Research Guides: Vietnam War: Materials for Adults

Nonfiction Books

The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Presents the journey from refuge camp to America and the hardships and joys of a family's struggle to adapt in a strange culture while holding onto traditions that are passed down from her beloved grandmother.
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip; Jay Wurts
Publication Date: 1989-04-29
In these pages, Le Ly Hayslip—just twelve years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her tiny village of Ky La—shows us the Vietnam War as she lived it.
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram
Publication Date: 2007-09-11
Dang Thuy Tram volunteered to serve as a doctor in a National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) battlefield hospital. Two years later she was killed by American forces. This book is her diary, written between 1968 and 1970,
The Song Poet by Kao Kalia Yang
Publication Date: 2016-05-10
Following her award-winning book The Latehomecomer, Kao Kalia Yang now retells the life of her father Bee Yang, the song poet, a Hmong refugee in Minnesota, driven from the mountains of Laos by American's Secret War.
Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham
Publication Date: 1999-09-29
The author, a young Vietnamese-American man, shares the story of his solo bicycle journey around the Pacific Rim to Vietnam, and discusses his search for cultural identity in the Vietnam of his childhood.
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Publication Date: 2016-04-05
A haunting debut that is simultaneously dreamlike and visceral, vulnerable and redemptive, and risks the painful rewards of emotional honesty.
The Vietnam War by James E. Westheider
Publication Date: 2007-09-30
This is the story of the men and women who served in that war, whether overseas in active combat or in support roles in Vietnam and stateside.
Bringing God to Men by Jacqueline E. Whitt
Publication Date: 2014-02-17
In this benchmark study, Whitt shows how Vietnam War-era chaplains served as vital links between diverse communities, sometimes working to reconcile--both personally and publicly--conflicting worldviews, while creating religious contexts unique to combat based on shared experience rather than traditional theologies.
Everything We Had by Al Santoli
Publication Date: 1985-03-12
Here is an oral history of the Vietnam War by thirty-three American soldiers who fought it.
Beyond Combat by Heather Marie Stur
Publication Date: 2011-09-26
Beyond Combat : Women and Gender in the Vietnam War incorporates new voices into the Vietnam War narrative by looking at women's experiences. It also examines the ways in which ideas about masculinity shaped the American GI experience in Vietnam.
Vietnam War Stories by Tobey C. Herzog
Publication Date: 1992-06-25
Provides an introduction to ten key narratives including personal accounts and novels and locates them in the tradition of war literature and contemporary cinema and charts the transformations of the US nation in the experience of war.
Valley of Death by Ted Morgan
Publication Date: 2010-02-23
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist takes readers from 1940 through the aftermath of the harrowing French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, which ends colonial rule in Indochina and leads inexorably to America's Vietnam War.
Cambodia Now by Karen J. Coates
Publication Date: 2005-03-18
This work examines Cambodian life, focusing on Khmer people of all walks of life and examining through their eyes key facets of Cambodian society, including the ancient Angkor legacy, relations with neighboring countries (particularly the strained ones with the Vietnamese), emerging democracy, psychology, violence, health, family, poverty, the environment, and the nation's future.
Cambodia by Henry Kamm
Publication Date: 1998-07-31
Starting with the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, South East Asia correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Kamm recalls 30 years of revolution and genocide in Cambodia.
Facing Death in Cambodia by Peter Maguire
Publication Date: 2005-03-30
Maguire documents the atrocities through personal interviews with victims and perpetrators, discussions with international and NGO officials, journalistic accounts, and government sources gathered during a ten-year odyssey in search of answers.
Dragon Ascending by Henry Kamm
Publication Date: 1996-02-19
A firsthand report on contemporary Vietnam presents a portrait of a nation that is struggling under the hold of Communism and places the Vietnam war in the perspective of a four-thousand-year-old history.
Passage to Vietnam by Rick Smolan; Jennifer Erwitt; Pico Iyer (Introduction by)
Publication Date: 1994-11-01
Passage to Vietnam, the result of a remarkable collaboration between East and West, is a fascinating look at an ancient nation caught in the midst of dramatic change. To create this unusual portrait, 70 photographers from fourteen countries were given unprecedented access to a country that is just now emerging from decades of war and isolation.
They Wouldn't Let Us Die by Stephen A. Rowan
Publication Date: 1973-10-01
Immediately after their release from captivity in Vietnam, veteran broadcast journalist Rowan set out to discover how the POWs were able to survive their long years of physical and mental torture.
A People's History of the Vietnam War by Jonathan Neale
Publication Date: 2003-08-01
The war in Indochina as seen through the eyes of those fighting on both sides.
Hanoi's War by Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
Publication Date: 2012-07-15
While most historians of the Vietnam War focus on the origins of U.S. involvement and the Americanization of the conflict, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended.
Sky Is Falling by Gayle L. Morrison
Publication Date: 2007-12-19
A firsthand account of the 14-day evacuation of more than 2,500 Hmong soldiers and families in May 1975, and the events leading up to it, documenting the political and human aspects of this unusual historical event.
Officer, Nurse, Woman by Kara Dixon Vuic
Publication Date: 2009-12-15
Drawing on more than 100 interviews, Vuic allows the nurses to tell their own captivating stories, from their reasons for joining the military to the physical and emotional demands of a horrific war and postwar debates about how to commemorate their service.
On Their Own : women journalists and the American experience in Vietnam by Joyce Hoffmann
Publication Date: 2008-06-24
Over three hundred women, both print and broadcast journalists, were accredited to chronicle America's activities in Vietnam. In this gripping narrative, veteran journalist Joyce Hoffmann tells the important yet largely unknown story of a central group of these female journalists.
My Detachment by Tracy Kidder
Publication Date: 2005-09-06
The author reminisces about his life, in a profile of a young man coming of age during the Vietnam war, chronicling his experiences as a former ROTC intelligence officer in command of a group of enlisted men on assignment in Vietnam.
What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes
Publication Date: 2011-08-30
In this narrative, the author weaves accounts of his combat experiences with thoughtful analysis, self-examination, and his readings from Homer to the Mahabharata to Jung. He also underscores the need for returning veterans to be counseled properly.
The African American Experience in Vietnam by James E. Westheider
Publication Date: 2007-07-20
In this book James Westheider explores the social and professional paradoxes facing African-American soldiers in Vietnam.
Sisterhood of War by Kim Heikkila
Publication Date: 2011-09-15
Historian Kim Heikkila here delves into the experiences of fifteen nurse veterans from Minnesota, exploring what drove them to enlist, what happened to them in-country, and how the war changed their lives.
Even the Women Must Fight by Karen Gottschang Turner; Phan T. Hao
Publication Date: 1998-03-01
Through oral history, private letters and diaries, and poetry, Karen Turner explores the crucial role North Vietnamese women played as valiant soldiers, the personal sacrifice and loss they suffered, and the enduring political and social influences their war roles have come to exert on their own lives and the lives of their daughters.

