Forgotten Warriors: Combat Art from Vietnam [Hardcover]

Dennis L. Noble (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275938689 | ISBN-13: 978-0275938680 | Publication Date: October 30, 1992

A multitude of literary and cinematic works were spawned by the Vietnam war, but this is a unique book, combining moving prose with powerful illustrations created by combat artists in the U.S. military. Dr. Noble has assembled a remarkable collection of 153 reproductions printed in black and white, arranged with oral histories, letters and other commentaries to give the reader a more intimate understanding of the combat soldier who served in Vietnam and what he had to endure. Forgotten Warriors is not intended to argue the merits of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Rather, through the visual impact of the illustrations, the soldiers themselves express what the Vietnam experience was like in a way that is different and more profound than perhaps any other work on the subject. The main focus of the book is on the way artists saw the world of the "grunt": patrols, life in the rear, fighting the terrain and weather, tests of endurance, the machines of war and the effects of combat and its aftermath. The reader is also given a sense of how some writers and artists felt about the country and the people of South Vietnam. To date, our perceptions of the Vietnam war have been influenced largely by movies, television and novels. Recognizing this, Dr. Noble enlisted Professor William J. Palmer, a noted authority on the media and their reportage fo the war, to provide an essay that allows the reader to compare his or her past impressions with the art works contained in this book. A moving collection, Forgotten Warriors offers the truest picture of the Vietnam war in human terms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Noble gathers watercolors, oils, acrylics, and simple sketches from a number of military archives, and offers a balanced narrative to place them in context. U.S. military artists mainly took infantrymen as their subjects, but there is also work here on life in the rear, on Vietnam and Vietnamese children, as well as portraits of the wounded and of surgeons in operating rooms. Noble quotes James Jones, who said that government art is 'by nature propaganda,' but makes a strong case that what he has collected is not. . . . Noble's efforts fill a gap, and his documentation of U.S. Coast Guard activities in Vietnam is unique.”–Booklist

“Dennis Noble is to be commended for his effort to bring the reality of the soldier's life in Vietnam to us through text and picture. For art historians and for those fascinated by the Vietnam war, this is a book worth perusing.”–University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

“His valuable new book, . . . 153 well-chosen, in-country art reproductions for that very purpose. The accompanying text helps illuminate the war from an on-the-ground perspective.”–The Veteran

“The kind of book that will endure.”–Indochina Chronology

About the Author

DENNIS L. NOBLE has devoted his life and career to the military and its history. Retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 1978, Dr. Noble is the author of several military history books. He manages the Washington State Library Branch at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center and teaches at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (October 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275938689
• ISBN-13: 978-0275938680
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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