Tag Archives: R. McNamara

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

The Enduring Debate Over Khe Sanh

Posted on August 12, 2019 by

Photos from Operation Pegasus, a joint U.S. and South Vietnamese push by 30,000 troops to lift the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968. “In early 1968, the siege of the remote Marine combat base at Khe Sanh dominated American news … Continue reading →

Posted in Lyn. Johnson, R. McNamara, Tet 1968, Viet Cong, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment