I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. From 1962 to 1973, more than 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War. It was for fear of being beaten to this beat that black soldiers avoided the Saigon bars where their white comrades kept the jukeboxes humming with Hank Williams and his kind, sonic signposts that said, in essence, You will kill ten of us, we will kill one of you, but in the end, you will tire of it first., In World War One, they called it shell shock. Book by Curtis E LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor, p. 565, 1965. For it seems now more certain than ever, that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. Le Duan reminds agents in the South of tactics (November 1965) This collection of U.S. news from local, regional, and national sources offers print and online newspapers, blogs, journals, newswires, broadcast transcripts, and videos. Primary Sources are original sources: they were created by someone who participated in or observed an event. They were part of an allied force led by the United States. photos of artifacts of the Cold War such as civil defense supplies, communist flags, military aircraft, people. A Viet Cong guerrilla tells of the Tet offensive (1968) I think we have all underestimated the seriousness of this situation. How dare you bandits trespass on our land? General Collections MSU has hundreds of government documents pertaining to the Vietnam War. The series, which began in 1861 under President Abraham Lincoln, contains books and documents from various Presidential libraries as well as different governmental agencies. In August of that year, the antiwar protests at the University of Wisconsin took an ominous turn; a bomb destroyed the building holding the Army Math Research Center, killing one young scientist . The song, which gained larger prominence when it was re-recorded by the folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, became one of the most famous protest songs to come out of the 60s as well . War, Childhood, Vietnam 15 Copy quote Show source Numbers have dehumanized us. Just go to Scout or The Classic Catalog and do an author search (you'll need to use the drop-down menu by the search bar to change to author)for the president you're looking for (for example: "Reagan, Ronald"). Vietnam was not only being destroyed in order to "save it" but it was becoming clear that those responsible for defeating communism were being severely damaged by their experiences. Vietnam is the place. Mark Moyar holds the Kim T. Adamson Chair of Insurgency and Terrorism at the U.S. Marine Corps University, Quantico, VA 22134; moyars@mindspring.com. Good Luck in your research endeavors. They just want to be good. US Senate debate on the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 1964) I therefore ordered the evacuation of all American personnel remaining in South Vietnam. President Gerald Fordsstatement announcing the evacuation of United States personnel from the Republic of Vietnam on April 29, 1975. "Petraeus on Vietnam's Legacy." The Washington Post, January 14, 2007. Transcriptions of significant documents from the Vietnam War. There is nothing in the resolution, as I read it, that contemplates [sending American armies to Vietnam]. The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel, p.140, Macmillan. Other branches were established in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle and Adelaide. Pham Van Dong on Geneva, Vietnamese independence (July 1954) We hugged one another and cried a while, then looked up and around; our shed and the ducks were gone, After dark, the leathernecks were put on edge when three Vietnamese children, each carrying torches, were brought into the perimet, Whatever the case, after you see the damage a mortar round can do, the word incoming! We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the communists. President John Kennedy in a televised interview with Walter Cronkite on September 2, 1963. Weve been in jail for 400 years., But this too is true: stories can save us., Anyone who isn't confused really doesn't understand the situation.. 777 Glades Road This is just what a professional violist wants to do to further his career, We were alive without a scratch, but mud was all over us. (I still love to picture the face of Henry Brandon when he found out what his hero had done to his telephone.) A timeline for the years 1945-1997 from the online companion to the PBS series Vietnam: A Television History. //. It explains how black military service helped to destroy slavery; it is a social history of black soldiers; it explains how soldiering shaped the life of black people during and after the war. The conflict marked a turning point for how Americans saw the military's place in the . If the Buddhists wish to have another barbecue, Ill gladly supply the gasoline and a match. Tran Le Xuan, better known asMadame Nhuor the Dragon Lady, dismissing the fact thatBuddhist monks had set themselves on firein the summer of 1963 to protest the rule of her brother-in-law, South Vietnamese PresidentNgo Dinh Diem, for whom she acted as an unofficial first lady. Robert F. Kennedys Kansas State University speech (March 1968) Vietnam before 1954 Edict of Emperor Minh Mang against Christians in Vietnam (1833) The suicide note of Hanoi governor Hoang Dieu (1882) Augustine Heard, an American traveller, reports on Indochina (1886) Anonymous poem about French oppression in Vietnam (1900) Phan Boi Chau on Vietnam's awakening (1914) Contains the full-text of newspaper articles going back to the 19th century. Ngo Dinh Diem addresses a joint session of the US Congress (1957) Another extensive list from Mount Holyoke College focusing on the Vietnam War. I am not going to lose Vietnam. I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party as your President. President Lyndon Johnson telling the nation on March 31, 1968 that he would not seek reelection. . Communist Vietnam fought insurgencies in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. My whole family cried but me, I swallowed my tears. Because of that, commanders were first and foremost in the fear suppression business." Ordinary intra-mural and extra-mural leaking, to such duly constituted bodies as Congress, was getting out of hand. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. It was Kissinger who inaugurated the second front or home front of the war; illegally wiretapping the telephones even of his own staff and of his journalistic clientele. A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. I believe that within the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to mistake such a historic mistake.Senator Wayne Morse(D-OR) on theSenates impending voteto adopt theGulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964. Within the U.S., the war gave rise to what was referred to asVietnam Syndrome, a public aversion to American overseas military involvements,which together with theWatergate scandalcontributed to the crisis of confidence that affected America throughout the 1970s. This book includes facts, a timeline of events, detailed pictures, mini-bios of key people involved, sources, quotes, it discusses who won the war, and how this was achieved. Our morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit that trough before somebody else gobbles our share. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh in a warning to French colonialists in 1946. However, the language of the resolution would not prevent it. . History Vault is a collection of primary source material pertaining to the civil rights movement and to U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War era. Richard M. Nixon World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism. We believe that peace is at hand. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger speaking at a White House press conference about the Paris Peace negotiations on October 26, 1972, two weeks before the presidential election. Seymour Hersh breaks the story of the My Lai killings (1969) Soon they will land on the plants in search of bollworm eggs. Richard Pyle covered the Vietnam War for The Associated Press from 1968 to 1973 as a field correspondent and, from 1970-73, as Saigon bureau chief. Today marks another significant date in the Vietnam War: the fortieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. Weekly. This powerful platform greatly enhances the research experience for students and researchers by broadening their discovery of primary source documents through the use of multiple search options and research tools. Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place. I deliberately did not read anything about the Vietnam War because I felt the politics of the war eclipsed what happened to the veterans. We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves. President Lyndon Johnson in a speech at Akron University on October 21, 1964, two weeks before the presidential election. Over 1,300 CIA documents dated between 1947 and 1954 pertaining to the Korean War. After attending his first Cabinet meeting he went back to his mentor Sam Rayburn and told him with great enthusiasm how extraordinary they were, each brighter than the next, and that the smartest of them all was that fellow with the Stacomb on his hair from the Ford Motor Company, McNamara. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The Korean War and its Origins: Truman Library. Primary Sources Books Tonsetic, Robert. For it seems now more certain than ever, that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power - not with ground forces. I think all the people who remember it should forget it, and all the people who forgot it should remember it. "A collection of first-hand accounts drawn from the extensive records of the National Archives. JSTOR Ngo Dinh Diem decrees the death sentence (May 1959) America has made no reparation to the Vietnamese, nothing. Viet Stories: Vietnamese American Oral History Project at the University of California, Irvine actively assembles, preserves, and disseminates the life stories of Vietnamese Americans in Southern California. Newspapers.com Library Edition offers full page newspaper images with searchable full-text of newspapers. It has a great bibliography and good academic discussion on the war. The real enemy of my people is here. 'They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating theLaotian Civil Warand theCambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975. Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. I am not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went. Newly inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson at a White House meeting on November 24, 1963 responding to U.S. ambassador to South VietnamHenry Cabot Lodge, Jr.telling him that Vietnam would go under any day if we dont do something.. U.S. involvement escalated under PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, from just under a thousandmilitary advisorsin 1959 to 23,000 in 1964. The commitment of five hundred thousand Americans has settled the issue of the importance of Vietnam. TheVietnam War(also known byother names) was a conflict inVietnam,Laos, andCambodiafrom 1 November 1955to thefall of Saigonon 30 April 1975. Declassified reports based on U.S. surveillance. Coverage includes: The New York Times (1851-2008), The Wall Street Journal (1889-1994), Chicago Tribune (1849-1988), The Washington Post (1877-1995); and Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953). Prepared by Edward C. Keefer, John M. Carland, and Bradley L. Coleman. This immediate and vital interest has in consequence taken precedence over active steps looking toward the realization of our objectives in Indochina. Department of State, Policy Statement on Indochina, issued on September 27, 1948, explaining why the United States supported French policy in Vietnam even though U.S. officials believed it ran counter to their long-term objectives for the region. Well, Lyndon, Mister Sam answered, you may be right and they may be every bit as intelligent as you say, but Id feel a whole lot better about them if just one of them had run for sheriff once. It is my favorite story in the book, for it underlines the weakness of the Kennedy team, the difference between intelligence and wisdom, between the abstract quickness and verbal fluency which the team exuded, and the true wisdom, which is the product of hard-won, often bitter experience. 1953. The Nation offers a 135-year archive of reporting opinion and criticism. We savaged them, though they had never hurt us, and we cannot find it in our hearts, our honor, to give them help-because the government of Vietnam is Communist. (These sources, and others quoted in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity. . Diaries, histories, telephone conversation transcripts, photos . Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000 American dead in Vietnam. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. HeinOnline Foreign Relations of the United States presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. North Vietnamese peace proposal (June 1971) becomes the scariest word you know., Shortly after midnight, two huge explosions erupted somewhere in the middle of the hamlet. President Richard Nixon to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Primary source translations that are in the Tricollege libraries will often be listed in Tripod under subject terms using the word "sources" or "autobiograph*" or "personal narratives." For example, the search Subject: sources AND (Subject: (viet OR vietnam*) produces books including: The Civil War and World War II were the wars that . he received a medical deferment from the draft during the Vietnam War because of the alleged presence of . Phil Ochs, born in 1940, became the most successful male singer-songwriter in the 1964-65 period. Speeches, Writing, and Other Primary Sources back to top Declaration of Independence, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam WWW Virtual Library -Gen. Curtis LeMay, May 1964. "Standing beside twenty-five other nerve-racked young men called to the draft," writes David Remnick at The New Yorker, Ali "refused to respond to the call of 'Cassius Clay!'"Offered the choice of going to Vietnam or to jail, he chose the latter "and was sentenced to . We have many print collections of Presidential Papers in Gorgas Library. A US intelligence briefing on the situation in Vietnam (August 1974) John Kennedy waited for us on a hill in Arlington National Cemetery, and in time we came by the thousands to fill those slopes with out white marble markers and to ask on the murmur of the wind if that was truely the future he had envisioned for us., The chanting went on, the musicians giving in to the rhythm of their own being, finding healing in touching that rhythm, and healing in chanting about death, the only real god they knew., The Americans won't win. ", It seems like our town has closed down these days leading up to the funeral. In those sources, Ho Chi Minh explained why the Vietnamese were fighting and that they wanted to be free and independent. Excerpts from the Paris Peace Accords (January 1973) Ali gave what became known as his "Black is Best" speech, in which he exhorted students to abandon society's concept of them and to fashion their own, based upon pride in themselves and their people: All you need to do is know yourself to set yourself free. Cross examination of Lieutenant William Calley (1970) We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the communists. President John Kennedy in atelevised interviewwithWalter Cronkiteon September 2, 1963. Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. A collection of primary source documents related to the Korean War. "Mission With LeMay: My Story". A Viet Cong member reflects on its approach to war (1985) This rich collection of federal records, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries is organized in five subject categories: 1) Black Freedom Struggle; 2) NAACP Papers; 3) Slavery and the Law; 4) Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records; and. These are just two examples: You decide which controversy to explore. Eisenhower praises the progress in South Vietnam (October 1960), John F. Kennedys inauguration speech (January 1961) Was the architect qualified to design the memorial? By the time United States troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, the Vietnam War had become one of the longest, most controversial conflicts in American history. How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? January 09, 2007. Dalton Trumbo (2007). For more coverage of the Korean War on the Digital Archive, see the . 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