Fiction Books

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Publication Date: 2015-04-07
Follows a Viet Cong agent as he spies on a South Vietnamese army general and his compatriots as they start a new life in 1975 Los Angeles.
Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao
Publication Date: 1997-07-01
Hailed by critics and writers as powerful, important fiction, Monkey Bridge charts the unmapped territory of the Vietnamese American experience in the aftermath of war.
Going after Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
Publication Date: 1978-02-01
In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Paris.
Bluesman by Andre Dubus
Publication Date: 1993-04-01
In the summer of 1967, Leo Suther's in love with the beautiful Allie Donovan who introduces him to her father, Chick — an avowed Communist. Chick's passionate views challenge Leo's perspective on the escalating Vietnam conflict and on just where he stands in relation to the new people in his life.
The Turtle Warrior by Mary Ellis
Publication Date: 2005-01-25
The Turtle Warrior is the story of the Lucas family. By 1967 the Lucas farm has fallen into disrepair, thanks to the hard drinking of John Lucas, who brutalizes his wife and two sons. When the eldest, James, escapes by enlisting to fight in Vietnam, he leaves young Bill alone to protect his mother with only his own will and the spirit of his brother to guide him.
Gods Go Begging by Alfredo Véa
Publication Date: 1999-09-01
Lawyer Jesse Pasadoble of San Francisco investigates murders with roots in the Vietnam War. The victims were two women, partners in a restaurant, one black, the other Vietnamese. It turns out Pasadoble served with their husbands in Vietnam.
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
Publication Date: 2010-03-30
A novel that follows an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men.
The Fifth Book of Peace by Maxine Hong Kingston
Publication Date: 2003-09-02
A compelling story of the Chinese-American Wittman Ah Sing and his wife, Tana - California artists who flee to Hawaii to evade the draft during the Vietnam War. Wittman and Tana help to create an official Sanctuary for deserters and GIs who've returned devastated by their experiences in Vietnam.
Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen
Publication Date: 2015-01-27
Lee Lien has long dodged her Vietnamese family's rigid expectations by immersing herself in books. When Lee's brother suddenly vanishes, he leaves behind an object from the family's past that stirs up a forgotten childhood dream: a gold-leaf brooch, abandoned by an American reporter in Saigon back in 1965.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Publication Date: 1990-03-01
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.
The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Le Thi Diem Thuy; Thi Diem Thuy Le
Publication Date: 2004-05-11
This acclaimed novel reveals the life of a Vietnamese family in America through the knowing eyes of a child finding her place and voice in a new country. (Description from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206223.The_Gangster_We_Are_All_Looking_For)

