Yet, in movies and the media, they weren’t positively portrayed.” Luong feels the suggestion that somehow they didn’t do their part or were a bunch of cowards who didn’t defend their homeland, is very painful to his father’s generation. America has always regarded the Vietnam War as its own personal horror story. It didn’t want to risk being accused of a lack of patriotism, so it avoided putting out films critical of the war until it was over,” Ross said. There’s easy listening and uneasy listening, and we have the hardest time doing the uneasy listening to the voices that don’t flatter us, that don’t self-justify us. The birth of his oldest daughter in 1983 added another perspective — one of empathy. ... 1964 in a bloody battle along with three other brave American advisors serving with the Vietnamese … One day, I saw my neighbor Jerry slowly climbing out from somewhere below his backyard. The Vietnamese refugee success stories are plentiful, but let’s never forget about those who were not so fortunate. But that’s what we do in the humanities. While such images fueled the anti-war movement in the U.S., they served to reinforce Luong’s determination to continue his family’s legacy of military service. “The World War II movies I’d watched weren’t horrific, and it was clear who was the good guy and who was the bad guy,” said Nguyen, Aerol Arnold Chair of English and associate professor of English and American studies and ethnicity. The deaths of 3 million Vietnamese and 3 million Cambodians and Laotians during and after the Vietnam War represent horror on a grand scale. If you are a veteran, know a veteran, or are related to a veteran, and would like to place a personal story on the Online Veterans Tribute, please mail it to: American Veterans Center 1100 N. Glebe Rd. A contentious election. Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images. Vietnam War Story: How This Cellar Saved My Friend. The Chinese dubbed the American unit, “Golden Dragons,” because of their fierce fighting spirit. Well, that's one side of the story. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1972 VIETNAM WAR VIETNAMESE TROOPS ON DUTY DURING THE CONFLICT ORG VTG Photo Y34 at the best online prices at eBay! October 18, 2020 — 24 Comments. I was 10 to 15 years old when I first saw these types of images, and they were devastating for me. Here's what he told us. The cover of Life magazine from April 7, 1967, featured Hanoi residents taking shelter underground during an air raid. A Vietnam War Story. It took a little time, but I think we’ve recovered from Vietnam and that, demonstrably, our men and women across the armed forces have done a great job in the last decade or more of war.”. Today, despite our perception that we are more knowledgeable about current events thanks to 24/7 internet news access, Nguyen says censorship of war-zone images has increased, leaving us paradoxically sometimes less well informed than we were during the Vietnam era. October 4, 2020 — 11 Comments. It was a war movie that was horrific, and that placed me at the center of that horror. The Fog of War: The Vietnamese View of the Ia Drang Battle: ... Navy flight training video during the Vietnam War. The already exploded bombs alone had caused enough suffering. This, he argues, is illustrated in presidential speeches, from President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s to President Barack Obama today. The Chinese dubbed the American unit, “Golden Dragons,” because of their fierce fighting spirit. Vietnam War Books: Nonfiction An Intimate History of Killing by Joanna Bourke. “The bipartisan recasting of American memory is not simply to focus on American soldiers,” Nguyen argues, “but to turn the memory of what was at best an ambivalent war for Americans into one that is now a war of noble intentions and human failure, rather than one of atrocity and racism as it was portrayed by the anti-war movement in the 1960s and 1970s.”. “I was completely shaped by responding to Vietnam and it still affects how I teach today,” he said. Haywood T. "The Kid" Kirkland from Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans (1984) In an article in the New York Times Magazine on March 24, 1968, reporter Sol Stern observed, "In Vietnam between 1961 and 1964, Negroes accounted for more than 20 percent of Army fatalities, even though they represented only 12.6 percent of Army … “Censorship is much more pervasive now so the media simply doesn’t have access to U.S. military operations in the same way American and foreign media did in Vietnam,” Nguyen said. As an American soldier and a former Vietnamese refugee, seeing images of the war triggered conflicting emotions. When they landed on the USS Hancock the ship was so big, Luong remembers, that he and his siblings were disoriented. “Covering up” is not a new concept where Vietnam is concerned, argues Steven Ross, professor of history and director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at USC Dornsife. My father... Jack V Sturiano describes his ‘Forrest Gump moment’:. The traditional historiography of the Vietnam War often avoids reckoning with the postwar history of the Hanoi regime and its human consequences, and Nguyen’s stories are a useful corrective. These stories from the Vietnam War will break your heart. “My sisters and I were scared to death. One I particularly remember showed a woman weeping over the remains of her husband that were in a small garbage bag.”