Overview

In May 1965, vice president Hubert Humphrey declared that ""the Viet Cong has committed the most unbelievable acts of terrorism the world has ever known."" And throughout the long conflict in Vietnam, Americans similarly demonized the enemy fighters as reds, gooks, and fanatical killers. Offering a radically different view of these supposedly savage soldiers, Mekong Diaries presents never-before-published drawings, poems, letters, and oral histories by ten of the most celebrated Viet Cong war artists. These guerrilla artists—some military officers and some civilians—lived clandestinely with the fighters, moving camp alongside them, going on reconnaissance missions, and carrying their sketchbooks, ink, and watercolors into combat. Trained by professors from the Hanoi Institute of Fine Arts who journeyed down the perilous Ho Chi Minh Trail to ensure a pictorial history of the war, they recorded battles and events from Operation Junction City to Khe Sanh to the Tet Offensive. They also sketched as the spirit moved them, rendering breathtaking landscapes, hut and bunker interiors, activities at base camps, troops on the move, portraits for the families of fallen soldiers, and the unimaginable devastation that the conflict left in its wake. Their collective record—which Sherry Buchanan skillfully compiles here—is an extraordinary historical and artistic document of people at war. As such, it serves as a powerful response to the self-centeredness of American accounts of Vietnam, filling a profound gap in our national memory by taking us into the misunderstood worlds of those whom we once counted among our worst enemies.

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9780226078304

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""An extensive published record exists for documents and relics from the Vietnam War, yet this book, well designed and photographed by Misha Anikst, offers a rare personal dimension. The mottoes on these lighters, like 'When I die I will go to heaven because I spent my time in hell,' provide candid insight into what these soldiers thought of the war."" - New York Times Book Review ""Sobering.... Using Zippos from the collection of artist Bradford Edwards, Buchanan shows the personal histories of some of the millions who served [in Vietnam]. This unique approach is by turns funny, pornographic, informative, and heartbreaking."" - Minneapolis Star-Tribune""

"""An extensive published record exists for documents and relics from the Vietnam War, yet this book, well designed and photographed by Misha Anikst, offers a rare personal dimension. The mottoes on these lighters, like 'When I die I will go to heaven because I spent my time in hell,' provide candid insight into what these soldiers thought of the war."" - New York Times Book Review ""Sobering.... Using Zippos from the collection of artist Bradford Edwards, Buchanan shows the personal histories of some of the millions who served [in Vietnam]. This unique approach is by turns funny, pornographic, informative, and heartbreaking."" - Minneapolis Star-Tribune"""

An extensive published record exists for documents and relics from the Vietnam War, yet this book, well designed and photographed by Misha Anikst, offers a rare personal dimension. The mottoes on these lighters, like 'When I die I will go to heaven because I spent my time in hell,' provide candid insight into what these soldiers thought of the war. - New York Times Book Review Sobering.... Using Zippos from the collection of artist Bradford Edwards, Buchanan shows the personal histories of some of the millions who served [in Vietnam]. This unique approach is by turns funny, pornographic, informative, and heartbreaking. - Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Author Information

Sherry Buchanan is an independent scholar, author, and publisher of Asian and Vietnamese contemporary art, history, and culture. Her most recent book is Vietnam Zippos. A former features editor at the Wall Street Journal, she has served as a columnist for the International Herald Tribune in Brussels, Paris, London, and Hong Kong. She remains active in children's charities in Vietnam.

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