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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War
Here is the true story of Rob Hardy, who in the 1960's was
attempting to escape from an abusive father and street gangs. Lured
by the trapping of Marine dress blues, he joined the United States
Marine Corps. Get into formation and let Rob Hardy, take you on his
first of two tours of duty: "From the Streets of Chicago, to the
Jungles of Vietnam."
The Marines in Vietnam, 1954-1973, An Anthology and Annotated
Bibliography, based on articles that appeared in the U.S. Naval
Institute Proceedings, Naval Review, and Marine Corps Gazette, has
served well for 14 years as an interim reference on the Vietnam
War. It has both complemented and supplemented our official
histories on Marine operations in Vietnam. Since its publication in
1974, however, events in Vietnam and the appearance of additional
significant articles in the three periodicals have made both the
anthology and bibliography somewhat dated. This expanded edition
extends the coverage of the anthology to 1975 and the entries in
the bibliography to 1984.
Established during World War II to advise the President regarding
the strategic direction of the armed forces of the United States,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) continued in existence after the
war and, as military advisers and planners, have played a
significant role in the development of national policy. Knowledge
of JCS relations with the President, the National Security Council,
and the Secretary of Defense in the years since World War II is
essential to an understanding of their current work. An account of
their activity in peacetime and during times of crisis provides,
moreover, an important series of chapters in the military history
of the United States. For these reasons, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
directed that an official history be written for the record. Its
value for instructional purposes, for the orientation of officers
newly assigned to the JCS organization and as a source of
information for staff studies, will be readily recognized. Written
to complement The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy series,
The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam focuses upon the
activities of the Joint Chiefs that were concerned with events in
Vietnam during these years. The nature of the activities of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and the sensitivity of the sources used
caused the volume to be written originally as a classified
document. Classification designations are those that appeared in
the classified publication. This volume describes those JCS
activities related to developments in Vietnam during the period
1964-1966. At times, the role of the Joint Chiefs in events in
Vietnam may appear to be submerged in the description of foreign
relations, politics, economics, and other areas having little to do
with military matters. However, developments in these areas provide
essential background for understanding the military activity of the
1960s. Originally a collaborative effort of the entire Historical
Section, JCS, the classified publication on which this volume is
based was written by Mr. Willard J. Webb. The current version has
been updated by Dr. Graham A. Cosmas. Dr. John F. Shortal edited
the resulting manuscript; Ms. Susan Carroll compiled the Index; and
Ms. Penny Norman prepared the manuscript for publication. The
volume was reviewed for declassification by the appropriate US
Government departments and agencies and cleared for release. The
volume is an official publication of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but,
inasmuch as the text has not been considered by the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, it must be construed as descriptive only and does not
constitute the official position of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on
any subject.
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.
The Air Force History and Museums Program has prepared accounts of
the United States Air Force and the war in Southeast Asia according
to a design that reflects the compartmentalized nature of the
conflict itself. Besides the special studies like the illustrated
history (The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973:
An Illustrated Account) and the monographs, some of them quite
lengthy, on topics like rescue or tactical airlift, the Air Force
history program has published volumes on the air wars over South
Vietnam and Cambodia, North Vietnam, and Laos. This book is the
last of three recounting operations in Laos, one of them dealing
with the war in the northern part of that kingdom and the other two
with aerial interdiction in the south. This history covers the
critical years from 1968 through 1972, when the Air Force carried
out the Commando Hunt series of aerial interdiction campaigns
against the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos, trying, in
conjunction with ground actions, to use air power and electronics
to impede the movement of men and supplies from North Vietnam to
the battlefields of South Vietnam. Conducted during the time the
United States was withdrawing ground forces and turning the war
over to the greatly strengthened armed forces of South Vietnam,
Commando Hunt sought to prevent a North Vietnamese offensive that
would take advantage of the declining U. S. presence. That attack
did not come until March 1972 and not only stopped short of
overrunning South Vietnam, but also was a setback for the Hanoi
government and a cease-fire agreement. The invasion, however,
signaled the end of Commando Hunt, for the South Vietnamese did not
take over the electronic surveillance network-with its computer,
sensors, and communications equipment-that made the series of
aerial interdiction operations possible. "The real war," said Walt
Whitman, "will never get in the books." Yet, even though they
cannot conjure up the realities of death and suffering, heroism and
sacrifice, books like this have a purpose, offering the counsel of
the past to help today's policy makers. What useful principle can
they derive from an account of the events of a few years in a
unique part of the world? Stripped of all that links it to a
particular time, place, and strategy, this narrative warns them
that a determined enemy may be able to use geography, climate, and
ingenuity to blunt the cutting edge of technology. Against such a
foe, what seems flawless in theory or has succeeded brilliantly in
tests may fail in actual combat, but what fails on one battlefield
may succeed years later on another. In the last analysis, military
genius does not reside in compiling lists of lessons learned, but
in analyzing the past and applying its distilled wisdom in new,
perhaps unique, circumstances.