DVDs at St.Kate's

Vựơt sóng Journey from the fall
Despite his allegiance to the toppled South Vietnamese government, Long Nguyen decides to remain in Vietnam. Imprisoned in a Communist re-education camp, he urges his family to make the escape by boat without him. His wife, son, and mother embark on the arduous ocean voyage in the hope of reaching the U.S. and freedom.

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Based on the true stories of Vietnamese refugees who fled after the fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975, and on the Vietnamese who stayed behind.
Ham Tran; Lam Nguỹên; Long Nguỹên; Thai Nguyen Nguyen; Kìêu Chinh, 1939-; Diem Lien.; Jayvee Mai The Hiep.; Khanh Doan.; Cat Ly.; ImaginAsian Pictures.; Lam Nguyen Productions.; Old Photo Film.; ImaginAsian Home Entertainment.; Genius Entertainment.
United States : ImaginAsian Home Entertainment ; Santa Monica, CA : Genius Entertainment distributor 2007], c2006
Maya Lin a strong clear vision
eveals the origins of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and tells the story of its 21 year old creator, a Yale architecture student. Lin's plan was selected from over 1,000 different designs. And what began as one of the country's most bitterly disputed monuments became one of the world's most inspirational and frequently visited memorials.

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Originally produced as a motion picture in 1994.
Freida Lee Mock; Terry Sanders; Maya Ying Lin; Vincent Scully Jr., 1920-; Jan C Scruggs; Robert W Doubek; Grady Clay; Tom Carhart; J. Carter Brown (John Carter), 1934-2002.; Don Lenzer; Edward Marritz; William T. Cartwright Jr.; Charles Bernstein; Ocean Releasing (Firm); Sanders & Mock Productions.; American Film Foundation.; Docurama (Firm); New Video Group.
United States : Docurama : Distributed by New Video 2003], c1994
Two days in October
Examines the critical events that took place in the fall of 1967, from the ambush of an American battalion by the Viet Cong that led to skepticism of whether the Vietnamese conflict was winnable, to the first violent anti-war demonstration on a campus in Wisconsin.

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Based on the book "They marched into sunlight" by David Maraniss.
Originally produced for television broadcast on the PBS program American Experience.
Robert Kenner 1950-; Allen Rucker; Paul Taylor; David Maraniss; WGBH Educational Foundation.; Robert Kenner Films.; Wisconsin Public Television.; Playtone (Firm); British Broadcasting Corporation.; PBS Home Video.; PBS Video; Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.); British Broadcasting Company; National Educational Television and Radio Center; Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
United States : Distributed by PBS Home Video c2005
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, came to the conclusion that the war was based on decades of lies. He then leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The New York Times, making headlines around the world. Hailed as a hero, vilified as a traitor, and ostracised by even his closest colleagues, Ellsberg risked life in prison to stop a war he helped plan.

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Ehrlich, Judith (Director) ; Goldsmith, Rick (Director) ; Arnett, Peter (Cast) ; Bagdikian, Ben (Cast) ; Beeson, Ann (Cast) ; Ellsberg, Daniel (Cast)
Informit, Melbourne (Vic.).
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers (ABC); Time: 20:30:00; Broadcast Date: 18 Jan 2011; Duration 1 hr., 33 min., 41 sec.
Witnesses to a secret war
For many Hmong children who came to the US in the late 1970s, the war remained a vague memory, almost like a dream. Cy Thao, KaYing Yang and Tzianeng Vang explore the story of the secret war they fled from with their parents while Xue Xiong, Mae Yia Thao and their seven sons begin their new life in America after 35 years as refugees in Thailand.

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Deborah Dickson; Blackbird Films.; Independent Television Service.; Witnessestoasecretwartheflim.com.
United States : Witnessestoasecretwarthefilm.com c2008
Witness to war Dr. Charlie Clements
The story of Dr. Charlie Clements who, as a young pilot in the Vietnam War, made a decision to stop flying further combat missions, Dr. Clements became a Quaker and dedicated his life to non-violence and healing, ultimately tending to the wounded behind rebel lines in El Salvador in 1985.

