Enduring Vietnam

January 9, 2017
In this well-researched and readable work, Wright (Those Who Have Borne the Battle), president emeritus of Dartmouth College, takes a deep look at a particular segment of an American generation—men who took part in ground combat in the Vietnam War. These men, whom he calls “the war fighters,” were from the Army and Marines and accounted for approximately a fourth of the troops who served in Vietnam during the war. To do so, Wright interviewed 160 veterans and family members of those who died in the war. He utilizes primary and secondary sources to examine the political, diplomatic, and cultural climate of the Vietnam War period. Wright includes an analysis of military strategy, and his descriptions of on-the-ground action concentrate on the decisive year of 1969, including an extended look at the May 1969 Battle of Ap Bia Mountain, commonly known as Hamburger Hill. He also devotes a chapter to Vietnam veterans’ homecoming. Wright’s worthy effort is a tribute to Americans who saw the worst that the Vietnam War offered, combined with a broad look at the domestic and geopolitical factors that led to the U.S. getting involved in the long, controversial conflict. Agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell.

Starred review from January 1, 2017

The Vietnam War remains the all-encompassing event of the baby boomer generation, claims Wright (president emeritus & emeritus history, Dartmouth Coll.; Those Who Have Borne the Battle) in this poignant account of those who fought and died there. This excellent combination of historical scholarship is amplified by the often horrifying battlefield descriptions of the 160 Americans interviewed, who share stories of some of the bloodiest fighting, especially at Khe Sanh (1968) and Dong Ap Bai (1969). Although the war's impact on the home front is covered in depth, the author is at his best when describing how the soldiers, mostly in their late teens and 20s, lived under the daily threat of death, and how more than 40 years after the last American troops came home, many remain casualties of post-traumatic stress disorder, exposure to Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants, and are haunted by memories of fallen friends. VERDICT This important investigation of the Vietnam War and its effects on an entire generation will appeal to both Vietnam-era specialists and general readers. See also Nick Turse's Kill Anything That Moves and Christian Appy's Working Class War.--Karl Helicher, formerly Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2017
Wright, historian and former president of Dartmouth College, focuses his history of the Vietnam War on those who served in Southeast Asia, rather than on the counterculture, which often garners so much attention. This is very much a work of history and deserves high praise in that context. Wright does what opponents of the war often have failed to do: honor those who served. In the Vietnam era, what Wright calls the national narrative had changed, certainly since WWII, as had the American view of its leaders and soldiers. As broadcaster Eric Severeid said, It is difficult to think of soldier heroes . . . in a war without glory. Though personally affected by young people's sacrifices, Wright strikes a careful balance, describing in vividly human terms the deaths of so many soldiers while simultaneously summarizing the social conditions at the time and the national and world background, using other journalism but also drawing on dozens of interviews he conducted himself. While explicitly covering the war's abusesMy Lai, fragging, drugsthe book redresses a badly misplaced emphasis by spotlighting the men who went to war and what they endured, both in battle and, later, upon returning to a conflicted America where they were reviled (and even spit at). There have been hundreds of books written about the Vietnam War, but this is among the most powerful and heartbreaking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)