[Tlc] Vietnam Center and Archive

Tue May 20 13:17:42 PDT 2008

Tzianeng:

Thanks for your message as well.  I think you oversimplify the war and
events that unfolded after 1954.  Fighting in the Republic of Vietnam
started in 1955 under South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem.  While
he did receive US support, it is well established in the historiography
of the war that Diem was not merely an American puppet.  In fact, in the
US - from Presidents to Ambassadors to advisors on the ground in Vietnam
- all have made testaments to the varying degrees of frustration they
felt because Diem would not always follow their guidance and, more often
than not, actually followed what he thought was the best course for
South Vietnam.

So, from 1955 through 1960, the US had fewer than 1,000 military and
civilian advisors in Vietnam.   That number increased with President
Kennedy - from 1,000 to 16,000 - but all of the combat and fighting from
1955 through 1964 involved only Vietnamese military forces - American
advisors were not allowed to fire weapons in combat.  Further, until
Diem's assassination in 1963, the US held but modest sway over Diem and
the events in Vietnam. 

Then, from 1965 through 1973, the US did have a much larger role in the
fighting and came to dominate the scene.  But after 1973 the US had a
token force there, mostly to protect the US Embassy.  For the last two
years of fighting, it was, again, only Vietnamese forces fighting each
other.

I do not mean to minimize the US role from 1965 through 1973 but think
it appropriate to clarify that this was not purely an American War.  For
the first nine years and last two years of fighting, this was almost
exclusively a Vietnamese War between North and South as well as a
Southern Civil War.  To say it was is purely American is a serious
oversimplification - and one with which millions of Vietnamese who lived
from Hue to the Ca Mau Peninsula would disagree. 

Best regards,

Steve

From: Txiabneeb Vaj [mailto:txiabneeb at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:47 PM
To: Maxner, Steve
Cc: tlc at lists.ucr.edu
Subject: Re: [Tlc] Vietnam Center and Archive

Steve,

I would agree with you a 100% with the exception that the American or
the American Government was the one that started the war to fuel the
international involvement. The Republic of South Vietnam lost so much
life as a result of it. So my point is that if we remove all parties,
the US remain the one and the only one that ignited the whole war and
continue to fuel it until its doom in '73. But that just my take on
it...

Now it is almost ideal to have a title named "America War: Korean,
Vietnam, Iraq etc..." Will chat more later...thanks for your quick
reply....

-Tzianeng

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 11:58 AM, Maxner, Steve <steve.maxner at ttu.edu>
wrote:

Dear Tzianeng Vang:

Thank you very much for your message and for raising this interesting
question.  I think this is mostly a matter of perspective and the name
used in describing this or any war must provide clarity for the user and
audience.  When we travel to SEA, especially Viet Nam, when in
discussions with students and scholars there about this war, we use
their reference point and call it "the American War."  However, when
here in the US, if we called it "the American war" - it would be very
confusing to an American audience.  Which "American" war would we be
discussing since all of the wars that the US has been involved in have
been "American."  Perhaps we could change the name to the
American-Vietnam War - but that is redundant to an American audience.

Further, I am not sure it is accurate to call this "the American War."
The Republic of Vietnam was very heavily engaged in this war and lost
many more thousands of their soldiers in the fighting than did the US -
and there were other country forces from Australia, South Korea, and
elsewhere.  To call it "the American War" is to negate the important
role of these other nations in this war, especially the former Republic
of Vietnam.

Just my two cents...

Best regards,

Steve

From: Txiabneeb Vaj [mailto:txiabneeb at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:41 AM
To: Maxner, Steve
Cc: tlc at lists.ucr.edu
Subject: Re: [Tlc] Vietnam Center and Archive

Greeting:

For all of the (SE Asian) scholars out there; by SE Asian scholars I
mean anyone who studies SE Asian's and not just those of us who are SE
Asian descents. In the western world, US especially, it is called the
Vietnam War, but in Asia or at least in the regions/areas that I am
familiar with in SE Asia, it is referred to as the American War; the
same goes with World War II; the Hmong in Laos called it the Japan War. 

My question is will the SE Asian scholars on this listserv or anyone
that is involve with SE Asian Studies hereafter ever consider adopting
the name "American War" instead of the "Vietnam War?"

Just my curiosity...await your feed back...

-Tzianeng Vang,
651.238.5300

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 6:53 AM, Maxner, Steve <steve.maxner at ttu.edu>
wrote:

Greetings:

I am new to this list and I wanted to provide a brief introduction to
you regarding our project.

Since 1989, the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech has been promoting the
study and preserving the history of the US experience in Vietnam,
especially during the Vietnam War.  Since that time, we have collected
more than 20 million pages of material in our traditional archive, have
more than 500 interviews in our oral history project, and provide free
online access to nearly 3 million pages of archival material via our
Virtual Vietnam Archive.  I must admit that, in some ways, I regret the
current name of our project, "The Vietnam Center and Archive" as it is
too restrictive in terms of our actual missions and scope.  We changed
it to this shorter name in the mid-1990s as our board felt the previous
name was too long - the Center for the Study of the Vietnam Conflict.
While it was longer, it was also far more accurate in describing our
work which involves the entire theater and all nations involved - to
include Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.  We have many archival collections
that cover historical events and activities in Laos, Cambodia, and
Thailand.  In addition, our current activities to promote the study of
the role of the US in Southeast Asia as well as reconciliation between
our nations includes scholarships and other university projects in
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

You can learn more about our project online here:  www.vietnam.ttu.edu

I hope you will visit our website and I look forward to participating in
this discussion about Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

Best regards,

Steve  

Stephen Maxner, Ph.D.
Director
The Vietnam Center

The Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University
Special Collections Library Room 108
15th and Detroit
Lubbock, TX  79409-1041

Phone:  806-742-9010
Fax:  806-742-0496
Email:  steve.maxner at ttu.edu
Website:  www.vietnam.ttu.edu  

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Peb tij kwv koom ib kaus mom! 

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