Peace and Prisoners of War

A South Vietnamese Memoir of the Vietnam War

De: Phan Nhat Nam, Senator James Webb - introduction

Narrado por: David Shih

Duración: 9 h y 2 m

Resumen del Editor

American discussions of the Vietnam War tend to gloss over the period from 1972 to the final North Vietnamese offensive in 1975. But these were brutal times for America's South Vietnamese allies combined with a period of intense diplomatic negotiations conducted under the increasing reality that America had abandoned them.

In Peace and Prisoners of War, written in "real-time" as events occurred, Phan Nhat Nam provides a unique window into the harsh combat that followed America's withdrawal and the hopelessness of South Vietnam's attempt to stave off an eventual communist victory. Phan Nhat Nam saw the war for years as a combat soldier in one of South Vietnam's most respected airborne divisions, then as the country's most respected war reporter, and for 14 years after the war as a prisoner in Hanoi's infamous "re-education" camps, including eight years in solitary confinement. In the war's aftermath, anonymity became his fate both inside Vietnam and here in America.

But now one of his important works is available, enhanced by an introduction by Senator James Webb, one of the most decorated Marines in the Vietnam War. Phan's reporting makes clear the sense of doom that foretold the tragic events to come, on the battlefields and in the frustration of negotiating with an implacable enemy while abandoned by its foremost ally.

©1974 Phan Nhat Nam; Introduction copyright 2020 by James Webb (P)2021 Tantor

Interesting

This is my first dive into the mind of a South Vietnamese veteran and it was highly interesting. It's a first hand look at the negotiations and actions of both Vietnamese parties up to and after the Paris Accords. I would love to explore Phan Nhat Nam's thoughts on the events thereafter, however I think they are only in Vietnamese for now.