Customer Reviews

Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have read a few oral histories focused on the American phase of the Vietnam War. I have found them all faulty for one of three reasons. They are either fraudulent, the authors biases scream out at you, or they are incomplete (most common is not including South Vietnamese viewpoints). Mr. Appy has surmounted these pitfalls and produced a decent work.

Most refreshing to me is seeing the pro-West South Vietnamese perspective. I found the South Vietnamese Diplomat who specialized in trying to sell the war to Americans and the captured ARVN commando most intriguing. But there is more. Appy has samples of the whole spectrum. You can find high ranking pro war, low level anti war, communists, republican (South Vietnamese that is), soldier, guerilla, pilot, etc. You name the type of person, he/she is probably represented.....except for parties from the Free World Forces (Korea, Australia, Thailand, etc that also fought in the war). Still, this is a pretty minor omission.

I docked this book one star. To say Mr. Appy is biased is too harsh. I think its better to say has bought into the notion the US/Republic of Vietnam war effort was pointless. Ive seen Appy do a few interviews on TV. He always states the South lost because they were just puppets dependent on foreigners to keep them afloat (which ignores the fact that AK47s dont grow on trees and the Chinese Army units that garrisoned the North to free up NVA units going South were far from home grown). This attitude can also be found in the book. A good example is a footnote of Appy's that reinforces a Communist Vietnamese source's notion that Korean troops were just mercenaries. I am plugged into the Korean community and know quite a few of their Vietnam Vets. Money (in the form of US aid) was a very minor consideration in their participation. Despite this, Appy gives all sides a voice in his book. For this, he should be commended!

The use of oral histories as a specific historical device has been popularized over the last decade by such notable authors as Stephen Ambrose and Studs Terkel. Here we have the concept applied assiduously and quite comprehensively by scholar Christian Appy. Thus, "Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides" follows the track of previous tomes such as Myra MacPherson's memorable "Long Time Passing" and even David Marannis' recent "They Marched Into Sunlight", both of which in somewhat different manner broach the same panoply of issues as are discussed herein. This book represents an almost Herculean attempt to catch once more the dissipating and evaporating tenor of a vanishing time.

His coverage is indeed comprehensive, reaching all the way from the vapors of the late 1940s almost into the present. We find conversations and comments from people from all walks of life, from presiding generals like William Westmoreland to obscure stewardesses (even that term is dated, as they now are universally referred to as flight attendants), from politicians like blowhard Alexander Haig (remember "I am in control here"?) to the very grunts who dragged themselves and their buddies who hacked their way past the rotting jungle and raging rivers through the South Asian mud. There are voices from every side, from the son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev to former South Vietnamese Vice President Thu Bihn to former war resisters and anti-war activists. Indeed, the book attempts quite admirably to cover all the colors and hues of a multifaceted phenomenon that was the war in Vietnam.

As such, the work is a valuable resource for those who honestly want to understand what all the tumult over the war I Vietnam was in the 1960s. Certainly it is difficult for the later generations to understand the significance of the draft, given the fact that they have been raised in a country that now uses an all-volunteer force, one in which such conflicts pose no personal risk to them or their families. As such, the book does indeed serve as a formalized source for reference and discussion over what the war in Vietnam was all about, what the turmoil in this country over our involvement sprang from, and how it was finally resolved, albeit to no one's satisfaction. In using the emotionally freighted term of "patriots" he also calls attention to the current tendency to believe any dissent is anti-American as a patent falsehood, that indeed, such active voices of dissent are critical to the survival of the republic. To quote the author himself, he was interested in discovering and discussing "in what ways might patriotism be a force for good or inspire noble sacrifice, and when does it become a club for stifling dissent and a rallying cry for unjustifiable destruction?" This is a pertinent question for our troubled times. Enjoy!

No one who reads this book will be unmoved. Mr. Appy has collected more voices on the war (the book is an oral history) than any other author (or for that matter anyone)who has taken on this momentuous period in the history of both nations and set them out in such a juxtiposition that their collective voice is profound in its eloquence and unassailable truth. The truth being that the war was an unmitigated tragedy for all involved. My expercence,and that of others who have read the book (550 pgs.), is that while the stories (along with Mr. Appy's introductions and other comments)are compelling, one can only read a few stories at a time because the accounts are so powerful and so affecting that the reader needs time to digest the emotions they reflect and evoke. A truly important and, on top of that, riveting book.

