Voices of the Vietnam POWs

Witnesses to Their Fight

By: Craig Howes

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Paperback | 1 June 1998

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.73

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Unsure whether they would be greeted as traitors or heroes, POWs returning from Vietnam responded by holding tight to their chosen motto, "Return with Honor." "We're giving the American people what they want and badly need--heroes," said a Vietnam jungle POW. "I feel it's our responsibility, our duty to help them where possible shed the idea this war was a waste, useless, as unpopular as it may have been." In the first book to explore the entire range of memoirs, biographies, and group histories published since America's Vietnam POWs returned home, Craig Howes explores the development of a collective history. He describes how these captives drew upon their national heritage to compose a unified, common story while still in prison, and how individual POWs have responded to this Official Story. Examining what racial, cultural, and political assumptions support this shared Official Story, Howes places the POWs' experiences squarely in the center of American history, and within those
larger clashes of opinion and belief which characterized the nation's response to the Vietnam War. The result is an engrossing study of what these captivity narratives can tell us about the POWs, their captors, and America's Vietnam legacy.

Industry Reviews

"In fact or fiction, the argument--from many of the senior POWs and from some cultural commentators--that the prisoners were the war's only true 'heroes' is one of real cultural and historical importance, for it will help determine in part what the overall 'text' of the Vietnam War is, how the overall event is connected and harmonized within older, larger American mythic narratives."--Thomas Myers, author of Walking Point "[A] fascinating account....A penetrating account of the creation of memory and the uses of collective history."--Canadian Military History "In fact or fiction, the argument--from many of the senior POWs and from some cultural commentators--that the prisoners were the war's only true 'heroes' is one of real cultural and historical importance, for it will help determine in part what the overall 'text' of the Vietnam War is, how the overall event is connected and harmonized within older, larger American mythic narratives."--Thomas Myers, author of Walking Point "[A] fascinating account....A penetrating account of the creation of memory and the uses of collective history."--Canadian Military History

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction History Military History Post WW2 Conflicts Vietnam War Regional & National History Asian History Earliest Times to Present Day 20th Century History from 1900 to 2000 Post War 20th Century History after 1945 Warfare & Defence Other Warfare & Defence Issues

Prisoners of War History of the Americas Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature Australasian & Pacific History

Introduction: America's Vietnam POWs	p. 3
The Code, the Rules, and the Body
The Fighting Man's Code	p. 17
Camp Authority and the Rules of the Game	p. 41
Torture and War's Body	p. 53
The Official Story and the Big Picture
The Official Story	p. 75
The Big Picture	p. 115
One Man's View
A Prophet Returns to His People	p. 165
The Story's Other Sides	p. 193
Keeping the Faith--James Bond Stockdale	p. 233
Notes	p. 257
Bibliography	p. 277
Index	p. 285
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Voices of the Vietnam POWs

Witnesses to Their Fight

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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