The Vietnam Service Ribbon depicted above was worn by over 3 million U.S. Servicemen between 1956 and 1973. Over 58,000 of them were killed in action, and thousands more suffered wounds and other psychological traumas.
The Vietnam War has justifiably been called America's longest war, even though the exact start date is difficult to determine; in any case, it was America's most frustrating war, and the first war American ever lost, at least in the opinion of many Americans.
The legacy of Vietnam is still cloudy, and some of the most penetrating works on the Vietnam War have come out in the past few years. Vietnam has also been called America's first television war, where scenes from the battlefields were piped into out livingrooms night after night. Movies and television, however, have since the end of the war tended to warp our perceptions of that time, as scores of battle-fatigued, drug-addicted veterans have paraded across our screens.
These pages, whose author is a Vietnam veteran, will try to address that bitter experience with fariness and compassion for all involved, Vietnamese and American, hawks and doves, those who served and those who stood and waited.
Links
Stanley Karnow's “Vietnam: A History” tells the story of the Vietnam war from the ground up. Karnow spent a great deal of time in Vietnam and went back several times after the war to update his knowledge of the war. His discussion with Communists delusioned with their incompetent governance of that unfortunate country is revealing. Karnow's work, basis for the PBS series on Vietnam, is an excelletn place to start.
Jim Webb served with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. His “Fields of Fire” is one of the best novels about the Marine infantry troops who slogged theri way through the rice paddies and jungles.
More Books about Vietnam
Academic American Home | Updated April 21, 2008