I'd like to begin this review with a few of the things that may have been left out in the reviews below. First, although this is a lengthy book, it is constructed in such a way that it could be almost twice as long and the reader would wish for more (in fact the author states that he had to excise plenty of great material in the interests of brevity; I wish that he hadn't). This is because within the broad chapter overviews he has condensed interviewee statements into spaces sometimes as small as a couple of paragraphs. In fact, it is amazing how much pith the author is able to include in such abbreviated memoirs. Second, as is hinted below, Mr. Appy has produced a book with the broadest time spectrum yet of the English language literature that has been produced on the war, that I am aware of. Third, Mr. Appy has generously included a plethora of book titles within the body of the work and in the bibliography from both participants in his survey and books that he has used for reference. Many of these books were new to me and I've read or passed on dozens of Vietnam War books in the past two years. So, if you are on the hunt for new reading material this is a great resource. Finally, one of the things hinted at but not specifically mentioned in reviews below, the unfolding of events in Vietnam and the way they were canned and served to the American public has some very disturbing parallels to the present Bush Administration's machinations in Iraq (No, I don't believe that Iraq is America's new Vietnam war, rather I suggest that the reader look toward Russia's involvement in Chechnya for a more apt simile). Apart from this, the book's wide breadth of time and topic, and broad spectrum of views guarantees that, no matter how expert one fancies oneself to be on the Vietnam War, he will inevitably glean new information or insight into this little bit of Indochinese nastiness that was the Vietnam War (the American War in Vietnam). I go so far as to make two additional predictions. One is that those of you who either have children or are above the age of 35 will find yourselves with tears welling up in your eyes at least once in the course of the book. The other is that you will find yourself reading some of the narratives here in this book in a state of either amazement or shocked outrage, perhaps both. Finally, a quick overview of how this book is set up: The book is arranged under 5 broad topics: Beginnings, Escalations, Endings, etc. Within these broad categories are smaller ones with headings such as War Heroes, Triage, Families At War, etc., and within these are the narrative accounts from various participants from all sides and from numerous different angles. Often, the author has embellished these micro-accounts with a kind of preface and aftercommentary treatment, and while the going is at times quite heavy, at no point does this book cause one to wish to walk away from it. What otherwise might have taken me a couple of days to read was a three or four day journey just because there was so much emotional debt to pay for all of the information contained in this book. This trenchant read is a really, truly magnificent work that demands your attention, commands your respect, expands your mind and yes, wins your heart.

Christian Appy goes mining in the oral histories of the Vietnam War and comes up with gems. This is a fascinating collection of stories from people on all sides of this war. Although the book is fairly long, most of the stories are short -- just a couple of pages long on average. Each story can stand alone and be read out of context. But Appy has added much more by carefully organizing the chapters and providing historical context and thoughtful insight. This is an important, thought-provoking book that manages to be thoroughly enjoyable too. Highly recommended to those who are interested in people's stories as part of history in general, and for those who lived through or have ever wondered about the Vietnam War in particular.

"Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides," by Christian G. Appy is a glowing tribute to everyone who fought, aided, suffered or protested the Vietnam War. If anything, the one consistent thread in many of the individual snapshots of the war is that the leaders in Washington underestimated the will of the Vietnamese people. Moreover, the author documents many of the White House & Pentagon decisions that lead to the death of 58,193 American men & women and the loss of 8,588 aircraft.

The Vietnamese accounts of the war are powerful. The hardship of the jungles, the constant hunger, the simple importance of sandals and the dangers of the American air war are all communicated in short vivid passages. Appy also provides ample evidence that the South Vietnamese government was brutal and corrupt and few American officials in the government or military cared to insist on democratic reforms. However, do not mistake the author's intentions...this book is not an apology...it is an honest account of an American tragedy.

Vietnam is the longest war in the history of the United States. Overall the Vietnam war has generated hundreds of books and dozens of movies and documentaries. To this end, put this book up in the ranks of the very best. It is an excellent journalistic report. This book is well-researched and easy to read. The author is able to collect the voices of the high and mighty as well of those of the poor which he skillfully weaves together to create a masterpiece.

