Abandoning Vietnam

Abandoning Vietnam PDF Author: James H. Willbanks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Drawing upon both archival research and his own military experiences in Vietnam, Willbanks focuses on military operations from 1969 through 1975. He begins by analyzing the events that led to a change in U.S. strategy in 1969 and the subsequent initiation of Vietnamization. He then critiques the implementation of that policy and the combat performance of the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), which finally collapsed in 1975.

Abandoning Vietnam

Abandoning Vietnam PDF Author: James H. Willbanks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Drawing upon both archival research and his own military experiences in Vietnam, Willbanks focuses on military operations from 1969 through 1975. He begins by analyzing the events that led to a change in U.S. strategy in 1969 and the subsequent initiation of Vietnamization. He then critiques the implementation of that policy and the combat performance of the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), which finally collapsed in 1975.

The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975

The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975 PDF Author: Tuong Vu
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501745158
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Through the voices of senior officials, teachers, soldiers, journalists, and artists, The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975, presents us with an interpretation of "South Vietnam" as a passionately imagined nation in the minds of ordinary Vietnamese, rather than merely as an expeditious political construct of the United States government. The moving and honest memoirs collected, translated, and edited here by Tuong Vu and Sean Fear describe the experiences of war, politics, and everyday life for people from many walks of life during the fraught years of Vietnam's Second Republic, leading up to and encompassing what Americans generally call the "Vietnam War." The voices gift the reader a sense of the authors' experiences in the Republic and their ideas about the nation during that time. The light and careful editing hand of Vu and Fear reveals that far from a Cold War proxy struggle, the conflict in Vietnam featured a true ideological divide between the communist North and the non-communist South.

Saigon at War

Saigon at War PDF Author: Heather Marie Stur
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107161924
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
An examination of the political and cultural dynamism of the Republic of Vietnam until its collapse on April 30, 1975.

Kontum

Kontum PDF Author: Thomas P. McKenna
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813140366
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam in what became known as the Easter Offensive. Almost all of the American forces had already withdrawn from Vietnam except for a small group of American advisers to the South Vietnamese armed forces. The 23rd ARVN Infantry Division and its American advisers were sent to defend the provincial capital of Kontum in the Central Highlands. They were surrounded and attacked by three enemy divisions with heavy artillery and tanks but, with the help of air power, managed to successfully defend Kontum and prevent South Vietnam from being cut in half and defeated. Although much has been written about the Vietnam War, little of it addresses either the Easter Offensive or the Battle of Kontum. In Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam, Thomas P. McKenna fills this gap, offering the only in-depth account available of this violent engagement. McKenna, a U.S. infantry lieutenant colonel assigned as a military adviser to the 23rd Division, participated in the battle of Kontum and combines his personal experiences with years of interviews and research from primary sources to describe the events leading up to the invasion and the battle itself. Kontum sheds new light on the actions of U.S. advisers in combat during the Vietnam War. McKenna's book is not only an essential historical resource for America's most controversial war but a personal story of valor and survival.

Black April

Black April PDF Author: George Veith
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 1594037043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 626

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Book Description
The defeat of South Vietnam was arguably America’s worst foreign policy disaster of the 20th Century. Yet a complete understanding of the endgame—from the 27 January 1973 signing of the Paris Peace Accords to South Vietnam’s surrender on 30 April 1975—has eluded us. Black April addresses that deficit. A culmination of exhaustive research in three distinct areas: primary source documents from American archives, North Vietnamese publications containing primary and secondary source material, and dozens of articles and numerous interviews with key South Vietnamese participants, this book represents one of the largest Vietnamese translation projects ever accomplished, including almost one hundred rarely or never seen before North Vietnamese unit histories, battle studies, and memoirs. Most important, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of South Vietnam’s conquest, the leaders in Hanoi released several compendiums of formerly highly classified cables and memorandum between the Politburo and its military commanders in the south. This treasure trove of primary source materials provides the most complete insight into North Vietnamese decision-making ever complied. While South Vietnamese deliberations remain less clear, enough material exists to provide a decent overview. Ultimately, whatever errors occurred on the American and South Vietnamese side, the simple fact remains that the country was conquered by a North Vietnamese military invasion despite written pledges by Hanoi’s leadership against such action. Hanoi’s momentous choice to destroy the Paris Peace Accords and militarily end the war sent a generation of South Vietnamese into exile, and exacerbated a societal trauma in America over our long Vietnam involvement that reverberates to this day. How that transpired deserves deeper scrutiny.

South Vietnamese Soldiers

South Vietnamese Soldiers PDF Author: Nathalie Huynh Chau Nguyen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440832420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Published on the 40th anniversary of the end of the war in Vietnam, this book brings to life the experiences and memories of South Vietnamese soldiers-the forgotten combatants of this controversial conflict. South Vietnam lost more than a quarter of a million soldiers in the Vietnam War, yet the histories of these men-and women-are largely absent from the vast historiography of the conflict. By focusing on oral histories related by 40 veterans from the former Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, this book breaks new ground, shedding light on an essentially unexplored aspect of the war and giving voice to those who have been voiceless. The experiences of these former soldiers are examined through detailed firsthand accounts that feature two generations and all branches of the service, including the Women's Armed Forces Corps. Readers will gain insight into the soldiers' early lives, their military service, combat experiences, and friendships forged in wartime. They will also see how life became worse for most in the aftermath of the war as they experienced internment in communist prison camps, discrimination against their families on political grounds, and the dangers inherent in escaping Vietnam, whether by sea or land. Finally, readers will learn how veterans who saw no choice but to leave their homeland succeeded in rebuilding their lives in new countries and cultures.

