Tag Archives: R. McNamara

Operation Ranch Hand

Posted on July 7, 2020 by

Four-plane defoliant run, part of Operation Ranch Hand “Operation Ranch Hand was a U.S. military operation during the Vietnam War, lasting from 1962 until 1971. Largely inspired by the British use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D (Agent Orange) during the Malayan … Continue reading →

Posted in Agent Orange, CIA, John Kennedy, Lyn. Johnson, Napalm, R. McNamara, Saigon, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Idiocy of War”

Posted on June 21, 2020 by

Chinook helicopter C.J. Hughes – Aug. 2017: “Long, unpopular and ultimately a failure, the Vietnam War remained so controversial after it ended that many veterans were loath to discuss their combat experiences in the conflict for decades—even among close family … Continue reading →

Posted in Draft board, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Lyn. Johnson, Marijuana, R. McNamara, Saigon, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Survived Vietnam. Will I Survive This Pandemic?

Posted on May 10, 2020 by

Servicemen lined up at Tan Son Nhut Airfield, in South Vietnam, during services for American killed in action in 1962. “SARNANO, Italy — A very long time ago, I was one of more than two million American men and women … Continue reading →

Posted in Henry Kissinger, Italy, Lyn. Johnson, Nixon, R. McNamara, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hollywood and Vietnam

Posted on March 14, 2020 by

“In writing to President Johnson in December 1965 about his intention to make a film about the Green Berets, John Wayne explained that it was ‘extremely important that not only the people of the United States but those all over … Continue reading →

Posted in Cronkite, Lyn. Johnson, Movie, R. McNamara, SDS, Vietnam War, Weather Underground | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Was the Vietnam War About?

Posted on January 16, 2020 by

A group of South Vietnamese army soldiers and an American soldier with two captured Vietcong suspects, in Plaines des Joncs, South Vietnam. “Was America’s war in Vietnam a noble struggle against Communist aggression, a tragic intervention in a civil conflict, … Continue reading →

Posted in Henry Kissinger, John Kennedy, Lyn. Johnson, MLKJr., Nixon, R. McNamara, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fantasy World of US Empire

Posted on December 7, 2019 by

American helicopters hover above armed U.S. soldiers, preparing to lift them from combat back to their base in Tay Ninh. “In US social memory, the Vietnam War is typically imagined to have been a civil war between two sides: South … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambodia, CIA, Henry Kissinger, John Kennedy, Laos, Lyn. Johnson, Nixon, R. McNamara, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What I Saw in Vietnam – H.d.s. Greenway

Posted on October 10, 2019 by

“They were burning brush, as they always do in the dry season, when my plane came in over the Vietnamese coast at dusk. Descending into Saigon, I could see fires burning below me, and in my naïveté I thought I … Continue reading →

Posted in ARVN, Lyn. Johnson, Michael Herr, R. McNamara, Saigon, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hearts and Minds (Vietnam)

Posted on September 28, 2019 by

“Hearts and Minds (Vietnam) or winning hearts and minds refers to the strategy and programs used by the governments of Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to win the popular support of the Vietnamese people and to … Continue reading →

Posted in CIA, Henry Kissinger, John Kennedy, Lyn. Johnson, Nixon, R. McNamara, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vietnam, Vietnam – Pete Hamill (April 1985)

Posted on September 9, 2019 by

“Sometimes, in odd places, it all comes back. You are walking a summer beach, stepping around oiled bodies, hearing only the steady growl of the sea. Suddenly, from over the horizon, you hear the phwuk-phwuk-phwuk of rotor blades and for … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambodia, CIA, Draft board, Hanoi, Henry Kissinger, John Kennedy, Laos, Lyn. Johnson, Nixon, R. McNamara, Saigon, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam by Christopher Goscha – review

Posted on September 2, 2019 by

A destroyed French tank and an aircraft propeller that are still kept as war relics in the Dien Bien Phu valley. “In 40 years, the relationship between the United States and Vietnam has swung about as widely as is possible … Continue reading →

Posted in Agent Orange, Books, Cambodia, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Laos, Lyn. Johnson, My Lai, Napalm, Nixon, R. McNamara, Saigon, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment