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The reports in this novel are prefaced with a quote by Robert Shape, which sums up the feelings of those Americans involved in the Vietnam conflict. He states, Vietnam, Vietnam... There are no sure answers. In this novel, the author gives a detailed historical account of the happenings in Vietnam between 1950 and 1975. He successfully reports the confusing nature, proximity to the present and the emotions that still surround the conflict in Vietnam. In his journey through the years that America was involved in the Vietnam conflict, Herring seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in such a way as to clarify Americas involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam.
Herring begins his account with a summary of the First Indochina War. He reports that the Vietnamese resisted French imperialism as persistently as they had Chinese. French colonial policies had transformed the Vietnamese economic and social systems, giving rise to an urban middle class, however; the exploitation of the country and its people stimulated more radical revolutionary activity. Herring states that the revolution of 1945 was almost entirely the personal creation of the charismatic leader Ho Chi Minh. Minh is described as a frail and gentle man who radiated warmth and serenity, however; beneath this mild exterior existed a determined revolutionary who was willing to employ the most cold- blooded methods in the cause to which he dedicated his life.
With the guidance of Minh, the Vietminh launched as a response to the favorable circumstances of World War II. By the spring of 1945, Minh mobilized a base of great support. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Vietminh filled the vacuum. France and the Vietminh attempted to negotiate an agreement, but their goals were irreconcilable.
With all of this occurring in Vietnam, it was bound to draw attention from the United States. Herring reports that President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized that colonialism was doomed and that the US should identify with the Vietminh. In 1945, however, Roosevelt retreated from that earlier stance and endorsed a program in which colonies would be placed in trusteeship only with the approval of the mother country. After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, the US adopted a stance even more favorable to the French under the rule of the new president Harry S. Truman.
Herring states that the Truman administration had no interest in championing schemes of international trusteeship that would weaken and alienate the European states whose help we need to balance Soviet power in Europe (10). By 1950, the domino theory was a main concern to the United States. It was thought that the fall of Indochina would cause in rapid succession the collapse of the other nations of Southeast Asia. Therefore, in 1950 there was a strategic reassessment of USs involvement.
Henceforth, the United States felt that it held a vital interest in the goings on in Vietnam. A commitment was produced in early March to furnish France with military and economic assistance for the war against the Vietminh. By the time that the US committed itself to France, Ho Chi Minh controlled an estimated two-thirds of the countryside, and Vietminh regulars and guerrillas numbered in the hundreds of thousands. At first the US was not willing to involve itself in this situation, and they requested that France bear the primary responsibility for the war. Subsequently, by 1952, the United States was bearing one-third of the cost of the war, but was unhappy with the results and with the interaction with French military policy. Nevertheless, the State Department feared that if it pressed the French too hard they would withdraw and leave us holding the baby (25).
In this chapter, Herring successfully shows that what had begun as a localized rebellion against French colonialism had expanded into an international conflict of major proportions (25). Next, Herring reports that the United States tried nation building in South Vietnam. This occurred between 1954 and 1961. Diem's nationalism and administrative experience made him the logical choice for the premiership of an independent Vietnam, but he was lacking many qualities that were required for the challenges he would face. Herring admits that even now it is unclear how Diem became the premier of Vietnam.
The US did not think that Diem was capable of controlling the nation, but at the same time, there was no one to take his place who would serve US interests better (55). Through his bungling of responsibilities, Diem was found to be nothing but trouble for the United States and France, therefore; officials in Saigon were convinced that he must be removed. Now the experiment in nation building assumed the form of a crusade. Private charitable agencies provided food, soap, toothbrushes and emergency medical supplies. American money and technology helped to repair the vast damages resulting from more than a decade of war. More than any other single group, American aid allowed South Vietnam to survive the first few critical years after independence.
By the late 1950 s it appeared as though the new nation was flourishing. Herring reports that this was not exactly the situation. More like a downward spiral, Vietnam was becoming more dependent on the United States for support. Between 1954 and 1961, the United States came full circle in Vietnam. Through the rest of the decade it poured huge sums of money and great effort into constructing in the southern part of Vietnam a wall against further Communist expansion in Southeast Asia. Also, the Eisenhower administration kept the Diem regime afloat for six years.
