Table of Contents
1 The Background Before March 1959
Introduction 10
Indochina Colonized 12
Revolt and Resistance 16
Ho Chi Minh 20
From Independence to War 24
Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare 28
The First Indochina War 32
The Cold War 36
French Defeat at Dien Bien Phu 40
Dien Bien Phu 44
The Geneva Accords 46
Vietnam Divided 52
NGO Dinh Diem 56
Cambodia and Laos 60
2 America Drawn into Vietnam Mar 1959-Dec 1964
Introduction 66
Guerrilla Warfare Resumes 68
The Viet Cong 72
Viet Cong Gear and Weaponry 76
Creating the Ho Chi Minh Trail 78
The Kennedy Administration 82
President John F. Kennedy 86
American Intervention in Laos 90
The Green Berets 94
The Green Berets in Vietnam 98
The Mountain People 100
Strategic Hamlets 104
The Buddhist Crisis 108
Diem Assassinated 114
South Vietnam on the Brink 118
The Tonkin Gulf Incident 122
President Lyndon B. Johnson 126
3 America Goes to War Jan 1965-Sep 1967
Introduction 132
The Decision for War 134
General William C. Westmoreland 138
Bombing North Vietnam 142
Aircraft 146
Air-to-Air Combat 148
A Pilot's View 152
Search-and-Destroy 154
Battle of la Drang Valley 158
Air Mobility 162
The Call to Service 166
Life on Base 170
Recuperation and Entertainment 174
Mementos and Memorabilia 178
A Place to Party 180
America's Allies 182
Battle of Long Tan 186
War in the Iron Triangle 190
The African American Experience 194
An African American Soldier 198
Airpower over South Vietnam 200
Helicopters in Vietnam 204
Digging In 206
Tunnel Rat 210
War on the Ho Chi Minh Trail 212
Combined Action Program 216
The Naval War 220
Operation Junction City 224
Chemical Warfare 228
The North Vietnamese Army 234
NVA Kit and Weaponry 238
Vietnamese Women at War 240
A Woman in the NVA 244
The Challenges of Ground Combat 246
The War at Home 252
4 The Turning Point Sep 1967-Dec 1968
Introduction 258
Going for Victory 260
General Giap 264
Prelude to the Tet Offensive 268
The Saigon Circle 272
Tet Offensive 278
US Gear and Weaponry 280
The Media and the War 282
Saigon Execution 286
The Battle for Hue 288
US Marines in Vietnam 294
US Women at War 300
The Siege of Khe Sanh 304
The Siege of Khe Sanh 310
Artillery in Vietnam 312
Opening Negotiations 314
The "Mini Tet" 318
CORDS and Pacification 322
The Phoenix Program 326
Protest and Elections 330
5 Nixon's War 3 Jan 1969-Dec 1971
Introduction 336
The Nixon Administration 338
President Richard M. Nixon 342
Vietnamization 346
General Creighton Abrams 350
The ARVN 354
Withdrawal and Demoralization 358
Hamburger Hill 364
Medevac and Treatment 368
US Nurses 372
Nursing the Seriously Wounded 376
The My Lai Case 378
Cambodia Drawn into the War 382
The Khmer Rouge 386
Cambodian incursion 390
Political Storm 394
Horror at Kent State 398
Prisoners of War 400
Pow Objects 406
Lam Son 719 408
6 Easter Offensive to US Exit Jan 1972-Jan 1973
Introduction 414
Decision to Attack 416
American Strategy in 1972 420
Easter Offensive: Quang Tri 424
Napalm Attack 430
Easter Offensive: Kontum 432
Armored Vehicles 436
Easter Offensive: An Loc 438
Besieged at an Loc 442
Mining Haiphong Harbor 444
Linebacker I 448
Progress of the Peace Talks 452
Henry Kissinger 456
The Christmas Bombing 460
The Peace Accord 464
7 Endgame and Aftermath after January 1973
Introduction 472
Breaking the Ceasefire 474
General Thieu 478
Prelude at Phuoc Long 482
The Final Offensive Begins 486
The Battle of Xuan Loc 492
Evacuation 496
The Fail of Saigon 500
Khmer Rouge Victory
In Cambodia 504
The Mayaguez Incident 508
Pathet Lao Takeover 512
The Fate of South Vietnam 516
Boat People 520
Cambodia under Communism 522
Aftermath in Indochina 528
Indochina into the 21st Century 532
American Homecoming 536
The War In American Popular Culture 540
Visiting Vietnam 544
Index 548
Acknowledgments 557