. A Vietnam War Story. My 10-year-old mind had no way to make sense of drugs, psychedelic rock, murder, atrocity, massacre and Playboy bunnies. (MORE: Iconic war images shown for first time in Vietnam) The rampage now known as the My Lai massacre … October 18, 2020 — 24 Comments. “Our media is not as willing to show the ugly, tragic, atrocious side of war. Podcast: Mother Nature and the Infantry Soldier. I would like to say a special thanks to everyone who helped me turn this documentary into a reality, from the people who graciously shared their stories, pictures, and poetry; to the friends who helped me translate. “That was going to be my subject, not just the war itself, but how the war was regarded.”. The story of Linda Thong, while horrific, is not unusual. “We asked our father ‘Dad, where are we?’ He said ‘We’re on a U.S. carrier.’ We said ‘What does that mean?’ And he replied, ‘It means nothing in the world can harm you now.’”. This year will go down as one of the most troubled — and inspirational — in history. The Incredible Story Behind a Haunting Picture of a POW in Vietnam Captured U.S. pilot major Dewey Waddell is guarded by a militiawoman with a gun and a bayonet on a rice field. 4 Creepy Ghost Stories From the Vietnam War Saigon's haunted apartments. The Vietnam War was the prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States (with the aid of the South Vietnamese) attempting to prevent the spread of communism. As his protagonist puts it: “This was the first war where the losers would write history instead of the victors.” For not only America’s understanding of the Vietnam War but the world’s perception of the conflict has been shaped almost exclusively by the viewpoints of Americans — by American soldiers, politicians and journalists, and by the makers of American culture — while Vietnamese perception of the most deadly combat in its history has largely been ignored. True stories of the Vietnam War. Americans are still arguing about the Vietnam War, and the arguments today have changed very little from those that raged when the conflict was in full swing: Was it a good or a bad war? My Worst Day in Vietnam. “Looking back, I realized that rage had rendered it impossible for me to be an American. War Stories on DVD as told at the 2006 VHPA Reunion. The question of perspective lies at the heart of Nguyen’s novel and is a vital one for anyone seeking to establish a more balanced, less-biased truth about the 20-year conflict. The Fog of War: The Vietnamese View of the Ia Drang Battle: ... Navy flight training video during the Vietnam War. “So it’s very hard to recast it as a noble struggle between people with different ideologies because there was nothing noble about that war.”. “I was struck by Gen. William Westmoreland’s statements in the documentary that ‘Orientals’ don’t have the same respect for life as Americans. These books do. One day, I saw my neighbor Jerry slowly climbing out from somewhere below his backyard. “That hurts even more than the sense of abandonment,” he said. For me, the seed of that came from Vietnam.”. “You can’t take anything away from those men and women who fought over there. Nguyen, however, believes that the scars left by Vietnam, both in America’s psyche and on its soul, have yet to heal. See the Jet Age’s lasting influence. Stories from Vietnam. Former Vietnamese Soldier Shares His War Stories for Friendship. “There were platitudes about caring for people in crisis, but the Kurdi image had limited resonance in American policy debates, despite the fact that it circulated so widely in the U.S.,” she said. Although their childhoods and backgrounds could not have been more different, Thomas Gustafson, associate professor of English and American studies and ethnicity, shares with Nguyen a youth so profoundly impregnated by the Vietnam War that he, too, cites the conflict as the greatest influence in shaping his scholarship. In 1960, counter-guerrilla forces of South Vietnamese Army light infantry Ranger companies were created. Vietnam, Past Is Prologue, probes the legacies of the Vietnam War and its aftermath through maps, videos, and paintings that highlight the voices and stories of former Vietnamese refugees. Ehrhart, left, in October 1967 near Quang Tri, Vietnam, and today. “American self-confidence still hasn’t been restored to the quality it had in the 1950s. Read stories from diverse points-of-view about how the Vietnam War era has affected our sense of self and our place in the world. It was 1967 and Gustafson was 13 years old. A Vietnam War Story. Nguyen and Gustafson think that while these images of children caught in war can still have an impact, the possibility of them moving us to take action has been reduced. “I don’t want there to be any softening of the horror,” he said. Wm. War Stories on DVD as told at the 2006 VHPA Reunion. Vietnam Stories. Vietnamese civilians killed by US Army soldiers during pursuit of Vietcong militia, as per order of Lieut. Where the Ashes Are: The Odyssey of a Vietnamese Family, Nguyen Qui Duc (2009) … Here's another: They were a bunch of scared (mostly) young kids fighting in a massive conflict for very personal reasons. This is the first in a six-part series about the stories and sacrifices of local men and women during the Vietnam War. Learn how 2020 was a good year for Muslim’s on TV and what one of USC’s newest centers hopes to learn…, USC Dornsife scholars frequently share their expertise on major topics of the day. Luong first saw Apocalypse Now in his late teens. Ehrhart, left, in October 1967 near Quang Tri, Vietnam, and today. Unlike Nguyen, it had little effect on him. Referred to as Biêt-Dông-Quân or BDQ, a significant number of