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Remembering Vietnam: Publishing as a Healing Force

The Vietnam War. As far away in time and distance as it may seem, it is still with us. No less than 100 books were published in 1999 on Vietnam and related topics--from fiction and poetry to travel and memoir.

by Jim Barnes

The Vietnam experience created more doubt about American credibility and power than any other event of the 20th century. Sorting out the lessons and emotions of Vietnam through published books and other works of art has been a great part of the healing process that has occurred since the end of the war.

Twenty-five years after the fall of Saigon, we feel the influence of Vietnam in many ways. The after-effects Agent Orange and post-traumatic stress disorder still haunt thousands of veterans and a large population of Amerasian children and Vietnamese refugees remind us of the war's huge social impact. The need for healing and understanding exists on many levels, not only for veterans themselves, but for the loved ones and families of veterans, and even those who protested against U.S. military policy at that time.

Jerry Lembcke is a sociology professor at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA who served in Vietnam as a Chaplain's Assistant to the 41st Artillery Group. On his return to the States, Lembcke joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War. After doing some research for a 1991 teach-in on the Persian Gulf War, he became interested in debunking the myth that returning Vietnam veterans were spat upon and otherwise abused by anti-war activists.

"Many veterans have responded to my book with gratitude that I have set the story straight. Others have challenged my thesis, claiming to have been treated badly when they returned from the war," said Lembcke in a recent article. "Few of the latter stories, however, lend validity the myth that it was anti-war activists who were hostile to vets. Upon questioning, vets will often concede that the hostility came from older veterans, the Veteran's Administration hospital, or simply a drunk in a bar. The historical fact is that the peace movement saw veterans as potential allies and reached out to them."

Lembcke goes on to explain how myths help people come to terms with difficult periods in their past, providing explanations for why things happened. In this case, the spat-upon veteran myth becomes an alibi for why the most powerful nation on earth lost a war with an underdeveloped Asian nation. The myth says that we were defeated not by the Vietnamese, but by the anti-war movement at home.

In The Spitting Image, Lembcke explores how the powerful forces of government and mass media can control a society's collective memory. He objects to the imagery of a movie like Rambo, and contends that reclaiming our memory of the Vietnam is of the utmost importance. "Remembered as the war that was lost because of betrayal at home, Vietnam becomes a modern-day Alamo that must be avenged. Remembered as a war in which soldiers and pacifists joined hands to fight for peace, Vietnam symbolizes popular to political authority and the dominant images of what it means to be a good American."

Robert J. George is another veteran who wanted to publish a book so others might understand what he and others had endured. "I served in Vietnam as a Marine, during 1969 and `70. Like many, I returned home feeling confused and bitter, not understanding what was happening. I could not make sense of the maniacal experience I had just encountered in this strange place called Vietnam. I felt I had just experienced something unreal; something that could not be happening."

"During 1979 I began work on a book that would later become known as The Vietnam Experience. But Vietnam had many faces, each with its own story. So my book became a series of books. And then pictures were added so the world could see the faces that said what the words could not. It took nine years to complete and a great deal of money. With the help of International Thomson Organization, Time-Life Books and many others, we published 25 volumes, and then the capstone volume, The American Experience In Vietnam."

"Few at home understood, and fewer still had any idea of what kind of hell existed halfway around the world, and what all of those young 19-year-old boys (more than 500,000 of them) were enduring, day and night - especially at night. I felt anger, I was filled with emotion. I had many questions, but there were few answers."

"A seemingly unreal nightmare was playing out. But it was very real and people were dying. Those who did return home would never be the same. Like many, I searched for answers, partly because I was trying to understand what had happened in that strange place from which I had just returned, and partly because I was having difficulty dealing with memories I was not able to erase."

"I decided to publish a book. Not fiction; in Vietnam, fact was stranger."

One of the Vietnam books published in 1999 was the The Forgotten Hero of Mai Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story. Thompson is the man credited with stopping the massacre of Vietnamese civilians as he as his helicopter crew, after seeing slaughter going on below, touched down amidst the madness and quelled it. The book is a touching memoir of a career military man of the highest caliber. Thompson returned to Vietnam in 1998 to participate in a commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Massacre, received a hero's welcome, and was reunited with some of the people whose lives he saved. His story is now used in military training manuals in the U.S. and in Europe, so his good deed may even save future lives.

The University Press of Kansas has long been known for publishing military studies, and has been publishing titles on Vietnam at an almost furious pace. "I think we're in a stretch where many Vietnam books will come about, as more government documents become de-classified," said UPK editor-in-chief Mike Briggs. "There are still new views being formed about the nature of the war, and many aspects yet to be covered."

For example, some of the Press' most recent Vietnam releases are: Spies and Commandos: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam, about the disastrous secret operations attempt to infiltrate North Vietnam with South Vietnamese spies; Vietnamese Women at War, by Sandra Taylor, which describes how the women of Vietnam lived out the ancient saying of their country, "When war comes, even women have to fight;" and Oliver Stone's USA: Film History and Controversy, a debate in print between Stone and his critics.

