Read The Vietnam Reader Online

Authors: Stewart O'Nan

The Vietnam Reader (93 page)

Bloods:
Copyright © 1984 by Wallace Terry. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.
A Piece of My Heart:
Copyright © 1985 by Keith Walker. Reprinted by permission of Presidio Press.
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam:
Copyright © 1985 by Bernard Edelman for the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission. Used by permission of the editor and W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Everything We Had:
Copyright © 1981 by Albert Santoli and Vietnam Veterans of America. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.
The 13th Valley:
Copyright © 1982 by John M. Del Vecchio. Used by permission of the author.
Meditations in Green.
Copyright © 1983 by Stephen Wright. Reprinted by permission of Melanie Jackson Agency, LLC.
Paco’s Story:
Copyright © 1986 by Larry Heinemann. Reprinted by permission of Larry Heinemann.
365
Days:
Copyright © 1971 by Ronald J. Glasser, M.D. Reprinted by permission of George Braziller, Inc.
The Killing Zone:
Copyright © 1978 by Frederick Downs. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Chickenhawk:
Copyright © 1983 by Robert Mason. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books U.S.A., Inc.
The Only War We Had:
Copyright © 1987 by Michael Lee Lanning. Reprinted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
The Things They Carried:
Copyright © 1990 by Tim O’Brien. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co/Seymour Lawrence. All rights reserved.
Love Medicine, New and Expanded Version:
Copyright © 1984, 1993 by Louise Erdrich. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
“Christmas,” “Patriot’s Day,” and “And what would you do, ma”: Copyright © Steve Hassett. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Surrounding Blues on the Way Down” and “Girl at the Chu Lai Laundry” originally appeared in
The Monkey Wars
(The University of Georgia Press, 1984). “Sailing to Bien Hoa,” “Him, on the Bicycle,” “Anna Grasa,” and “Monkey” originally appeared in A
Romance
(The University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979). “Winter Meditation, 1970” originally appeared in
What Saves Us
(Triquarterly Books, 1992): All copyright © Bruce Weigl. Used by the permission of the author.
Dien Cai Dau:
Copyright © 1988 by Yusef Komunyakaa. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press and The University Press of New England.
In Country:
Copyright © 1985 by Bobbie Ann Mason. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
“Incoming”: from
Playing Basketball with the Viet Cong
(Curbstone Press, 1994). Copyright © 1994 by Kevin Bowen. Used by permission of the author.
In the Lake of the Woods.
Copyright © 1994 by Tim O’Brien. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. All rights reserved.
The Names of the Dead:
Copyright © 1996 by Stewart O’Nan. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Songs

“The Ballad of the Green Berets,” © 1966, Barry Sadler and Robin Moore. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Eastaboga Music.
“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” words and music by Joe McDonald, © 1965 Joe McDonald, © 1977 Alkatraz Corner Music, BMI. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Fortunate Son,” words and music by John C. Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, © 1969 Jondora Music, courtesy of Fantasy, Inc.
“The Unknown Soldier,” written by The Doors, © 1968 Doors Music Co. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“What’s Going On,” by Renaldo Benson, Alfred Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye, © 1970 Jobete Music Co., Inc. All rights controlled and administered by EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP) and EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI) on behalf of Jobete Music Co., Inc. and Stone Agate Music (A division of Jobete Music Co., Inc.). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
“War,” by Norman J. Whitfield and Barrett Strong, © 1970 Jobete Music Co., Inc. All rights controlled and administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI) on behalf of Stone Agate Music (A division of Jobete Music Co., Inc.). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
“Born in the U.S.A.,” by Bruce Springsteen, © 1984 Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission of Jon Landau Management.
“The Big Parade,” words by Natalie Merchant, music by Jerome Augustyniak, Copyright © 1989 Christian Burial Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Photographs

Introduction: Malcome Browne/AP Wide World Photos
Chapter 1: From
Where War Lives: A Photographic Journal of Vietnam
by Dick Durrance. Copyright © 1989 by Dick Durrance. Reprinted by permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, Inc.
Chapter 2: Magnum Photos, Inc. © 1995 P. J. Griffiths
Chapter 3: Magnum Photos, Inc. © 1963 Rene Burri
Chapter 4: Eddie Adams, AP/Wide World Photos
Chapter 5: © Bernie Boston, 1967
Chapter 6: Magnum Photos, Inc. © 1968 Don McCullin
Chapter 7: Larry Burrows, Life Magazine © Time, Inc.
Chapter 8: Nick Ut, AP/Wide World Photos
Chapter 9: Co Rentmeester, Life Magazine © Time, Inc.
Chapter 10: From
Where War Lives: A Photographic Journal of Vietnam
by Dick Durrance.
Copyright © 1989 by Dick Durrance. Reprinted by permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, Inc.
Chapter 11: Ray Mews, AP/Wide World Photos
Chapter 12: Ron Haeberle, Life Magazine © Time, Inc.
Chapter 13: Magnum Photos, Inc. © 1985 Peter Marlow
Appendices: Used by permission of UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, NOVEMBER 1998