Air America was a civilian airline doing paramilitary work for the
CIA in Laos from the late 1950's to mid 1970. The most shot at
airline in world history with the motto "Anything, Anytime,
Anywhere, Professionally" provided logistical and humanitarian
support to the Lao government in its civil war against the
communist Pathet Lao. The airline was also called upon to rescue US
Military personnel shot down in Laos and North Vietnam during the
Vietnam War. This book is a collection of the up close and personal
stories and photographs of the helicopter aircrews flying out of
Udorn, Thailand, into Laos on a daily basis. These are true
stories, told in their own words, about the danger, humor and
atrocities of war.
The war in Southeast Asia lasted for nine long years and proved to
be the most controversial of all U.S. wars. This books presents
five case studies conducted during that war involving three
missions of air power - interdiction, close air support and
strategic bombardment. A major purpose of this book is to pull
together these previously classified studies under one cover, set
to a central theme based on lessons learned (and relearned) in
Southeast Asia. Air university Press, United States Air Force.
Established during World War II to advise the President regarding
the strategic direction of the armed forces of the United States,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) continued in existence after the
war, and as military advisers and planners, have played a
significant role in the development of national policy. Knowledge
of JCS relations with the President, the National Security Council,
and the Secretary of Defense in the years since World War II is
essential to an understanding of their current work. An account of
their activity in peacetime and during crises provides, moreover,
an important series of chapters in the military history of the
United States. For these reasons, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
directed that an official history be written for the record. Its
value for instructional purposes, for the orientation of officers
newly assigned to the JCS organization and as a source of
information for staff studies, will be readily recognized. Written
to complement The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy series,
The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam focuses upon the
activities of the Joint Chiefs that were concerned with the
conflicts in Indochina and later Vietnam. The nature of the
activities of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the sensitivity of the
sources used caused the volumes of the series to be written as
classified documents. Classification designations in the footnotes
are those that appeared in the classified publication. This
three-part volume describes JCS activities related to the Vietnam
War during the period 1960-1968. Originally, the volume was written
as a collaborative effort by members of the Historical Division;
each part is being updated and published separately. In the
preface, Dr. Graham Cosmas discusses the general nature of the
revisions that he made in updating the text. Dr. David Armstrong
edited the revised version of Part Three; Ms. Susan Carroll
compiled the Index; and Ms. Penny Norman prepared the manuscript
for publication. The volume was reviewed for declassification by
the appropriate US Government departments and agencies and cleared
for release. The volume is an official publication of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff but, inasmuch as the text has not been considered
by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it must be construed as descriptive
only and does not constitute the official position of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff on any subject.
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Aeroscouts
(Paperback)
Charles Holley
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R477
R416
Discovery Miles 4 160
Save R61 (13%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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"Greyhound in Vietnam," Richard M. Bush, Senior Chief Petty
Officer, United States Navy (Ret.): Richard Bush served as crew on
several United States Navy warships. Favored among them is USS
Lynde McCormick (DDG 8); the "Best DDG." "Greyhound in Vietnam"
manuscript evolved from a near- daily sea-journal penned aboard
McCormick while Richard was Gunfire Control Technician Petty
Officer Second Class, USN. Navy destroyer McCormick, a "greyhound,"
engaged a Western Pacific Ocean deployment, 1 October 1971 through
10 March 1972 (5 1/3 Months; 161 days). McCormick operated
southeast Asia, offshore and in river deltas, in support of United
States and Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam. Too, McCormick
operated close inshore, Gulf of Tonkin, in support of U. S. pilots
who flew missions against well defended North Vietnam
shore-targets.
Reverberations of the Vietnam War can still be felt in American
culture. The post-9/11 United States forays into the Middle East,
the invasion and occupation of Iraq especially, have evoked
comparisons to the nearly two decades of American presence in Viet
Nam (1954-1973). That evocation has renewed interest in the Vietnam
War, resulting in the re-printing of older War narratives and the
publication of new ones. This volume tracks those echoes as they
appear in American, Vietnamese American, and Vietnamese war
literature, much of which has joined the American literary canon.
Using a wide range of theoretical approaches, these essays analyze
works by Michael Herr, Bao Ninh, Duong Thu Huong, Bobbie Ann Mason,
le thi diem thuy, Tim O'Brien, Larry Heinemann, and newcomers Denis
Johnson, Karl Marlantes, and Tatjana Solis. Including an historical
timeline of the conflict and annotated guides to further reading,
this is an essential guide for students and readers of contemporary
American fiction
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