| Title | : | Letters from Vietnam: Voices of War |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0345463900 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780345463906 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2003 |
They are the words of soldier Mark W. Harms in 1968, summing up his combat experience during the Vietnam War. His stunning letter home is just one of hundreds featured in this unforgettable collection, Letters from Vietnam . In these affecting pages are the unadorned voices of men and women who fought–and, in some cases, fell–in America’s most controversial war. They bring new insights and imagery to a conflict that still haunts our hearts, consciences, and the conduct of our foreign policy.
Here are the early days of the fight, when adopting a kitten, finding gold in a stream, or helping a local woman give birth were moments of beauty amid the brutality . . . shattering first-person accounts of firefights, ambushes, and bombings (“I know I will never be the same Joe.”–Marine Joe Pais) . . . and thoughtful, pained reflections on the purpose and progress of the entire Southeastern Asian cause (“All these lies about how we’re winning and what a great job we’re doing . . . It’s just not the same as WWII or the Korean War.” –Lt. John S. Taylor.)
Here, too, are letters as vivid as scenes from a film–Brenda Rodgers’s description of her wedding to a soldier on the steps of Saigon City Hall . . . Airman First Class Frank Pilson’s recollection of President Johnson’s ceremonial dinner with the troops (“He looks tired and worn out–his is not an easy job”) . . . and, perhaps most poignant, Emil Spadafora’s beseeching of his mother to help him adopt an orphan who is a village’s only survivor (“This boy has nothing, and his future holds nothing for him over here.”)
From fervent patriotism to awakening opposition, Letters from Vietnam captures the unmistakable echoes of this earlier era, as well as timeless expressions of hope, horror, fear, and faith.
Letters from Vietnam: Voices of War Reviews
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Are compilations of this sort representative? I’m prepared to believe that this compilation is representative and to draw conclusions from it accordingly. (Other compilations on this topic can be found using this library subject heading: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives, American.)
These letters provide an overall witness that is raw, spontaneous, participational, matter-of-fact. So, if they are representative, we must think that the casual and impersonal use of terms such as “gooks” and “goonies” was commonplace. We also rightly would conclude that most US military and civilian personnel in Vietnam were quite young. (It is commonly quoted that the average age of American troops in Vietnam was nineteen, compared to an average age of twenty-six for US soldiers in World War II. A Media Milwaukee (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) article notes that of the soldiers killed at Vietnam, five were sixteen, eleven others were seventeen, and one was fifteen and had forged his birth certificate to join.)
One also might sense a sort of guilelessness in these (mostly) young Americans. Long after governmental, upper-echelon, and Pentagon figures had come to the inescapable conclusion that the war was unwinnable, a significant number of those in the field were still true believers. (Robert McNamara, far from alone, was convinced that anything that would even look like victory was impossible when he left the Pentagon in ’68; he would say later that we should have gotten out in ’63.) A “fight ‘em here or fight ‘em on home soil” attitude is found fairly often in these letters. (“We’re stopping communism over here instead of in the people’s backyard back home in the USA."—p. 10. “We just cannot have the enemy get to the folks back home. We have to stop them here."—p. 42)
A poignant (for want of a better word) way to end this review is to mention Sgt. Howard Querry. Told that if he enlisted for an extra year he would be guaranteed an administrative job, instead he was shipped out to Vietnam to an infantry division in March, 1968. He was killed on May 10th of that year; when his remains arrived back in the states, the coffin was marked “Non-Viewable.” A letter written by his wife to him was returned to her stamped “Verified DECEASED, RETURN TO SENDER.” (pp. 136, 140) -
This book contains letters written by soldiers and nurses in Vietnam during the war. There are stories about friendship, sacrifice and even love, as told by the very people who fought on the front lines and those who supported them.
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My father spent time in Vietnam but is something most Vietnam vets don't want to talk about..it was very interesting to read all the different letters home to loved ones
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This book was difficult for me to read. The accounts from the soldiers serving in Vietnam were extremely graphic, and for this reason I had a hard time finishing this book. I found it very disturbing. However, on the other hand I learned quite a bit about the Vietnam war, which I really did not know much about. This was not something that was taught in school, etc...
If you've got a strong stomach and can handle a lot of blood and gore type description than I think this is an excellent book which gives you a true depiction of the war through the eyes of the men serving our Country at that time. -
Intimate, thought-provoking accounts, mostly from American combatants but many from American noncombatants as well. Both pro- and antiwar perspectives represented. Hard to read without reflecting on the tragic nature of that war.
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I had a chance to work with Vietnamese veterans and an American veteran's son in a volunteer project at Vietnam Friendship Village. So I'm familiar with the war experiences told in the book. But still there're some too specific details that got my tummy turned.
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I'm sure this is very good but it would have to be read over a long period of time for me. Back to the library not finished. Maybe next winter.
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If you've ever had an interest in the Vietnam war this is a must read.