Copyright
© 1998
by Stewart O’Nan

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc. New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

The editor would like to thank the contributors for their work and their invaluable help in tracking down other contributors. I’d also like to thank David Gernert for selling this book; Bruce Tracy for buying it; Peternelle van Arsdale for her editing; Siobhan Adcock for her forbearance and Matt Williams for his; and, for her endless legwork and indefatigable cheer in the face of rejection, Amy Williams.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Vietnam reader: the definitive collection of American fiction and nonfiction on the war / Edited by Stewart O’Nan.
p. cm.
1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975. 2. Vietnamese Conflict,
1961-1975—Personal narratives, American. 3. Vietnamese Conflict,
1961-1975—Literature and the conflict. 4. Vietnamese Conflict,
1961-1975—Motion pictures and the conflict. 5. American
literature—20th century. I. O’Nan, Stewart, 1961-
DS557.7.V5625 1998
959.704’3-dc21 98-15575

eISBN: 978-0-307-48974-6

www.anchorbooks.com

v3.0

Table of Contents

About the Author

Contents

The Vietnam Reader

Map of Vietnam

Introduction

Chronology of the War

Chapter 1 - Green

Robin Moore • The Green Berets (1965)
Tim O’Brien • If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973)
Tim O’Brien • Going After Cacciato (1978)

Chapter 2 - Early Work

David Halberstam • one very hot day (1967)
Tim O’Brien • If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973)
Michael Casey • Obscenities (1972)
David Rabe • Sticks and Bones (1969)
From Demilitarized Zones, Jan Barry and W. D. Ehrhart, Editors (1976)

Chapter 3 - First Wave of Major Work

Ron Kovic • Born on the Fourth of July (1976)
James Webb • Fields of Fire (1978)
Philip Caputo • A Rumor of War (1977)
Michael Herr • Dispatches (1977)
Tim O’Brien • Going After Cacciato (1978)

Chapter 4 - First Wave of Major Films

The Deer Hunter, Coming Home, Apocalypse Now

Chapter 5 - Songs

“The Ballad of the Green Berets” • Barry Sadler and Robin Moore (1966)
“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” • Country Joe McDonald (1965)
“Fortunate Son” • Creedence Clearwater Revival/John Fogerty (1969)
“The Unknown Soldier” • The Doors/Jim Morrison (1968)
“What’s Going On” • Marvin Gaye (1971)
“War” • Edwin Starr (1970)
“Born in the U.S.A.” • Bruce Springsteen (1984)
“The Big Parade” • 10,000 Maniacs/Natalie Merchant (1989)

Chapter 6 - The Oral History Boom

Mark Baker • Nam (1981)
Wallace Terry • Bloods (1984)
Keith Walker • A Piece of My Heart (1985)
From Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, Bernard Edelman, Editor (1985)
Al Santoli • Everything We Had (1981)

Chapter 7 - Second Wave of Major Work

John M. Del Vecchio • The 13th Valley (1982)
Stephen Wright • Meditations in Green (1983)
Larry Heinemann • Paco’s Story (1986)

Chapter 8 - Second Wave of Major Films

Platoon, Full Metal Jacket

Chapter 9 - Memoirs

Ronald J. GLasser, M.D. • 365 Days (1971)
Federick Downs • The Killing Zone (1978)
Robert Mason • Chickenhawk (1983)
Michael Lee Lanning • The Only War We Had (1987)

Chapter 10 - Masterwork

Tim O’Brien • The Things They Carried (1990)

Chapter 11 - Homecoming

Larry Heinemann • Paco’s Story (1986)
Louise Erdrich • Love Medicine (1984)
From Carrying the Darkness, W. D. Ehrhart, Editor (1985)
Bruce Weigl • A Romance (1985), The Monkey Wars (1979), What Saves Us (1992)
Tim O’Brien • The Things They Carried (1990)

Chapter 12 - Memory

Yusef Komunyakaa • Dien Cai Dau (1988)
Bobbie Ann Mason • In Country (1985)
Kevin Bowen • “Incoming” (1994)
Tim O’Brien • In the Lake of the Woods (1994)
John Balaban • “Mr. Giai’s Poem” (1991)

Chapter 13 - The Wall

W. D. Ehrhart • “The Invasion of Grenada” (1984)
Stewart O’Nan • The Names of the Dead (1996)
Yusef Komunyakaa • Dien Cai Dau (1988)

Glossary

Selected Additional Bibliography

Selected Additional Filmography

Reading Questions

Acknowledgments

Copyright

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