"Especially with this growing body of memories and material on the war, this is a time to reflect and to talk about it, whether it's veterans talking with their friends and families, discussions within their communities, or publishing a book. My hope is that we can deliver titles that preserve memories and help people understand and to heal, whatever their wounds are," said Briggs. "Two recent titles with great power in this area are Facing My Lai: Moving Beyond the Massacre, which bears witness to the truth of American conduct in Vietnam at its worst. No Shining Armor: The Marines at War in Vietnam, An Oral History tells, in their own words, the story of young men placed under unbearable strain and asked to do the impossible, who somehow stretched to meet the demands placed upon them. "It's the most powerful testament on the war we've published, because of its great depth of experience," said Briggs.

"This is the war I grew up with, so there's a special personal meaning, having known people that were killed and others that survived at great cost. If publishing these books can improve our understanding of the war, and in some small part pay back the efforts of those thousands of veterans, I'm very pleased."

One the world's newest and most unique art museums is the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum (NVVAM), which opened its doors in August 1996 and is centrally located in Chicago Illinois. The Museum houses over 700 works of fine art created by 115 artists from the United States, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand, and North and South Vietnam, and chronicles their individual experiences in the war. It is the only museum in the world with a permanent collection focusing on the subject of war from the personal point of view.

The collection began in 1981 as an artistic historical statement of the collective experience of a few combat veterans of the Vietnam War. The museum's former executive director and two artists brought together the artwork that makes up the museum's permanent collection and created a moveable exhibit for display around the nation. In each new city it traveled to, the exhibit attracted more veteran-artists who donated additional pieces to the permanent collection. As the collection and the artistic vision of the individual artists grew in the post war era, the art became a timeless humanistic statement of war on behalf of veterans of all wars.

"This has been a healing place for a lot of Vets," said museum marketing director Betty Hackett. "It's a place they can come and see some things on canvas that they've kept bottled up. Some of them have to come back a few times to take it all in, and to get through all the emotions they feel."

The NVVAM is adamantly apolitical and without bias. It collects, preserves, and exhibits a historically significant collection of art and artifacts for presentation to a broad audience and provides educational programs that encourage a better understanding of the personal consequences of warfare on its participants and all lives that are touched by the experience (wives, children, friends, and communities).

All the artwork that makes up the NVVAM's permanent collection is owned by the Museum, and most of it donated by the artists. Each temporary exhibition that was mounted throughout the years was funded primarily from the personal resources of the executive director with additional minimal funding from some of the galleries and institutions that featured the exhibit.

Vietnam: Reflexes and Reflections is a book of images from the museum's collection, published in 1998 by Harry N. Abrams. The art reflects the horror and the beauty, the terror and the humor of Vietnam. There are images both shocking and mundane, and--much like the jungle war itself-the artwork is an assault on the senses.

Located at 1801 S. Indiana at 18th St., the NVVAM is located just a few blocks from McCormick Place. Hours are Tues-Fri 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday Noon - 5 p.m. General admission is $5.00. The adjoining Gourmand's Coffee House is open from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday - Friday and 8:30 - 2:30 on Saturday.

Resources:

Vietnam: Yesterday and Today, an excellent bibliography of books, films, and links, authored by Sandra Wittman, Professor of Library Services at Oakton Community College in Skokie, Illinois.
http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/index.htm

The Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, the principal functions of which are to encourage the continuing study of all aspects of the American Vietnam experience, and to guide and assist in the development and growth of The Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University.
http://www.ttu.edu/~vietnam/htm/vietnam.htm

Children's titles on Vietnam:

The Jaws of the Dragon, by Alan Gibbons
Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, 1994
Tra, a young boy growing up in a small village in Vietnam, struggles with his feelings about his father's role in the war, the bullying he endures because of his Chinese origin, and the harsh reality of daily life.

Grandfather's Dream, by Holly Keller
Greenwillow Books, New York, 1994
The war in Vietnam was over, but the cranes that had once covered the winter sky had still not returned. It was Grandfather's dream, which young Nam shared, that the new dikes would mean that the land would flood, plants would grow and the cranes would return.

Hoang Anh: A Vietnamese-American Boy, by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Holiday House, New York, 1992
Hoang Anh's family emigrated to the United States in 1978 and this is his story of growing up in California and it shares how his family keeps some traditions alive, especially Tet and its accompanying festival held in San Jose, California.

We Came From Vietnam, by Muriel Stanek
Albert Whitman & Company, Morton Grove, Illinois, 1985
This is the story of the Nguyen family who immigrated to Chicago in the early 1980s, their readjustment to their new life and home. Illustrated with 29 black & white photographs.

Two Lands, One Heart: An American Boy's Journey to his Mother's Vietnam, by Jeremy Schmidt and Ted Wood
Walker Publishing Company, New York, 1995
TJ Sharp's mother was only a child when she fled from Vietnam and came to America. Years later when TJ was born in Denver, he grew up much like any young American boy, but surrounded by stories of his mother's family and homeland.

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