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Deborah Shaffer; David Goodman; Skylight Pictures (Firm); American Friends Service Committee.; New Day Films.
Harriman, N.Y : New Day Films c2007.
Originally released in 1984.

Online Videos

Vietnam War: The Face of the Enemy
Published on Jun 11, 2016

The core of this film is to investigate the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese who fought in that war. How did they sustain their morale in the face of such .

The Cu Chi Tunnels
The Cu Chi Tunnels, a Mickey Grant film, is the story of life underground told by the people who lived the experience. It is a story told by a surgeon, an artist, and actress, an engineer, and the few survivors of the guerrilla band who left the tunnels each night to fight against an enemy of vastly superior strength.

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Published on Jun 27, 2012
Description from http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-cu-chi-tunnels/
A film by Mickey Grant, director of BURNING GREEN, THE STORY OF THE LIBYAN REVOLUTION.

Loin du Vietnam (Far from Vietnam)

Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, Agnes Var

Six revolutionary filmmakers from France's New Wave era come together in this documentary to demonstrate their collective contempt for the Vietnam War. The film, which includes segments directed by Jean-Luc Godard and Agnès Varda, combines war footage with popular culture snippets such as commercials, to prove a point. Interviews with politicians such as Ho Chi Minh are featured, as well as a dialogue between a Vietnamese woman and the widow of a protester.

Kao Kalia Yang speaks at WI Book Festival 2016
Kao Kalia Yang talked about her book The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father, in which she discusses her father’s life. She spoke at the 2016 Wisconsin Book Festival, held at the Central Branch of the Madison Public Library.
Vietnam Interview: Co Thach Nguyen
Foreign Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Co Thach recalls life during the French colonial period. He recalls his days in the nationalist movement, which he joined shortly after he was released from prison in 1940. He talks about the hardest years he spent in the resistance, from 1947 until 1949, when the French began to close in on the resistance movement.

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Vietnam Interview: Co Thach Nguyen
produced by Martin Smith, fl. 1979, WGBH Boston, in Vietnam: A Television History (Boston, MA: WGBH Boston, 2011), 56 mins
Vietnam Interview: Young Vietnamese Boys
Interview with two young Vietnamese boys, Hoang Van Dac and Dinh Xuan Ngoan. Two young Vietnamese boys recall the afternoon when the Americans sprayed chemicals.

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Vietnam Interview: Young Vietnamese Boys

produced by Martin Smith, fl. 1979, WGBH Boston, in Vietnam: A Television History (Boston, MA: WGBH Boston, 2011), 7 mins
Vietnam Interview: Duong Van Khang
Villager Duong Van Khang discusses living under French rule and recruitment of soldiers by the French for their colonial army. In order to avoid recruitment, Duong Van Khang went into hiding. He discusses daily peasant life and how life changed once the French left and the Japanese arrived. Because of the hardships that Duong Van Khang and his family experienced, he joined the Viet Minh to fight for the rights of peasants and other workers.

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Vietnam Interview: Duong Van Khang
produced by Judith Vecchione, WGBH Boston, in Vietnam: A Television History (Boston, MA: WGBH Boston, 2011), 23 mins
Vietnam Interview: Do Thi Bay
Do Thi Bay describes her life as the daughter of a poor peasant family and how, because they had no money and were exploited, she began to follow the revolution as a young girl. Do Thi Bay recalls her time as a courier for the Viet Minh in 1946 carrying letters and documents across the villages.

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Vietnam Interview: Do Thi Bay
produced by Judith Vecchione, WGBH Boston, in Vietnam: A Television History (Boston, MA: WGBH Boston, 2011), 8 mins

The Power in Sharing our Stories | Kao Kalia Yang | TEDxUWRiverFall

Published on Jun 15, 2015
Kao Kalia Yang immigrated to the Unites States when she was six years old after spending her first years in a Thai refugee camp. She is the award-winning author of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, and the forthcoming book The Song Poet. Yang is a graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University's School of the Arts.

No Question

from ash H

Animation to Bao Phi's poem "No Question."
For the 2011 Asian American Literary Review.

Book Flyer

Voices of the Vietnam War Adult Book Flyer
This book flyer was created for the Viet Thanh Nguyen book display at St. Catherine's University for the Fall of 2017.

Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: The Story Wall

Aired: 05/12/2017
07:10
Rating: NR

Katie Carpenter demonstrated how to share stories on TPT’s Vietnam War website.

Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: The Story Wall Website
The Story Wall is a part of MINNESOTA REMEMBERS VIETNAM,
a year-long, statewide initiative aimed at inspiring Minnesotans to remember and share stories, recognize bravery, express their reasons for dissent, and foster understanding around the lasting impact of war.

REMEMBER. HONOR. UNDERSTAND.

Podcasts/Audio

Remembering the Doomed First Flight of Operation Babylift
In this For the Record: looking back at Operation Baby Lift. We hear from three people who were on that first flight of Operation Babylift.
Vietnam: Stories From the Wall
As the years move us further and further away from the realities of the Vietnam War and recognition of those who served, we must find ways to keep alive the memories of the those who sacrificed for us, and honor those who returned home to an unwelcome nation.
Author Examines Life After Operation Babylift
In The Live We Were Given, Dana Sachs explores the legacy of the Operation Babylift evacuations. She focuses on the actions of three adoption agencies that were responsible for evacuating more than half the children. And she tells the stories of the children and their adoptive American parents.
All Things Considered: Teaching Kids In Vietnam To Avoid A Deadly, Everyday Legacy Of War
Nguyen Thanh Phu, is the manager at the Mine Action Visitor Center in Quang Tri's provincial capital, Dong Ha. He's good with the kids — making a game of the weaponry presentation to keep them interested. And keeping them interested is serious business.
All Things Considered: In The Lines Of Ocean Vuong, Echoes Of His Family's Past In Vietnam
When he was 2 years old, Ocean Vuong's family immigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. He tells NPR's Michel Martin that he didn't learn to read English until he was 11. Now 27, he's making his mark in the world of poetry.

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Vuong is the 2016 winner of the Whiting Award for poetry and published a new book of poems called Night Sky with Exit Wounds, weaving his personal stories of growing up with his family memories of life in Vietnam.
All Things Considered: Returning To Vietnam Years After Fleeing War, A Man Finally Feels At Home
Duc Nguyen left Vietnam in 1975 as a boat person fleeing the communist advance. Now he has returned to an unlikely place — the seat of the communist government in Hanoi.
This American Life: God of War
In Vietnam, Jeffrey Harris, with one year of grad school, judged which soldiers stayed and which went home. (15 minutes)

Websites

History Channel/History.com Vietnam War Collection
This website from the History Channel has links to 46 videos and 17 subtopics that each contain more articles, videos, and speeches/audio about the Vietnam War.
HistoryNet Vietnam War Collection
HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the world’s largest publisher of history magazines (From their website). On their Vietnam War page, Historynet.com offers "facts, information, and articles" all relating to the war.
After-lives of the Vietnam War: The Art of Southeast Asian Refugees
This exhibition grapples with the reverberations of the Vietnam War across time and space. It showcases refugee artwork produced in Southeast Asian camps of first asylum and centers on the inner lives and experiences of individuals whose lives have been upended by war.

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Learn More

All artworks in the exhibit are from Véronique Saunier's “Still Lives” Collection. The collection was acquired by the UC Irvine Libraries in 2014 from Véronique Saunier, a freelance journalist who met the artists while volunteering in the refugee camps in Hong Kong. She organized an exhibition in 1990 at the Hong Kong Art Centre called “Still Lives: Art by Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong” to raise international awareness about the people whose lives were placed on hold in the camps, but who yet remained alive and living.
About this exhibition:
After-lives of the Vietnam War was curated in 2017 by Thuy Vo Dang, Archivist for the Southeast Asian Archive at UC Irvine (UCI), and Cécile Whiting, Chancellor’s Professor of Art History, in collaboration with the UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives department and undergraduate students from Professor Whiting's Fall 2016 "U.S. Art and War" class.
Wikipedia's Vietnam War Page
This link will bring you to Wikipedia's extensive Vietnam War page. The bottom lists a large amount of primary and secondary sources.
BBC News In Pictures: North Vietnamese Veterans Stories
"The projects aim is to see the war from the perspective of North Vietnamese veterans, and to mark 20 years since the then US President Bill Clinton normalised diplomatic relations between the two countries, on 11 July 1995."

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"A project led by Raul Roman, co-founder of UBELONG, and Lonnie Schlein, a former New York Times photojournalist who took a party of 14 people to Vietnam in May (2015), with the aim of capturing the stories of those who fought for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) or Viet Cong."

Vietnam War: Materials for Adults

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