Ranger-qualified officers and NCOs served as advisors to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Ranger units throughout the duration of the war…nearly in 2,000 total. It also went a step further, explicitly describing the war as one of “noble sacrifice” — a perspective on the war that has also found favor among Republicans. If you are a veteran, know a veteran, or are related to a veteran, and would like to place a personal story on the Online Veterans Tribute, please mail it to: American Veterans Center 1100 N. Glebe Rd. “What is really horrific about the Vietnam War is that it wasn’t unique,” Nguyen said. The Golden dragons also fought in the Iraqi war, a war of similar consequences of Vietnam. America hadn’t seen images like that before, so it had tremendous shock value. The Vietnam War is a 10-part American television documentary series about the Vietnam War written by Geoffrey C. Ward and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. An important outlet for these efforts is The Conversation, an independent source for informed commentary and analysis written by the…, To test her students’ knowledge of history in a more social, casual setting, USC Dornsife’s Lindsay O’Neill hosts an online pub trivia-style competition pitting Trojans against Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish. “The aftermath of the Vietnam War meant that no longer could Americans be self-confident about either their military prowess or their good intentions,” said Nguyen, describing the conflict as “deeply divisive.”, “I think of it as a civil war in the American soul,” he said. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, the young boy watched, mesmerized, taking in the drifting smoke and the rhythmic chopping sound of the United States military helicopters silhouetted against the hellish scene of destruction unfolding on the TV screen in his family’s cozy California home. Photo by Nick Ut, courtesy of AP Photo. A Vietnamese Refugee Tells Her Story. Nguyen argues that the impact of such images is now reduced due to the desensitization caused by the rise in terrorism and our exposure to widespread graphic imagery in movies, video games and terrorist videos. The script is by Geoffrey Ward, and the series is narrated by Peter Coyote.This series is one of the few PBS series to carry a TV-MA rating. “It’s very difficult for me to view the Vietnam War as anything other than an ugly conflict that should never have occurred,” Luong said. “That’s the ethos I was raised with — that as ugly as war is, it’s important to sign up to defend your country.”. Of … A Vietnam War Story. In it, the callous cruelty of war is stripped bare and the viewer is forced to confront America’s complicity in committing atrocities against the innocent. Photo by Paul Schutzer/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but looking closely, I saw stairs leading into the ground and realized he … Obama’s 2012 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the war continued to focus squarely on American soldiers with virtually no mention of Vietnamese fatalities. Raised at the dead end of a dirt road in a small, conservative town in New Jersey, Gustafson first became aware that there was more than one perspective on the Vietnam War during his hometown’s Fourth of July parade. When such memos were revealed, the result, Ross said, was that Vietnam killed Americans’ confidence in the ability of American military power to fight the right wars. An American soldier guides U.S. Army helicopters in to land through a haze of purple smoke. If we maintain that the photograph of Kim Phuc resonated so deeply on so many levels that it had an impact on policy and indeed hastened the end of the war, what can we say about a more recent shocking photograph of another child tragically caught up in the consequences of war — that of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian refugee boy washed up on a Turkish beach in September 2015? We try to learn some wisdom from the suffering caused by the tragedies of history. “When I saw parents visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., I imagined what it would be like to lose a child, and I broke down and cried. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. Between 1975 to 1992, almost two million Vietnamese risked their lives to flee oppression and hardship after the Vietnam War, in one of the largest mass exoduses in modern history. The tunnel rats encounter. Be the first to submit a tribute honoring a vet from the Vietnam War! I felt sympathetic to the high school protestors, but I could also see the war from the point of view of this wonderful man who had lost his nephew.”. Thompson’s Hill (April 9-10, 1968), by Richard Dieterle. We have such trouble seeing the ugly sides of America. The Incredible Story Behind a Haunting Picture of a POW in Vietnam Captured U.S. pilot major Dewey Waddell is guarded by a militiawoman with a gun and a bayonet on a rice field. Protests against racial injustice. Introduction to RE: Vietnam -- Stories Since the War. