Return to Vietnam : an oral history of American and Australian veterans' journeys / Mia Martin Hobbs, University of Melbourne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hobbs, Mia Martin, 1991- author.

Series:

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare.

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Veterans--Australia.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

Veterans--Mental health--United States.

Veterans.

Veterans--Mental health--Australia.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Social aspects--United States.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Social aspects--Australia.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Psychological aspects.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Veterans--United States.

Veterans--Travel--Vietnam.

Vietnam--Description and travel.

Vietnam.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 273 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Summary:

Between 1981 and 2016, thousands of American and Australian Vietnam War veterans returned to Việt Nam. This comparative, transnational oral history offers the first historical study of these return journeys. It shows how veterans returned in search of resolution, or peace, manifesting in shifting nostalgic visions of 'Vietnam.' Different national war narratives shaped their returns: Australians followed the 'Anzac' pilgrimage tradition, whereas for Americans the return was an anti-war act. Veterans met former enemies, visited battlefields, mourned friends, found new relationships, and addressed enduring legacies of war. Many found their memories of war eased by witnessing Việt Nam at peace. Yet this peacetime reality also challenged veterans' wartime connection to Vietnamese spaces. The place they were nostalgic for was Vietnam, a space in war memory, not Việt Nam, the country. Veterans drew from wartime narratives to negotiate this displacement, performing nostalgic practices to reclaim their sense of belonging.

Contents:

Part I: Return

Reconciliation, 1981-1994

Normalization, 1995-2005

Commemoration, 2006-2016

Part II: Việt Nam

Relics and Remnants

Meeting the Enemy

Remembering the American War in Việt Nam

Part III: Legacies

Revisiting Vietnam

Veteran Legacies in Việt Nam.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 04 Oct 2021).

ISBN:

1-108-96809-0

1-108-96789-2

1-108-97298-5

OCLC:

1273973228