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612-822-4611
Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN

Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN

Hardcover

Military BiographiesSoutheast Asian HistoryVietnam War

ISBN10: 0814794106
ISBN13: 9780814794104
Publisher: New York Univ Pr
Published: Dec 1 2007
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.33
Height: 1.08 Width: 6.36 Depth: 8.98
Language: English

2009 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award for Biography

Examines South Vietnam's complex relationship with the United States through the stories of two Vietnamese soldiers' diverging paths

Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN chronicles the lives of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, two of the brightest young stars in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Both men fought with valor in a war that seemed to have no end, exemplifying ARVN bravery and determination that is largely forgotten or ignored in the West. However, while Hue fought until he was captured by the North Vietnamese Army and then endured thirteen years of captivity, Dinh surrendered and defected to the enemy, for whom he served as a teacher in the reeducation of his former ARVN comrades.

An understanding of how two lives that were so similar diverged so dramatically provides a lens through which to understand the ARVN and South Vietnam's complex relationship with America's government and military. The lives of Dinh and Hue reflect the ARVNs battlefield successes, from the recapture of the Citadel in Hue City in the Tet Offensive of 1968, to Dinhs unheralded role in the seizure of Hamburger Hill a year later. However, their careers expose an ARVN that was over-politicized, tactically flawed, and dependent on American logistical and firepower support. Marginalized within an American war, ARVN faced a grim fate as U.S. forces began to exit the conflict. As the structure of the ARVN/U.S. alliance unraveled, Dinh and Hue were left alone to make the most difficult decisions of their lives.

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