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Showing posts from September 15, 2013

The Vietnam War

Forty years ago America withdrew all of its soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen (except for the contingent of United States Marines at the American embassy) from South Vietnam. For the United States Armed Forces the war was over. Two years later the war was also over for South Vietnam. They were invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Within a year the new, unified Vietnam was renamed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. For forty years, Americans have struggled to come to some sort of individual if not collective understanding of what the Vietnam War meant. Discussions about the meaning of the Vietnam War have in various fora including public media; literature; art; works of history; political parties and focus groups; classrooms; churches; veterans associations; the family dinner; and over the back fence. Most discussions have generated as much contention as consensus. Mark Lawrence in his recent survey, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (Oxford University Press