When he was done with his terms as President, John F. Kennedy assumed power, only to face the ultimate failure in Vietnam. As the new president, John F. Kennedy had to choose between abandoning what he had called our offspring and significantly increasing the American commitment in Vietnam. Herring moves forward with Kennedys belief that Americas survival depended on its ability to defend Free institutions. Herring quotes Kennedy as saying, Our problems are critical.
The tide is unfavorable. The news will be worse before it is better (81). This was the theme that surrounded Kennedy throughout the 1960 campaign, and it set the tone for his administration. As reported in this novel, it seems as though Kennedy was not prepared for the problems that he inherited.
In the summer of 1961, some of Kennedys advisors pressed for escalation in Vietnam, however; Kennedy remained cautious. Therefore, he opted for the safe, middle of the road approach. This did not last for long though, and in 1961 instituting their new partnership, the United States and Diem entangled themselves more tightly in their fateful web (94). Their differences placed on the back burner, the United States and South Vietnam launched a two-pronged plan to contain the insurgency.
Supported by an large increase in supplies and advisors from the US, the South Vietnamese army took the offensive against the guerrillas of the Vietminh. During this time, the Kennedy administration went to considerable lengths to hide the nature of the USs involvement from its citizens. By early 1963, however, it all seemed to go downhill. Even the programs most ardent supporters admitted that this plan seemed to be fatally flawed.
Throughout the spring of 1963, optimism and uncertainty coexisted in Saigon and in Washington. After the death of JFK, Johnson took control of the US presidency. Between November 1963 and July 1965, he transformed a limited commitment to assist the South Vietnamese government to an open-ended commitment to make sure that South Vietnam remained independent and non-communist. In late 1963, North Vietnam significantly escalated the war. For Johnson, this made the United States take a long and tortuous rode to war with the Vietminh. During the first three months of Johnsons presidency, the situation in South Vietnam steadily worsened.
Despite his concern, however; the president was not prepared to employ American military power on a large scale in early 1964. On the night of August 4 th, the Maddox and Turner Joy suddenly reported being under attack. Washington was now ready to strike back. Johnson got permission from congress to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression (136). Herring reports that from a domestic standpoint, Johnsons actions in the Tonkin Gulf were masterly.
However, later it is shown that Johnson will pay for this victory. Johnson took this nation into war using the tactics of indirection and dissimulation. Next, the president authorized a major commitment of ground forces and a new strategy for their deployment. In July 1965, quietly and without fanfare Johnson launched the US into a situation in South Vietnam which would become its longest, most frustrating and most decisive war. The steady expansion of the war spurred strong international and domestic pressures for negotiations, but the military stalemate produced an equally firm diplomatic impasse.
By mid- 1967, Johnson was tangled in a web that he wove himself. The people at home were angry. Those in Vietnam were angry. Johnson seemed to have no allies left.
Getting in to the war was the easy part, now the trouble is finding a road out of South Vietnam. Unwilling to make concessions and unable to end the war by force, Nixon tried falling back on the Vietnamization policy he had inherited from Johnson. However, making this worked was a formidable task. Dealing with the Tet offensive, the problems in Cambodia and the Easter Offensive left the American troops and the Vietminh battered and exhausted. Herring reports that after these struggles, the two nations began inching closer to peace. A treaty was offered and then finally accepted by Thieu.
The Saigon government never formally endorsed the treaty; but Thieu let it be known that he would not oppose it. In closing this novel, Herring discusses the legacy of Vietnam. In Vietnam itself, the legacy of the war has been continued human suffering. The losers in this battle however were the South Vietnamese. Vietnam has remained one of the worlds poorest countries. As for America, their allies had consequences that exceeded the size of their contribution.
Herring reports that in the aftermath of the war, the nation experienced a self-conscious, collective amnesia (305). Now the United States had no other choice but to search for lessons in this horrible disaster. The greatest impact of the war seemed to be on Americas foreign policy. Throughout the 1980 s, the ghost of Vietnam hovered over an increasingly divisive debate on the proper US response to revolutions in Central America. The same issues were brought up once again during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. When the US and its allies decisively defeated Iraq, President Bush declared that the United States had finally rid itself of the Vietnam syndrome.
However, in the aftermath of the Gulf War, there were still some reservations held by American citizens as to the competency of the US military in handling foreign affairs. So, although the war has ended in the physical sense, the ghosts of the Vietnam conflict stills haunt American policy makers today.
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