On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade made an amphibious landing at Da Nang on the south central coast of South Vietnam, marking the beginning of a conflict that would haunt American politics and society for many years, even after the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1972. For the people of North Vietnam it was just another in a long line of foreign invaders. For 2,000 years they had struggled for self-determination, coming into conflict during that time with the Chinese, the Mongols, the European colonial powers, the Japanese, and the French. Now it was the turn of the United States, a far-away nation reluctant to go to war but determined to prevent Vietnam from falling into Communist hands. This history explains how the U.S. became involved in its longest war, a conflict that, from the outset, many claimed it could never win. It details the escalation of American involvement from the provision of military advisors and equipment to the threatened South Vietnamese, to an all-out shooting war involving American soldiers, airmen, and sailors, of whom around 58,000 would die and more than 300,000 would be wounded. Their struggle was against an indomitable enemy, able to absorb huge losses in terms of life and infrastructure. The politics of the war are examined and the decisions and ambitions of five presidents are addressed in the light of what many have described as a defeat for American might. The book also explores the relationship of the Vietnam War to the Cold War politics of the time.
[On 8 March, 1965, 3,500 US Marines of Battalion Landing Team 3/9 waded ashore in full regalia on the sandy beaches of Da Nang in South Vietnam, their mission to provide security for the nearby air base that was thought vulnerable to attack](Oldcastle Books, 1 May 2015, first published 26 February 2015, ebook, 160 pages, borrowed from my library, Popsugar 2018 Reading Challenge, a microhistory)
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I enjoyed this book. I knew very little about the Vietnam War before I read this book. The war was before my time and knowledge has been gained from movies and the media. I was surprised and horrified by the sheer scale of the war. I'm a pacifist; totally anti-war so found some parts of this short little book, tough to read at times. The book is very condensed and a matter of fact. I was fascinated by the way different US presidents dealt with the war. Nixon's presidency is briefly covered and the infamous Watergate as well as JFK's assassination. What fascinated me was the fact that, many years after the end of the war, it still resonated and affected the US. I enjoyed reading about Vietnam's struggle for 2000 years. The book is told in a very matter-of-fact way so there was a lack of emotional and some disconnect.
