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""No book about the Vietnam War can be simply a book about the Vietnam War. Vietnam's Forgotten Army appears in the midst of a raging debate over American armed interventions abroad and over the proper lessons to draw from Vietnam for the war in Iraq."" The Nation ""This is a fascinating study of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)--the South Vietnamese army--during America's involvement in the Vietnam War... This well-written, compassionate study is a major contribution to most libraries."" Library Journal ""This sympathetic biography of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, mid-level officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), provides a unique perspective among American war histories... [Readers] will gain new respect for the mishandled South Vietnamese army."" Publishers Weekly ""Exceptional, both in content and readability. Vietnam's Forgotten Army addresses one of the lacunas in the historiography of the war -- the story of the South Vietnamese soldier, a story that more often than not is totally ignored or only given the briefest of consideration. The authors vivid description of combat and its toll put a human face on what for many historians is merely a clinical discussion of unit moves, victories and defeats."" James H. Willbanks, Director, Department of Military History, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College ""Vietnam's Forgotten Army offers a compelling account of two heroic ARVN officers who, in the final years of the war, choose diametrically opposed courses of action. One surrenders, and enjoys a relatively easy subsequent life, but is plagued by guilt. His comrade-in-arms remains true to the Republic, suffers many years of separation, imprisonment and deprivation, but ultimately finds fulfilment. In the process of telling this remarkable story, Wiest offers a better understanding of the trials and travails of those who served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam."" James R. Reckner, Director, The Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University

Admiring biography of two officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which fought far better than most American histories have acknowledged.Vietnam has a long martial tradition, writes military historian Wiest (Haig: The Evolution of a Commander, 2005, etc.), so there was no shortage of young men eager for a military career when ARVN was created in the 1950s. They fought for 25 years and suffered more than 200,000 casualties, laboring under two critical flaws. Vietnamese leaders wanted a lightly armed, mobile anti-insurgency force, but American military advisors insisted on a heavily armed, Western-style army dependent on the United States for equipment and logistics. In addition, Vietnamese rulers relied on the army to remain in power, so they chose senior officers for loyalty rather than competence. Despite this, good commanders existed, and some ARVN units fought well. Wiest tells the story of two officers, Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, who led their units with courage and energy well documented in reports from American advisors who worked with them. Hue was captured during the disastrous invasion of Laos in 1970 and spent 13 years in North Vietnamese prisons. Dinh switched sides during the equally disastrous 1972 Easter Offensive and served in the North Vietnamese Army until his retirement. The author spends a great deal of time describing the fighting. While several hundred pages on small-unit actions will interest only military buffs, they present the war from the unfamiliar point of view of the Vietnamese. For example, ARVN did much of the fighting in the epic 1968 battle for the Citadel of Hue City, but saw Vietnamese contributions downplayed by American journalists more interested in depicting heroic Marines. The later offensives make painful reading as lack of good generalship and absence of American firepower undid the efforts of many brave Vietnamese soldiers. A unique perspective on the Vietnam War, though no less depressing than the old one. (Kirkus Reviews)

Exceptional, both in content and readability. Vietnam's Forgotten Army addresses one of the lacunas in the historiography of the war - the story of the South Vietnamese soldier, a story that more often than not is totally ignored or only given the briefest of consideration. The author's vivid description of combat and its toll put a human face on what for many historians is merely a clinical discussion of unit moves, victories, and defeats. JAMES H. WILLBANKS, Director, Department of Military History, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Vietnam's Forgotten Army offers a compelling account of two heroic ARVN officers who, in the final years of the war, choose diametrically opposed courses of action. One surrenders, and enjoys a relatively easy subsequent life, but is plagued by guilt. His comrade-in-arms remains true to the Republic, suffers many years of separation, imprisonment and deprivation, but ultimately finds fulfillment. In the process of telling this remarkable story, Wiest offers a better understanding of the trials and travails of those who served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam. JAMES R. RECKNER, Director, The Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University

