Vietnam Shadows: The War, Its Ghosts, and Its Legacy

By Arnold R. Isaacs and Professor Arnold R. Isaacs

Book Overview

Post war reflections by those who were there.

Nearly a quarter-century after the fall of Saigon, the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam continues to haunt the national psyche. In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle--some would say stalemate--that refuses to end.

Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam--among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. ("In many conversations with U.S. officers in Vietnam, I do not recall discovering any who were in doubt about what they were supposed to do there.") He exposes the myth of the MIAs--a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism--and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: "We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back." Isaacs talks to the veterans unable to forget the war no one wanted to talk to them about. He explores the class divisions deepened by a conflict in which the privileged avoided service that an earlier generation had embraced as a duty. (691 Harvard alumni died in World War II, Isaacs points out; in Vietnam, nineteen.) And he shows how the "Vietnam Syndrome" continues to affect nearly every major U.S. foreign policy decision, from the Persian Gulf to Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.

Capturing the ironic legacies of a war that abounds in them, Isaacs introduces the "new Americans"--the Vietnamese, Thais, and Cambodians--who fled Indochina to settle in the U.S., where fashion spreads in the New York Times Magazine feature models photographed in Vietnamese settings wearing "Indo-chic clothes" that sell for four to five years' income for the average Vietnamese. ("Farm girl's jacket in 'periwinkle blue' raw silk: $1,460 by Richard Tyler.") And he recounts the experiences of Americans who have returned to Vietnam, only to find their former enemies turned entrepreneurs--such as the operators of a popular Saigon bar called Apocalypse Now.

Isaacs reports and writes for those whose lives were changed by the war and also for a generation that has come of age without memory of Vietnam but who nonetheless feels its shadow in the country they soon will lead.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801863449
• ISBN13: 9780801863448
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Still a Valuable Book

Even though this book was published in 1997, it is still a valuable book, and still relevant to American society in 2004. First, the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is *still* peddling its misinformation. I quote from their web site: "The League's highest priority is resolving the live prisoner question. Official intelligence indicates that Americans known to have been alive in captivity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were not returned at the end of the war. *In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that these Americans may still be alive.*" (emphasis supplied) In _What's the Matter With Kansas_ Thomas Frank mentions Vietnam veterans who pretend that there are live American prisoners of war in Vietnam. Obviously, there are still many people in the USA who are intent on continuing the war against Vietnam by any means they can. Second, the fawning sycophancy that was seemingly the order of the day after Ronald Reagan died gave powerful evidence of how many Americans prefer a pleasant fantasy to the unpleasant truth. That does not bode well for the way the USA deals with the legacy of the war in Vietnam. Third, the way a group of shameless right-wing ideologues was able to smear John Kerry about his war-time record during the recent "election" not only demonstrates how far such ideologues will go in their efforts to rewrite history about the war in Vietnam but also what the USA will allow such people to get away with. So, this book is very much worthwhile reading seven years on, although, sad to say, the people who most need to read it probably wouldn't accept it because it doesn't tell them what they want to hear (Americans in general seem to be inordinately insistent on being told what they want to hear). I do have a few small complaints, but 4 1/2 stars is not an option in this reviewing system. For one thing, the author seems to give the impression at one point (inadvertent, I'm sure), that if you didn't serve in Vietnam you were somehow guilty of something. I joined the US Navy rather than be drafted, and yes, staying out of a war that I thought was quite pointless was part of my decision. Am I supposed to feel guilty about that?!?! I don't think so. For another, the author seems to give people like James Webb too much credit for sincerity when they get self-righteous about those who didn't go to Vietnam. Somehow, those people don't seem to get upset about the chicken-hawks who act as though it was peachy keen for other people to go die in Vietnam as long as they didn't have to risk doing so. The author does mention the chicken-hawks, but he doesn't really point out the hypocrisy of people like Webb where they are concerned. A few small flaws notwithstanding, this is an excellent book.

Insightful

The book discusses about the Vietnam War topics that have been ignored in the past: the veterans, the wall, the syndrome, the myth and the refugees. Basically it is about the long-term effects of the war on the public and the nation. It is a well-written and conceived book that explained why the Vietnam War would not go away in the minds of many Americans. Part of it is related to the fact that Americans, especially veterans have invested so much in the process and have not gotten anything out of it, except physical and emotional scars. And to this day many still have not recovered from these scars.

A brief excellent summary of many aspects of the Vietnam War

This is one of the best books I have read on the Vietnam War. Isaacs seems to have thoroughly researched the ideas and events he presents in each chapter. I found the chapter entitled "The Myth" very enlightening. The degree that it appears our government messed up in so many areas of this conflict -- before, during, after, and still to this day -- is appalling. I was gratified to see his chapter on The New Americans! As a college teacher, I have encountered many young Vietnamese Americans, but not until this year did I have one thank me for my service (and that of others)during the war that enabled her and her family to come to America (she is a straight "A" student in a professional health curriculum -- she works so hard because she knows the opportunity she has been given). It was disgusting, however, to learn the details of Bill Clinton's evasive manuevers during the war. I do not believe Isaacs will find agreement from Robert Hemphill (author of "Platoon: Bravo Company")on his comment about the movie "Platoon" being the most realistic portrayal of the war. Every student of the Vietnam War owes it to themselves to read this book!A proud member of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, USS RANGER (CVA-61), 1964-65 and 1965-66 Yankee Station and Dixie Station tours.

Well done and well written.

Dr. Isaacs takes a subject that is coated in misconception and mythology and proceeds to strip away layer after layer of "conventional wisdom" about the war and its effects on American society to reveal some ugly and painful truths. For me, the book was very good, but not as good as his classroom lectures. I had Dr. Isaacs for a Vietnam class at Towson University in the fall of 1997 and the range of that man's knowledge and experience is truly, truly amazing. If you can't get to his classroom, definitely get his book.

One of the best discussions of the US War in Vietnam

In this surprisingly small book, Isaacs manages to cover, in very straight forward, but affecting prose, some of the most troubling aspects of the US war in Vietnam. His discussion of veterans and protestors is a new take on this thorny area and one which Isaacs manages to keep on the razors edge of objectivity. His inclusion of the Vietnamese point of view, is obviously one that has been needed for quite a while. Although I've read a great deal about Vietnam through the years, only a handful of books have been really memorable: Fire in the Lake (which Issac's curiously does not, in his voluminous bibliography, site), Nam, A Bright Shining Line, and several very good novels. Indeed, Fire in the Lake, in its in-depth historical approach comes closest to Vietnam Shadows in giving the reader a new, more thorough understanding of the history. The only critique, albeit small, is that more time should have been spent on the protestors of Vietnam who did so for extremely strong moral reasons that they have never questioned. There was some mention of people like Muhammed Ali, but I was left with the impression that for the most part, protestors were young and really not clear about why they were protesting. On the other hand, the compassionate treatment of the young soldiers was very good. This book is a must read for anyone desiring to get a better understanding of not just the history of American involvment in Viietnam, but what this has meant in US and Vietnamese memory.