Journey to South Vietnam

Journey to South Vietnam PDF Author: John Williams
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1684098424
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
This book provides a different perspective on the Vietnam conflict. Journey to South Vietnam is a story of real life events, including my career in the military services—the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF). These compelling and life-altering experiences seemed to defy the imagination. I was also searching for my god. I volunteered for South Vietnam when the United States was in turmoil and the military was not respected by the media

The History of South Vietnam - Lam

The History of South Vietnam - Lam PDF Author: Vinh-The Lam
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000246388
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
This book provides an in-depth analysis of the political instability of South Vietnam between the two Republics and offers a valuable contribution to the study of the history of Vietnam as it focuses on a decisive period in the history of South Vietnam. A much-needed examination of the political environment of the Republic of Vietnam between 1963-1967, this book shows how South Vietnamese leadership failed to form a stable civilian government and to secure South Vietnam against the increasing threat by North Vietnam. Through a detailed assessment of political difficulties during the period, the book suggests that, to prevent the imminent loss of South Vietnam to the Communist forces, the United States government did not have any other option than to escalate the war by committing its combat ground forces in the South and beginning the sustained bombing in the North. Moreover, the book analyses the administration of General Khánh and Prime Minister Phan Huy Quát and includes a full account of the War Cabinet of General Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. The achievements, the difficulties and the sudden death of the National High Council as well as the confrontation between the Buddhists and the Trần Vãn Hýõng government are also explored. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of the contemporary history of Vietnam, the history of the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnam War and Southeast Asian history and politics.

Returns of War

Returns of War PDF Author: Long T. Bui
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479817066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
The legacy and memory of wartime South Vietnam through the eyes of Vietnamese refugees In 1975, South Vietnam fell to communism, marking a stunning conclusion to the Vietnam War. Although this former ally of the United States has vanished from the world map, Long T. Bui maintains that its memory endures for refugees with a strong attachment to this ghost country. Blending ethnography with oral history, archival research, and cultural analysis, Returns of War considers Returns of War argues that Vietnamization--as Richard Nixon termed it in 1969--and the end of South Vietnam signals more than an example of flawed American military strategy, but a larger allegory of power, providing cover for U.S. imperial losses while denoting the inability of the (South) Vietnamese and other colonized nations to become independent, modern liberal subjects. Bui argues that the collapse of South Vietnam under Vietnamization complicates the already difficult memory of the Vietnam War, pushing for a critical understanding of South Vietnamese agency beyond their status as the war’s ultimate “losers.” Examining the lasting impact of Cold War military policy and culture upon the “Vietnamized” afterlife of war, this book weaves questions of national identity, sovereignty, and self-determination to consider the generative possibilities of theorizing South Vietnam as an incomplete, ongoing search for political and personal freedom.

Tears before the Rain

Tears before the Rain PDF Author: Larry Engelmann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195363795
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
CBS camera-man Mike Marriott was on the last plane to escape from Danang before it fell in the spring of 1975. The scene was pure chaos: thousands of panic-stricken Vietnamese storming the airliner, soldiers shooting women and children to get aboard first, refugees being trampled to death. Marriott remembers standing at the door of the aft stairway, which was gaping open as the plane took off. "There were five Vietnamese below me on the steps. As the nose of the aircraft came up, because of the force and speed of the aircraft, the Vietnamese began to fall off. One guy managed to hang on for a while, but at about 600 feet he let go and just floated off--just like a skydiver.... What was going through my head was, I've got to survive this, and at the same time, I've got to capture this on film. This is the start of the fall of a country. This country is gone. This is history, right here and now." In Tears Before the Rain, a stunning oral history of the fall of South Vietnam, Larry Engelmann has gathered together the testimony of seventy eyewitnesses (both American and Vietnamese) who, like Mike Marriott, capture the feel of history "right here and now." We hear the voices of nurses, pilots, television and print media figures, the American Ambassador Graham Martin, the CIA station chief Thomas Polgar, Vietnamese generals, Amerasian children, even Vietcong and North Vietnamese soldiers. Through this extraordinary range of perspectives, we experience first-hand the final weeks before Saigon collapsed, from President Thieu's cataclysmic withdrawal from Pleiku and Kontum, (Colonel Le Khac Ly, put in command of the withdrawal, recalls receiving the order: "I opened my eyes large, large, large. I thought I wasn't hearing clearly") to the last-minute airlift of Americans from the embassy courtyard and roof ("I remember when the bird ascended," says Stuart Herrington, who left on one of the last helicopters, "It banked, and there was the Embassy, the parking lot, the street lights. And the silence"). Touching, heroic, harrowing, and utterly unforgettable, these dramatic narratives illuminate one of the central events of modern history. "It was like being at Waterloo," concludes Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes. "It was so important, so historical. And today it is still very obvious that we Americans have not recovered from Vietnam....Nothing else in my lifetime was as important as that--as important as Vietnam."