While tactical history can seem stilted and dry at times, Andrew Wiest, in Vietnam's Forgotten Army, presents an enriched and dynamic history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) by chronicling the careers of two of ARVN's best young officers, Tran Ngoc Hue and Pham Van Dinh, as they fought in the Vietnam War. Wiest seeks to dispel the myth of the ARVN as an ineffective fighting force... The value of Vietnam's Forgotten Army lies in the author's appreciation for ARVN fighting prowess and the book's interesting perspective of the Vietnam War. -Military Review Wiest's excellent book helps to fill a yawning void in the history of the Vietnam War. -Journal of Military History This sympathetic biography of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, mid-level officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), provides a unique perspective among American war histories... [Readers] will gain new respect for the mishandled South Vietnamese army. -Publishers Weekly No book about the Vietnam War can be simply a book about the Vietnam War. Vietnam's Forgotten Army appears in the midst of a raging debate over American armed interventions abroad and over the proper lessons to draw from Vietnam for the war in Iraq. -The Nation This is a fascinating study of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)the South Vietnamese armyduring America's involvement in the Vietnam War... This well-written, compassionate study is a major contribution to most libraries. -Library Journal

While tactical history can seem stilted and dry at times, Andrew Wiest, in Vietnam's Forgotten Army, presents an enriched and dynamic history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) by chronicling the careers of two of ARVN's best young officers, Tran Ngoc Hue and Pham Van Dinh, as they fought in the Vietnam War. Wiest seeks to dispel the myth of the ARVN as an ineffective fighting force... The value of Vietnam's Forgotten Army lies in the author's appreciation for ARVN fighting prowess and the book's interesting perspective of the Vietnam War. -Military Review Wiest's excellent book helps to fill a yawning void in the history of the Vietnam War. -Journal of Military History This sympathetic biography of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, mid-level officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), provides a unique perspective among American war histories... [Readers] will gain new respect for the mishandled South Vietnamese army. -Publishers Weekly No book about the Vietnam War can be simply a book about the Vietnam War. Vietnam's Forgotten Army appears in the midst of a raging debate over American armed interventions abroad and over the proper lessons to draw from Vietnam for the war in Iraq. -The Nation This is a fascinating study of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)--the South Vietnamese army--during America's involvement in the Vietnam War... This well-written, compassionate study is a major contribution to most libraries. -Library Journal

Wiest's excellent book helps to fill a yawning void in the history of the Vietnam War. -Journal of Military History While tactical history can seem stilted and dry at times, Andrew Wiest, in Vietnam's Forgotten Army, presents an enriched and dynamic history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) by chronicling the careers of two of ARVN's best young officers, Tran Ngoc Hue and Pham Van Dinh, as they fought in the Vietnam War. Wiest seeks to dispel the myth of the ARVN as an ineffective fighting force... The value of Vietnam's Forgotten Army lies in the author's appreciation for ARVN fighting prowess and the book's interesting perspective of the Vietnam War. -Military Review This is a fascinating study of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)--the South Vietnamese army--during America's involvement in the Vietnam War... This well-written, compassionate study is a major contribution to most libraries. -Library Journal This sympathetic biography of Pham Van Dinh and Tran Ngoc Hue, mid-level officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), provides a unique perspective among American war histories... [Readers] will gain new respect for the mishandled South Vietnamese army. -Publishers Weekly No book about the Vietnam War can be simply a book about the Vietnam War. Vietnam's Forgotten Army appears in the midst of a raging debate over American armed interventions abroad and over the proper lessons to draw from Vietnam for the war in Iraq. -The Nation

Author Information

Andrew Wiest is Professor of History and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is co-editor of War in the Age of Technology: Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Combat (NYU Press, 2001) and author or co-author of numerous books, including Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: The Vietnam War Revisited, Atlas of World War II, and The Vietnam War, 1959–1975. He lives in Hattiesburg, MS.

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