The Vietnam War (review)

Greenwood Press is well known for its exceptional reference works and scholarly series. The American Soldiers’ Lives project of Greenwood’s Daily Life through History series wonderfully fits this tradition. The latest volume in the project, The Vietnam War, by James E. Westheider, is a well written, thoroughly researched book that both students and scholars will find useful as a resource on the day-to-day experience of the Vietnam War. Westheider, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati-Clermont College, has written extensively on Vietnam, especially the African-American experience in the war, including Fighting on Two Fronts: African-Americans and the Vietnam War (1997) and The African-American Experience in Vietnam: Brothers in Arms (2008).

The American Soldiers’ Lives project explores the very reasonable questions of what do soldiers go through in war and why do they do it. The hardships, the tedious boredom, and the extreme danger are sufficient to dissuade even the most ardent patriot, and yet draftees, volunteers, and professionals have served in conflicts across human history. Westheider pursues these questions in an organized and thorough manner that provides snapshots into a wide range of soldiers’ experiences in the Vietnam War. After a brief overview of the conflict, Westheider looks at recruitment, especially the draft, training for both enlisted personnel and officers, and the variety of duties and jobs performed in Vietnam. Life in the field and the combat experience gets due attention, with interesting discussions on food and nutrition, the USO, and the black market, among many other issues. Then, Westheider examines issues of concern to soldiers both during and after the war, including military justice, combat refusals, and returning home.

Throughout the book, Westheider is mindful of race, ethnicity, and gender, and skillfully uses these as lenses to delineate among experiences. He also utilizes good context, showing how the same issue could be experienced differently depending upon the phase of the war in which it occurred. While the book primarily focuses on the American experience, the author does take advantage of recent work on the Vietnamese (both North and South) experience in the war, which for students provide much needed points of comparison for students.

Westheider uses a range of sources, both primary and secondary, though some might find David Hackworth cited more than needed, in view of the great wealth of material on the Vietnam experience that is available. The strength of the book is its balance. Considering he offers multiple snapshots on so many issues, Westheider does a fine job of giving equal treatment to them across the book.

Those looking for a good resource on the day-to-day experience of the Vietnam era soldier will find Westheider’s work most satisfactory and useful to their research. Undergraduate history majors will find this book particularly helpful. Good maps and appropriate photographs round out the book, and the bibliography, though not exhaustive, is suitable for a student resource. The cost of the book is prohibitive for classroom use, but make sure the library has a copy for reserve reading lists for courses on Vietnam and military history.