Late Thoughts on an Old War: The Legacy of Vietnam

By Philip D. Beidler

Book Overview

Philip D. Beidler, who served as an armored cavalry platoon leader in Vietnam, sees less and less of the hard-won perspective of the common soldier in what America has made of that war. Each passing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820325899
• ISBN13: 9780820325897
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Important Contribution to the Literature of the Vietnam War

Mr. Beidler uses his personal experiences along with his academic abilities to offer the reader a unique view of the Vietnam War. He suggests that we have created a myth about Vietnam and that we haven't learned any lessons about the limits of our abilities as a culture or government. We haven't faced up to the consequences of our actions in Vietnam. What I really liked about this book is that Mr. Beidler didn't forget the participants. One chapter in particular, "How I flunked race in Vietnam", gave me a valuable insight into human behavior.

A Must Read, Especially Now

How quickly we forget. The "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" and Ted Sampley run John Kerry through the mill for his "betrayal" of the troops who served in Vietnam in his testimony in the Senate in 1971. Dr. Beidler reminds us that it wasn't the soldiers that were to blame for the atrocity that was the Vietnam War but the blind stupidity of the political and military leadership that led to, and kept us in, a war that we were never going to win. Read this and "They Marched Into Sunlight" to get a refresher on why things were they way they were in the late 60's and early 70's. I particularly appreciate Dr. Beildler's perspective on the totally superficial "sacrifices" of the American public in the current war. In speaking of the soldiers of this war he says, "Don't come home expecting anybody to remotely care". We are too busy on our cell phones.