Research Catalog

Title

Forever Vietnam : how a divisive war changed American public memory / David Kieran.

Author

Kieran, David, 1978-

Publication

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 305 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• "Four decades after its end, the American war in Vietnam still haunts the nation's collective memory. Its lessons, real and imagined, continue to shape government policies and military strategies, while the divisions it spawned infect domestic politics and fuel the so-called culture wars. In Forever Vietnam, David Kieran shows how the contested memory of the Vietnam War has affected the commemoration of other events, and how those acts of remembrance have influenced postwar debates over the conduct and consequences of American foriegn policy. Kieran focuses his analysis on the recent remembrance of six events, three of which occurred before the Vietnam War and three after. The first group includes the siege of the Alamo in 1836, the incarceration of Union troops at Andersonville during the Civil War, and the experience of American combat troops during World War II. The second comprises the 1993 U.S. intervention in Somalia, the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."-- Back cover.
• "Kieran focuses his analysis on the recent remembrance of six events, three of which occurred before the Vietnam War and three after. The first group includes the siege of the Alamo in 1836, the incarceration of Union troops at Andersonville during the Civil War, and the experience of American combat troops during World War II. The second comprises the 1993 U.S. intervention in Somalia, the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."-- Back cover.

Series Statement

Culture, politics, and the Cold War

Uniform Title

Culture, politics, and the Cold War.

Subject

• Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer Bitterfeld
• 1961 - 1975
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > Social aspects > United States
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > United States > Psychological aspects
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 > Influence
• Memory > Social aspects > United States
• Collective memory > United States
• Collective memory
• Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
• Memory > Social aspects
• Psychological aspects
• Social aspects
• Vietnamkrieg
• Kollektives Gedächtnis
• Vietnamkriget 1957-1975 > sociala aspekter
• Vietnamkriget 1957-1975 > psykologiska aspekter
• Vietnamkriget 1957-1975 > influenser
• Minnet > sociala aspekter
• Kollektivt minne
• Utrikespolitik
• Försvarspolitik
• United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: "I know what it's like" -- "How far is Andersonville from Vietnam?": Vietnam revisionism and Andersonville National Historic Site -- "We veterans of mass murder and stupidity": older veterans' PTSD and the narration of combat in post-Vietnam memoirs of the Second World War -- "We see a lot of parallels between the men at the Alamo and ourselves": recovering from Vietnam at the Alamo -- "We should have said no": Vietnam's legacy, remembrance of Somalia, and debates over humanitarian intervention in the 1990s -- "It's almost like the Vietnam wall": the legacy of Vietnam and remembrance of Flight 93 -- "The lessons of history": Vietnam's legacy during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- Afterword: "the task of telling your story continues".

ISBN

• 9781625341006
• 1625341008
• 9781625340993
• 1625340990

LCCN

2014008141

OCLC

• ocn867765383
• 867765383
• SCSB-14471815

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library