The origin of this publication lies in the continuing program at all levels of command to keep Marines informed of the ways of combat and civic action in Vietnam. Not limited in any way to set methods and means, this informational effort spreads across a wide variety of projects, all aimed at making the lessons learned in Vietnam available to the Marine who is fig ting there and the Marine who is soon due to take his turn in combat. Our officers and men in Vietnam are deeply involved in efforts to improve the situation of the Vietnamese people. This publication tells the story of the first formative year of civilian-aid policies, programs, and actions of the III Marine Amphibious Force.

Every Marine who has served in Vietnam has been heavily involved in efforts to improve the situation of the Vietnamese people. The civil affairs actions of the III Marine Amphibious Force have been every bit as important as the combat actions. In this reference pamphlet, which follows an earlier history of the first year of Marine Corps civic action in Vietnam, the story of the second year of civilian aid policies, programs, and activities is related. The use of civic action by the Marine Corps to accomplish its assigned mission is nothing new. Examples of how the Marines have employed civic action in the past can be found by reading accounts of their exploits during the 1920s in Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. From these accomplishments and astute observations made by men such as Major Earl H. Ellis and others, accounts of "lessons learned" about civic action can be found recorded in the Small Wars Manual of 1940, which points out: "The motive in small wars is not material destruction. It is usually a project dealing with the social, economic, and political development of the people. It is of primary importance that the fullest benefit be derived from the psychological aspects of the situation. That implies a serious study of the people, their racial, political, religious, and mental development. By analysis and study the reasons for existing emergency may be deduced; the most practical method of solving the problem is to understand the possible approaches thereto and the repercussion to be expected from any action which may be contemplated. By this study and the ability to apply correct psychological doctrine, many pitfalls may be avoided and the success of the undertaking assured." With the basic concept of small wars in mind, the Manual of 1940 goes on to point out: "The purpose should always be to restore normal government or give the people a better government than they had before, and to estabJ.sh peace, order, and security on as permanent a basis as practicable. In so doing one should endeavor to make self-sufficient native agencies responsible for these matters. With all this accomplished, one should be able to leave the country with the lasting friendship and respect of the native population." The concept of civic action may be simply stated, but the organization and application of carrying out an effective program becomes a difficult matter. This difficulty in application can be seen through the scope and magnitude of the U. S. Marine Corps civic action effort in the I Corps area of South Vietnam. There the Marine Corps came face-to-face with the age old problem of guerrilla warfare; winning the confidence of the population which is vital in defeating the insurgent. It was in the field of winning the confidence of a large civilian population, while at the same time fighting a war, that the Marine Corps was least prepared when its troops landed in South Vietnam.

After more than four decades, the Viet Nam War continues to haunt our national memory, culture, politics, and military actions. In this probing interdisciplinary study, Susan Lyn Eastman examines a range of cultural productions-from memorials and poetry to cinematic and fictional narratives-that have tried to grapple with the psychic afterlife of traumatic violence resulting from the ill-fated conflict in Southeast Asia. Underpinning the book is the notion of "prosthetic memory," which involves memories acquired by those with no direct experience of the war, such as readers and filmgoers. Prosthetic memories, Eastman argues, refuse to relegate the war to the forgotten past and challenge the authenticity of experience, thus ensuring its continued relevance to debates over America's self-conception, specifically her coinage of the "New Vietnam Syndrome," and the country's role in world affairs when it comes to contemporary military interventions. With the notable exception of the Veterans' Memorial in Washington, Eastman's focus is on works produced from the Persian Gulf War (1990-91) through the post-9/11 "War on Terror." She looks not only at American representations of the war-from movies like Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers to poems by W. D. Ehrhart, Yusef Komunyakaa, and others-but also at novels by Vietnamese authors Bao Ninh and Huong Thu Duong. The experiences of women figure prominently in the book: Eastman devotes a chapter to the Vietnam Women's Memorial and another to Sandie Frazier's novel I Married Vietnam and Oliver Stone's film Heaven and Earth, based on memoirs by Le Ly Hayslip. And by examining Jessica Hagedorn's Dream Jungle, a novel inspired by the filming of Apocalypse Now, she considers how the war's repercussions were felt in other countries, in this case the Philippines. Her investigation of Vietnamese American authors Lan Cao, Andrew Lam, and GB Tran adds a transnational dimension to the study. With its up-to-date perspective on recent works that have heretofore received scant critical notice, this book offers new ways of thinking about one of the most polemic chapters in U.S. history. SUSAN LYN EASTMAN teaches in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.