Marilyn Young (1937–2017)

A first class rendition of Vietnam reportage. Helped by including "Dispatches" by Michael Herr in full in Vol.2.
What emerges from these writers is a feeling that in war, the human being enters a new state of being. Ideological delusion, when acted out requires the soldier, the advisor, the politician, the victim, everyone who's close at hand to enter a new crazed mentality. A moral civilized standpoint doesn't seem to work much any more.
Because war destroys one's humanity, a survivor from show more this hellish state suffers agonies and fears that haunt the person, too often for a lifetime. It is heartbreaking to remember that the average age of the combatant in this devastating descent to madness was nineteen.
A masterpiece from the Library of America. show less

A first class rendition of Vietnam reportage. Helped by including "Dispatches" by Michael Herr in full in Vol.2.
What emerges from these writers is a feeling that in war, the human being enters a new state of being. Ideological delusion, when acted out requires the soldier, the advisor, the politician, the victim, everyone who's close at hand to enter a new crazed mentality. A moral civilized standpoint doesn't seem to work much any more.
Because war destroys one's humanity, a survivor from show more this hellish state suffers agonies and fears that haunt the person, too often for a lifetime. It is heartbreaking to remember that the average age of the combatant in this devastating descent to madness was nineteen.
A masterpiece from the Library of America. show less

Library of America has put together a unique collection of newspaper and magazine articles from some the most prominent writers and journalists from the Vietnam era; detailing America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Part 1 covers everything from the first deaths of American advisors in 1959 to the growing protest movement of 1969. Included in this collection is everything from detached and dispassionate pieces on policy to gut wrenching firsthand accounts of battles and protests. Laid show more out in chronological order, this collection is the history of the Vietnam War’s first ten years, at least from the American perspective.

Prior to this book I really didn’t know much about the Vietnam War. For instances, I didn’t realize the complexity of the politics, tactics, and the Vietnamese culture was so obvious to so many of these authors. It seems naïve now, but I thought much of these details were only reveled to us through the lens of history. Granted this collection is very pessimistic or anti-war. There’s not must of a hawkish point-of-view presented within its pages. Which is a fault, my parents remember the public debate be much richer than what is presented in this collection. It’s hard to gauge whether this is an actual accounting of the history without the propaganda or if this is the whitewashed less complicated version. It would have been nice to be presented with both views, so that a reader like me could get a more balanced view of the time. Not that a single coherent thread is a bad thing. It’s just nice to have a few more counterpoints sprinkled throughout the collection for a more nuanced view of history. The advantage though of a single minded approach makes for a coherent thread and an understandable timeline for a novice.

This collection is informative, sad, and tragic. There’s no light reading, it’s all pretty rough and will leave you ragged by it all. But it’s worth it. It’s worth understanding the sheer stupidity of war, it’s worth understanding the motivations of those that serve, it’s worth understanding the social and political turmoil of the era, and it’s worth understanding the complexity of the decisions faced by the people that come before us. Vietnam was an important time for the America for so many reasons. show less

Another superb book by LOA and the perfect companion volume to Part One, the early years. Good reporting by numerous journalists on the situation in Cambodia as well as VietNam. The only prose I did not like in this volume was the 200 page piece to end the book by Michael Herr. Twas probably stoned most of the time he wrote it as much of it is incomprehensible. Finished 21.07.2020.