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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern 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.
In 1968, at the age of 22, Karl Marlantes abandoned his Oxford
University scholarship to sign up for active service with the US
Marine Corps in Vietnam. Pitched into a war that had no defined
military objective other than kill ratios and body counts, what he
experienced over the next thirteen months in the jungles of South
East Asia shook him to the core. But what happened when he came
home covered with medals was almost worse. It took Karl four
decades to come to terms with what had really happened, during the
course of which he painstakingly constructed a fictionalized
version of his war, MATTERHORN, which has subsequently been hailed
as the definitive Vietnam novel.
WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GO TO WAR takes us back to Vietnam, but this
time there is no fictional veil. Here are the hard-won truths that
underpin MATTERHORN: the author's real-life experiences behind the
book's indelible scenes. But it is much more than this. It is part
exorcism of Karl's own experiences of combat, part confession, part
philosophical primer for the young man about to enter combat. It It
is also a devastatingly frank answer to the questions '"What is it
like to be a soldier?"' "What is it like to face death?"' and
"'What is it like to kill someone?"'
OFFICIAL TIE-IN TO THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE 12 STRONG, STARRING
CHRIS HEMSWORTH On September 11th, 2001 the world watched in
terror. On September 12th, 2001 they volunteered to fight. Twelve
soldiers gave us a reason to hope. THE DECLASSIFIED TRUE STORY OF
THE HORSE SOLDIERS. This is the dramatic account of a small band of
Special Forces soldiers who entered Afghanistan immediately
following September 11, 2001 and, riding to war on horses, defeated
the Taliban. Outnumbered 40 to 1, they capture the strategic Afghan
city of Mazar-e Sharif, and thereby effectively defeat the Taliban
throughout the rest of the country. They are welcomed as liberators
as they ride on horses into the city, the streets thronged with
Afghans overjoyed that the Taliban have been kicked out. The
soldiers rest easy, as they feel they have accomplished their
mission. And then, the action takes a wholly unexpected turn.
During a surrender of Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers are
ambushed by the would-be P.O.W.s and, still dangerously
outnumbered, they must fight for their lives in the city's ancient
fortress known as Qala-I Janghi, or the House of War . . . Praise
for Doug Stanton:- 'A thrilling action ride of a book.' New York
Times 'As gripping as the most intricately-plotted thriller.' Vince
Flynn 'A riveting story of the brave and resourceful American
warriors who rode into Afghanistan after 9/11 and waged war against
Al Qaeda.' Tom Brokaw 'This reads like a cross between an
old-fashioned Western and a modern spy thriller.' Parade Magazine
'Spellbinding...action-packed prose. The book reads more like a
novel.' USA Today
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