Bert Ruiz

I have never read a book as powerfully thought provoking and compelling as Mr. Appy's presentation of oral histories of the Vietnam War. I would recomend this as a great read for anyone of Vietnam War vintage, or anyone trying to understand, not only the Vietnam War but the American Culture of that time. The defineing historical event of my generation that influenced all manner of art, music, philosophy, and life styles that reverberate in our life today.
Not only where all sides heard from and seemingly all points of view considered, but MR. APPY'S commentary filling in the facts and history of the Country and the Conflict both named Vietnam gave me and, all I have recomended it to, an understanding of events that I wish I had 35 years ago.
The stories told by Americans and Vietnamies are of a civil war on the other side of the globe that pitted brother against brother and father against son one the steets and campus's of the USA as well as in the Jungles of Vietnam. In both places those battles are still being fought, if only in skirmishes of ideology apperant in the varied reviews, seen on this foram.
If you think you Know all about the Vietnam war or if you know little or nothing about it, you will moved, provoked, angered and sadened. Perhaps not the same emotions will be illicited by the same passages for everyone. You will learn of facts an events you will not belive or want to believe, you will read the stories of heros, and feel the pain lives left in taters. You will learn why some were there and why some were not. The highest compliment I can pay an author of a serious work, in this case Mr. Appy, is that it made me think, it evoked stong emotion and for the first time in my life a book made me cry.

This is a truly impressive work from the part of the author who has apparently interviewed more than 350 people from all sides, although only half of the stories have appeared in the book. I have the few following comments:

First, I hope he would make the rest of the stories available to all of us. Second, the Vietnam war remembered from all sides seems to be a misnomer since the proportion of interviewees was slanted in favor of the Americans (71%) and North Vietnamese (22%). South Vietnamese and others shared the remaining 7%. This uneven distribution no doubt would distort the views about the war, unless one would characterize it as an American-North Vietnamese war.

Third, the author has warned us the book is about recollections of the war and as such, everyones memory is partial, selective and faulty. He has also indicated that since Vietnam remains a one-party state that does not allow full freedom of speech, we should expect North Vietnamese interviewees to tow party line rather than expressing their true beliefs. I am, therefore, not totally surprised when a North Vietnamese talked about the corrupt South Vietnamese regime (1954-1975), but failed to mention anything about the badly corrupt present communist regime.

Fourth, the chapter about the South Vietnamese commando who was dropped into North Vietnam in the 60s and ended up becoming a captive for the next 22 years turned out to be was one of the most interesting stories of the book. He is a true patriot. However, there was no mention about the two million South Vietnamese who left their country following the fall of Saigon and the millions who were interned in reeducation camps throughout South Vietnam.

Fifth, the fact that the ARVN suffered 224,000 deaths and more than one million wounded contradicted the assumption that the U.S. did all the fighting (58,000 deaths) while the South Vietnamese did everything to avoid it. Hanoi had to bear the consequences of sending 1.1 million youths to their deaths. In addition, 2 million civilians (one each from North and South) died during the war. The total casualty was estimated at 3.34 million people (9%) of a combined population of 37 millions (1975). General Giap was appropriate to call it the most atrocious conflict in human history, although he should remember he was one of the instigators of the war.

Despite all these drawbacks, this is by far one of the best books I have ever read about the war. It deals with almost everyone involved in the conflict from grunts to generals, war resisters, civilians, Vietnamese and Americans, and those who, within the U.S. government, argued for and against the war.

I hope the reading of this excellent book would open our eyes to the different points of view that circulated around the world and make us wiser.

Great stuff, so sad. I can't read it in large bursts, too sad, too disclosing/revealing of the illegitimacy that was the foundation of the whole thing. For us who served in 'Nam & the military Appy reiterated what many of us suspected while there- the whole thing was a lie/deceit from the git-go. Appy's book reminded me of the suspicion which many of us who served there felt at that time about the conduct of the war and the outright lying to us, the weapons of war, by those in the highest places, e.g., William Westmoreland. I wonder how they slept at night knowing how they deceived those of us in the field. I guess that I have known of that deceit for 35 years but getting hit with it so vivdly now opens those old wounds, literal and figurative. Reading this book is a bummer, but a bummer that I am drawn to read/experience to validate or invalidate my experience. It's like a reunion of kindred souls. Appy has done a tremendous job of researching, providing the balanced and full look which the era deserves. It's painful to read but seductive like a lover. I have difficulty sleeping after reading it due to the re-living and remembering my 401 days in-country. Reading it increases my desire to return to 'Nam to tell as many Vietnamese people as I can, "I'm sorry for the destruction wrought by me and my gun (a 105mm howitzer, not an M-16 which I would call a weapon)." I am teaching a course on the era of US incursion into Vietnam next semester. I am considering using this book as the primary text rather than Karnow or Herring.

All points of view are here; combat, rear echelon, prisoners, North Vietnamese,South Vietnamese, protesters, civilians. A condensed version of this book should be required reading in every high school American History class. The oral histories are consise and on point.