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Books > Humanities > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War
A Guardian Best Book of the Year "A gripping study of white
power...Explosive." -New York Times "Helps explain how we got to
today's alt-right." -Terry Gross, Fresh Air The white power
movement in America wants a revolution. Returning to a country
ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win, a
small group of Vietnam veterans and disgruntled civilians who
shared their virulent anti-communism and potent sense of betrayal
concluded that waging war on their own country was justified. The
command structure of their covert movement gave women a prominent
place. They operated with discipline, made tragic headlines in
Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Oklahoma City, and are resurgent under
President Trump. Based on a decade of deep immersion in previously
classified FBI files and on extensive interviews, Bring the War
Home tells the story of American paramilitarism and the birth of
the alt-right. "A much-needed and troubling revelation... The power
of Belew's book comes, in part, from the fact that it reveals a
story about white-racist violence that we should all already know."
-The Nation "Fascinating... Shows how hatred of the federal
government, fears of communism, and racism all combined in
white-power ideology and explains why our responses to the movement
have long been woefully inadequate." -Slate "Superbly
comprehensive...supplants all journalistic accounts of America's
resurgent white supremacism." -Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
In May of 1968 in Vietnam a desperate battle took place in a remote
village. A First Air Cavalry company was on the verge of
annihilation save for the courage of Captain Jay Copley and his
men. Forty three years later Copley was awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross for his actions that day. This is the story of what
happened that day.
Capt. Betty L. Barton Christiansen, a member of the staff in the
Office of Air Force History, researched and wrote this volume. She
begins by establishing a framework of the civic action concept.
Chapter II discusses the period corresponding to the Kennedy
administration, when both government and military officials
grappled with adjusting to a "new kind of war," the origins of
counterinsurgency strategy (of which civic action was a part), and
the efforts to apply this strategy in Vietnam. The nation-building
period discussed in Chapter III, covers the period from November
1963 to July 1965, a time of great instability in South Vietnam,
and the myriad efforts by the USAF to establish unity. Although he
had promised to continue the policies of President Kennedy, Lyndon
Johnson began to "lean away" from political and other non-military
solutions to the crisis in Vietnam. This was reflected in the
attitudes of the various services toward unconventional warfare and
civic action. By 1966, while military solutions occupied center
stage, some stability had been established in Vietnam. More
attention was being paid to winning popular allegiance and USAF's
Seventh Air Force formally organized its civic action activities.
However, just as the program showed signs of success, the Tet
offensive intervened. Thus, Chapter V demonstrates that instead of
serving as advisers to the Vietnamese, the USAF civic action effort
was compelled to revert to an earlier phase of its development,
when humanitarian services were emphasized. Still, the program
recuperated completely by July 1968. In Chapter VI, the South
Vietnamese government embarked on an accelerated pacification
program to extend its control throughout the country. Civic action
constituted one part of this effort. Seventh Air Force sought to
improve training civic action personnel, increase the number of
civic action officers "in country," and obtain more resources for
the program. These refinements provided a better understanding of
civic action and showed the benefits of increased South Vietnamese
participation. By the end of 1968, pacification had become a major
part of allied strategy in Vietnam. The results of the various
changes in the civic action program are discussed and assessed.
United States Air Force, Air Force History and Museums Program.
Between 1966 and 1973, while Australian troops were fighting in
Vietnam, some 300 conscripted teachers were quietly posted to Papua
New Guinea. Colloquially known as 'Chalkies', their task was to
raise the educational level of troops of the Pacific Islands
Regiment in what turned out to be critical years leading up to the
country's independence. Drawing on the recollections of more than
70 of those National Servicemen, Dr Darryl Dymock, a former
Chalkie, tells the story of how these young teachers responded to
the challenges of a life most of them never wanted or imagined for
themselves, in an exotic land on Australia's doorstep. It's a
unique tale of the good, the bad and the unexpected, told with
flair and insight against the background of political developments
of the day. 'An educational scheme which for magnitude, scope,
intensity and enlightenment is without parallel in military
history.' - Brigadier Ernest Gould
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