
urgency that once drove him to the top of the game was turned on
authorities who refused to learn the lessons from history. PTSD
robbed Tony Dell of memories of his playing career and left a
palpable sense of loss. It also gave him a life-changing mission.
****** THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE MAJOR MOVIE STARRING ZAC EFRON,
RUSSELL CROWE AND BILL MURRAY 'You will laugh and cry, but you will
not be sorry that you read this rollicking story.' - Malachy
McCourt 'An unforgettable wild right from start to finish.' - John
Bruning, New York Times bestselling author of Indestructible
'Donohue's memoir is a fascinating, vividly narrated recollection
of the chaos of the Vietnam war.' - Publishers Weekly A CRAZY
ADVENTURE IN A CRAZY WAR. Following a rowdy night at his local New
York bar, ex-Marine and merchant seaman "Chick" Donohue decides to
complete a legendary mission. He will travel to Vietnam, track down
his buddies in combat and bring them a cold beer from home. It'll
be the greatest beer run ever! Now, decades on from 1968, he
recounts the remarkable true story of how he actually did it. Armed
with Irish luck and a backpack full of alcohol, Chick works his
passage to Vietnam, lands in Qui Nhon and begins to track down his
serving friends one by one. But things quickly go awry, and as he
talks his way through checkpoints and unwittingly into dangerous
situations, Chick sees a lot more of the war than he ever
anticipated - spending a terrifying time in the Demilitarized Zone
and getting caught up in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. With
indomitable spirit, Chick survives on his wits, but what he finds
in Vietnam comes as a shock. By the end of his epic adventure,
battered and exhausted, Chick finds himself questioning why his
friends were ever led into the war in the first place.
Now in its second edition, Grunts: The American Combat Soldier in
Vietnam provides a fresh approach to understanding the American
combat soldier's experience in Vietnam by focusing on the
day-to-day experiences of front-line troops. The book delves into
the Vietnam combat soldier's experience, from the decision to join
the army, life in training and combat, and readjusting to civilian
life with memories of war. By utilizing letters, oral histories,
and memoirs of actual veterans, Kyle Longley and Jacqueline Whitt
offer a powerful insight into the minds and lives of the 870,000
"grunts" who endured the controversial war. Important topics such
as class, race, and gender are examined, enabling students to
better analyze the social dynamics during this divisive period of
American history. In addition to an updated introduction and
epilogue, the new edition includes expanded sections on military
chaplains, medics, and the moral injury of war. A new timeline
provides details of major events leading up to, during, and after
the war. A truly comprehensive picture of the Vietnam experience
for soldiers, this volume is a valuable and unique addition to
military history courses and classes on the Vietnam War and 1960s
America.
In the decades after World War II, tens of thousands of soldiers
and civilian contractors across Asia and the Pacific found work
through the U.S. military. Recently liberated from colonial rule,
these workers were drawn to the opportunities the military offered
and became active participants of the U.S. empire, most centrally
during the U.S. war in Vietnam. Simeon Man uncovers the
little-known histories of Filipinos, South Koreans, and Asian
Americans who fought in Vietnam, revealing how U.S. empire was
sustained through overlapping projects of colonialism and race
making. Through their military deployments, Man argues, these
soldiers took part in the making of a new Pacific world-a
decolonizing Pacific-in which the imperatives of U.S. empire
collided with insurgent calls for decolonization, producing often
surprising political alliances, imperial tactics of suppression,
and new visions of radical democracy.
A history of the Armenian massacres of the 1890s and the genocide of 1915 also traces America's effort to assist the Armenian people, citing the contributions of such figures as Julia Ward Howe, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, and Clara Barton.
The fierce close combat in the remote areas of South Vietnam's
northern provinces in 1967-1968 - the battles of Hiep Duc, March
11, Nhi Ha, and Hill 406 - has been a strangely underreported slice
of the Vietnam War. Through the Valley brings those battles into
sharp focus, chronicling the efforts of the proud units of the
Americal Division and the 196th Light Infantry Brigade against a
stubborn enemy in long-forgotten villages and on torturous hills.
Humphries draws on both his own combat experience and the
eyewitness reports of former veterans, and a multitude of US Army
and Marine Corps documents to create a powerful reconstruction of
combat in Vietnam. He also pieces together declassified information
on the opposing North Vietnamese and Vietcong units, tracing the
troops' actions and putting a face on an otherwise anonymous enemy.
Diary of A Young Artist is a beautiful reproduction of the diary
notes and sketches of Vietnamese war artist Pham Thanh Tam, created
in the Vietminh trenches while on the front line of the decisive
battle of Dien Bien Phu.
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