Nhia Moua - Week 3

 

Le Espritu’s “The We-Win-Even-Though-We-Lose Syndrome” article discusses the new narrative of the Vietnam War that the United States constructed twenty-five years after the fall of Saigon.  What I found most interesting about this article is the fact that I grew up knowing this new narrative, and that this new narrative happen to be the only narrative I knew about the Vietnam War.   Another thing I found interesting about this was the role that Asian American newsletters, etc. played in the reconstruction of the Vietnam War narrative.  This goes to show how powerful media (or whatever it is) is in influencing the way people remember certain events.  Back in the 60s, there was a huge anti-war movement, especially against the war in Vietnam, so some people might assume that to reconstruct that memory would be ambitious.  The Vietnam War had foster so many negative responses, how can anyone forget drama response from the public? Nonetheless, the US was successful in renarrating their involvement in the Vietnam War.  In primary and secondary school, we learn about the anti-war movement, but they never delve deep enough to have students question and wonder about the movement.  I’m left wondering about the other things the government might have renarrated.  How much of what I know and am taught is the truth and how much of it isn’t? What sources can I trust to keep me fully informed? (This question relates back to the Asian American sources that contributed into the reconstruction of the Vietnam War narrative.)