By 1969, following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, over 500,000 US
troops were 'in country' in Vietnam. Before America's longest war had
ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975, 450,000 Vietnamese had died,
along with 36,000 Americans. The Vietnam War was the first rock 'n' roll
war, the first helicopter war with its doctrine of 'airmobility', and
the first television war; it made napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange
infamous, and gave us the New Journalism of Michael Herr and others. It
also saw the establishment of the Navy SEALs and Delta Force. At home,
America fractured, with the peace movement protesting against the war;
at Kent State University, Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed
students, killing four and injuring nine.
Lewis's compelling selection of the best writing to come out of a war
covered by some truly outstanding writers, both journalists and
combatants, includes an eyewitness account of the first major battle
between the US Army and the People's Army of Vietnam at Ia Drang; a
selection of letters home; Nicholas Tomalin's famous 'The General Goes
Zapping Charlie Cong'; Robert Mason's 'R&R', Studs Terkel's account of
the police breaking up an anti-war protest; John Kifner on the shootings
at Kent State; Ron Kovic's 'Born on the Fourth of July'; John T.
Wheeler's 'Khe Sanh: Live in the V Ring'; Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour
Hersh on the massacre at My Lai; Michael Herr's 'It Made You Feel Omni';
Viet Cong Truong Nhu Tang's memoir; naval nurse Maureen Walsh's memoir,
'Burning Flesh'; John Pilger on the fall of Saigon; and Tim O'Brien's
'If I Die in a Combat Zone'.
