“It
is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of
murder.”
-Albert Einstein
My research will
be circling around the U.S. War Crimes. During Vietnam War, many “slaughtering”
style missions had been authorized for unjust purpose such as body count. To
achieve the number, they would kill anyone. By “anyone” I meant not only the targeted
VC but also unharmed civilians (young to old men, women, children, and even
infants). One of the vivid examples is the My Lai massacre, 1968. The order was
“Kill anything that moves” and “Search and Destroy”. And with that permission,
bullets were blindly fired.
Besides massive
murder, other committed crimes are rapes and body mutilation. Even though in
the 1970s, interviews and investigations had been opened but nothing leased
until 2005. The higher-up covered them all: “A massive 9 thousand pages of
evidence implicating U.S. troops in a wide range of atrocities…the Pentagon
kept the entire collection under wraps” (Nelson pg. 2).
The U.S. goal of
going to VN war is to assist Democracy and prevent the spread of Communism in
VN. They came to help Vietnamese people, to liberate the country from the North
communists. But what was that with all the gruel slaughter on unharmed
civilians? I see a huge contradiction between the U.S.’s intention and their
act. Therefore in my paper, I want to criticize the U.S. perceptions about VN.
The fact that they came to VN without knowing VN culture and history lead to
false assumptions, misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
Here is the
outline of my paper:
-
First I will introduce My Lai massacre as a case
study to point out the U.S. war crimes (rape, murder)
-
Then criticize some perceptions about Vietnamese
and VC from the U.S. soldier’s perspective.
-
Analyze some factors contributing to the birth
of those perceptions/ stereotypes and what could have been done to prevent this
outcome.
Methodology:
- Books (case studies and interview
records)
- Journals
- DVD
- Oral interview clips.
Bibliography
Karlin, Wayne. Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead
and the Living in Viet Nam. New York: Nation, 2009. Print.
Nelson, Deborah. The War behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront
the Truth about U.S. War Crimes. New York: Basic, 2008. Print.
Sherman, Nancy. The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds,
and Souls of Our Soldiers. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Carbonella, August. "Structures of Fear, Spaces of
Hope." Anthropologica 51.2 (2009): 353-61. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/25605490>.
Kieran, David. "‘It’s a Different Time. It’s a
Different Era. It’s a Different Place’: The Legacy of Vietnam and Contemporary
Memoirs of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." War & Society
31.1 (2012): 64-83. Web. 22 April 2013.
Jespersen, Christopher T. "Analogies at War: Iraq and
Vietnam." OAH Magazine of History
27.1 (2013): 19-22. America: History & Life. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Flamm, Michael W. "From Testimony to Tragedy: My Lai in
Personal Perspective." OAH Magazine
of History 22.4 (2008): 54-57. America: History & Life. Web. 22
Apr. 2013.
Harrison, Benjamin T., and Christopher L. Mosher. "The
Secret Diary of McNamara's Dove: The Long-Lost Story of John T. McNaughton's
Opposition to the Vietnam War." Diplomatic History 35.3 (2011):
505-34. America: History & Life. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Platoon. Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Charlie Sheen and
Willem Dafoe. Orion Pictures, 1986. DVD.
In the Year of the Pig. Dir. Emile De Antonio. Perf.
Harry S. Ashmore and Daniel Berrigan. McGraw-Hill Films, 1968. DVD.
Robert J. Miller (2006). “Native America, Discovered And Conquered: Thomas
Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, And Manifest Destiny.”
Greenwood. p.120.
Quynh - Didn't you already write your Research Proposal?
ReplyDeleteThis is what I wrote on the last proposal.
"This Is Colette.
Will you be looking into the structure of the military in the US and the cultural attributes that go into the Armed forces? I think the execution and carrying out of such orders was characterized by the Army's ultra dehumanizing nature and jargon for the Viet Con.
In assessing the cover-up by the Government, what will you hope to achieve? What questions do you have that will be answered through the examination of the documents and research that you are doing.
In being critical of the body count operations and the war crimes committed by the US, can you specify which commanders carried out the orders and the names of the battalions that they led and/or the number of troops under them?"
-Colette
Hi Quynh, this is Yee. In addition to your paper, what else can you tell us about the effects from the US's 'search and destroy' mission? How has it affected the Vietnamese people and the VN culture? How many people are still affected because of the US's actions during this time of war and also give some more detail background on the relationship between VN and USA. What other solutions or recommendations would you assess for current operating US military members? Lastly, do you think the United States should have such a strong military presence?
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