Scorned by allies and enemies alike, the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam (ARVN) was one of the most maligned fighting forces in
modern history. Cobbled together by U.S. advisers from the remnants
of the French-inspired Vietnamese National Army, it was effectively
pushed aside by the Americans in 1965. When toward the end of the
war the army was compelled to reassert itself, it was too little,
too late for all concerned.
In this first in-depth history of the ARVN from 1955 to 1975,
Robert Brigham takes readers into the barracks and training centers
of the ARVN to plumb the hearts and souls of these forgotten
soldiers. Through his masterly command of Vietnamese-language
sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, oral interviews, and more-he
explores the lives of ordinary men, focusing on troop morale and
motivation within the context of traditional Vietnamese society and
a regime that made impossible demands upon its soldiers.
Offering keen insights into ARVN veterans' lives as both
soldiers and devout kinsmen, Brigham reveals what they thought
about their American allies, their Communist enemies, and their own
government. He describes the conscription policy that forced these
men into the army for indefinite periods with a shameful lack of
training and battlefield preparation and examines how soldiers felt
about barracks life in provinces far from their homes. He also
explores the cultural causes of the ARVN's estrangement from the
government and describes key military engagements that defined the
achievements, failures, and limitations of the ARVN as a fighting
force. Along the way, he explodes some of the myths about ARVN
soldiers' cowardice, corruption, and lack of patriotism that have
made the ARVN the scapegoat for America's defeat.
Ultimately, as Brigham shows, without any real political
commitment to a divided Vietnam or vision for the future, the ARVN
retreated into a subnational culture that redefined the war's
meaning: saving their families. His fascinating book gives us a
fuller understanding not only of the Vietnam War but also of the
problems associated with U.S. nation building through military
intervention.
General
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