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Books > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945
In 1961, the U.S. government established the first formalized
provisions for intercountry adoption just as it was expanding
America's involvement with Vietnam. Adoption became an increasingly
important portal of entry into American society for Vietnamese and
Amerasian children, raising questions about the United States'
obligations to refugees and the nature of the family during an era
of heightened anxiety about U.S. global interventions. Whether
adopting or favoring the migration of multiracial individuals,
Americans believed their norms and material comforts would salve
the wounds of a divisive war. However, Vietnamese migrants
challenged these efforts of reconciliation. As Allison Varzally
details in this book, a desire to redeem defeat in Vietnam, faith
in the nuclear family, and commitment to capitalism guided American
efforts on behalf of Vietnamese youths. By tracing the stories of
Vietnamese migrants, however, Varzally reveals that while many had
accepted separations as a painful strategy for survival in the
midst of war, most sought, and some eventually found, reunion with
their kin. This book makes clear the role of adult adoptees in
Vietnamese and American debates about the forms, privileges, and
duties of families, and places Vietnamese children at the center of
American and Vietnamese efforts to assign responsibility and find
peace in the aftermath of conflict.
Winner of the Blogger's Book Prize, 2021 Shortlisted for the
People's Book Prize, 2021 Winner of Best Literary Fiction and Best
Multicultural Fiction at American Book Fest International Book
Awards, 2021 'An epic account of Viet Nam's painful 20th-century
history, both vast in scope and intimate in its telling... Moving
and riveting.' Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
The Sympathizer Selected as a Best Book of 2020 by NB Magazine *
BookBrowse * Buzz Magazine * NPR * Washington Independent Review of
Books * Real Simple * She Reads * A Hindu's View * Thoughts from a
Page One family, two generations of women and a war that will
change their lives forever Ha Noi, 1972. Huong and her grandmother,
Tran Dieu Lan, cling to one another in their improvised shelter as
American bombs fall around them. For Tran Dieu Lan, forced to flee
the family farm with her six children decades earlier as the
Communist government rose to power in the North, this experience is
horribly familiar. Seen through the eyes of these two unforgettable
women, The Mountains Sing captures their defiance and
determination, hope and unexpected joy. Vivid, gripping, and
steeped in the language and traditions of Viet Nam, celebrated
Vietnamese poet Nguyen's richly lyrical debut weaves between the
lives of a grandmother and granddaughter to paint a unique picture
of a country pushed to breaking point, and a family who refuse to
give up. 'Devastating... From the French and Japanese occupations
to the Indochina wars, The Great Hunger, land reform and the
Vietnam War, it's a story of resilience, determination, family and
hope in a country blighted by pain.' Refinery29
A secret mission sends the author to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the
bread basket of old Indo - China. He uncovers a sophisticated enemy
supply network unknown to our military hierarchy.
Using intelligence data covertly gathered in Cambodia and
analyzed at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Virginia
they discover and destroy Vietcong forces and interdict VC supply
lines with a mixture of intrigue and romance.
A U. S. Naval story never told, complete with declassified maps
from the Office of Naval Intelligence, and illuminating pictures of
Saigon and archaic areas of the Delta taken by the author forty -
six years ago, a depiction of "old Saigon" and real relationships
between North and South Vietnam are related.
Headquartered in Saigon, the true interaction between our Navy
and Army ( MACV ) brass couched in the background of wartime
Saigon, often referred to as the "Paris of the Orient," and
Washington, D. C. is insightfully told.
Possibly there is nothing more conducive to thoughts of the
Eternal, than having one's face slammed into red, wet muck, with
explosions so close your body arcs and bounces off the ground, hot
shards burn in your flesh, and concussions are bright flashes of
dirty fire beating a tattoo on the light receptors in the backs of
your eyes. Your head aches; throbbing from visual shock waves.
Time has come to an end; there is no right, no wrong, only
whatever follows a life that is now over. The dark reaper is here.
What's it going to be like on the other side? Is there an "other
side"?
The old timers use the maxim, "There are no atheists in a
fox-hole." Possibly so; I can only give my own experience, and I
never had the opportunity to be in one. Combat aviators crash and
sometimes burn instead. But close calls almost always give rise to
interminable questions; especially when the survived experience is
seared into the human psyche.
For some, satisfactory answers never seem to come. For myself,
may I pro-offer both scorching experience, and incredible
life-lessons learned? Then, should you ever fall into similar
adventure; you man go into it better prepared than I was.
JWV
The Vietnam War is one of the defining conflicts of the twentieth
century: not only did it divide American society at every level;
the conflict also represented a key shift in Asian anti-colonialism
and shaped the course of the Cold War. Despite its political and
social importance, popular memory of the war is dominated by myths
and stereotypes. In this incisive new text, John Dumbrell debunks
popular assumptions about the war and reassesses the key political,
military and historical controversies associated with one of the
most contentious and divisive wars of recent times. Drawing upon an
extensive range of newly accessible sources, Rethinking the Vietnam
War assesses all aspects of the conflict - ranging across domestic
electoral politics in the USA to the divided communist leadership
in Hanoi and grassroots antiwar movements around the world. The
book charts the full course of the war - from the origins of
American involvement, the growing internationalization of the
conflict and the swing year of 1968 to bitter twists in Sino-Soviet
rivalry and the eventual withdrawal of American forces. Situating
the conflict within an international context, John Dumbrell also
considers competing interpretations of the war and points the way
to the resolution of debates which have divided international
opinion for decades.
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