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, thousands of so-called "boat people" fled Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, often in small overcrowded ships that were barely seaworthy. But in some ways we don’t want to learn; we don’t want to confront it. The 1980s was a time to tell the stories of the Vietnam War. A Vietnam War Story. Trip to Vietnam I heard during my tour the difference between a fairy tale and a war story is that one starts with “Once upon a time” and the other with “This is no shit!” I’m not sure these were the exact words, but it hits a central truth, which will be central to you while you read my book. Vietnam… Refugees often encountered pirates while sailing the dangerous South China Sea. When the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ played they sat down,” Gustafson recalled. While Luong condemns the war, he pays tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the American soldiers who fought in Vietnam. August 23, 2020 | Featured, Reflections, Vietnamese Voices. Ross agrees, noting that footage similar to that showing military coffins being unloaded from troop ships, which appeared on the nightly news during the Vietnam War and helped sway public opinion against the war, was banned by President George H. W. Bush — a ban that endured for 18 years during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In 1974, with … Before Vietnam, he argues, the U.S. saw itself as a world benefactor, a strong country that had never lost a war. Art Jacobs in Vietnam 1967-1970 video. Be the first to submit a tribute honoring a vet from the Vietnam War! The first episode premiered on PBS on September 17, 2017. We try to get students to listen to those voices, even when it’s challenging.”. “Looking at the last years of that conflict and talking to some of the very few remaining U.S. advisers in Vietnam, we learn that the South Vietnamese fought for the most part heroically. Free shipping for many products! October 4, 2020 — 11 Comments. His politics were different from mine, but I knew he had a nephew who’d been killed in Vietnam. “The fact that 6 million people died during a war was actually not unique during the 20th century. The Vietnamese government keeps a tight grip on its version of history, the winners’ side of the story. His words are juxtaposed with a funeral in South Vietnam showing a mother, ravaged with grief, throwing herself on a grave,” Gustafson said. The first episode premiered on PBS on September 17, 2017. The headline reads “First American Photograph in North Vietnam Under Siege.” Photo by Lee Lockwood/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images. The series complements a Maryland Public Television initiative Luong believes that among Vietnamese who arrived in the U.S. as young adults and those who served in the South Vietnamese army, anger still lingers over what is perceived as a sense of abandonment, even betrayal, by the U.S. “Resentment persists among the diaspora, especially among South Vietnamese officers and those left behind to suffer communist re-education camps and all the oppression that followed,” Luong said, noting that he personally doesn’t have those feelings, although his father and his father’s comrades certainly did. Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. “Only 20 percent was to keep South Vietnam from falling into Red Chinese hands, while 10 percent of our war aims were committed to helping the South Vietnamese enjoy a better, freer democratic way of life,” he said. Here's another: They were a bunch of scared (mostly) young kids fighting in a massive conflict for very personal reasons. Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam by Nick Turse. Three Vietnam War Veterans Share Their Stories W.D. Gen. Viet Luong also takes issue with this effort to rewrite history. Twenty years later, that anger was the catalyst that drove Nguyen to write his Pulitzer Prize–winning first novel, The Sympathizer (Grove Press, 2015), which explores the Vietnam War from multiple perspectives through the lens of his conflicted protagonist, an American-educated spy for the Viet Cong. While Nguyen says the U.S. is not unique in the way it remembers and forgets its wars and those involved in them, it has nevertheless focused on the Vietnam War almost exclusively as an American war in terms of its cost — to American lives and unity, and with respect to damage to the American psyche. Vietnam, Past Is Prologue, probes the legacies of the Vietnam War and its aftermath through maps, videos, and paintings that highlight the voices and stories of former Vietnamese refugees. For many, the horrors of the Vietnam War were — and still are — unforgettably distilled in one unbearable image: that of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the 9-year-old Vietnamese girl running naked in the collective eternity of our imaginations down a road, wailing in agony. It’s only a matter of time, Gualtieri notes, before the sympathy it evokes is overshadowed by more recurrent and powerful images of terrorists. The traditional historiography of the Vietnam War often avoids reckoning with the postwar history of the Hanoi regime and its human consequences, and Nguyen’s stories are a useful corrective. “Our war, our horror, is more unique than other peoples’ and that’s actually not true.”. Read stories from diverse points-of-view about how the Vietnam War era has affected our sense of self and our place in the world. One gets the impression that Nguyen wrote this book primarily to commemorate and memorialise her interviewees, and the RVNAF more broadly. “What we learned from Vietnam is not to show pictures of war,” Gustafson said. Here's what he told us. But the Kurdi photograph, although equally heartbreaking, is more complicated. A Vietnam War Story. For Nguyen, winning the Pulitzer was a personal victory, a validation of his long-term project to force Americans and Vietnamese to reconsider the history of the war and their involvement in it. by Duong Thuy Nguyen. 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