Window on a War: An Anthropologist in the Vietnam Conflict

Modern Southeast Asia

by Gerald Cannon Hickey, James R. Reckner (Contributor)

When Gerald Hickey went to Vietnam in 1956 to complete his Ph.D. in anthropology, he didn’t realize he would be there for most of the next eighteen years—through the entire Vietnam War. After working with the country folk of the Mekong Delta for several years, in 1963 Hickey was recruited by the Rand Corporation, which was contracted by the U.S. government to study and report on the highland tribes.From the buildup to war, when mountain tribespeople still lived in longhouses and cut and burned brush to clear fields for nice, to near the end of the conflict, when he sailed away from Vietnam on the S.S. Idaho, Gerald Hickey experienced it all. He lived through the horrible Viet Cong night attack on the Nam Dong Special Forces Camp in July 1964, and he survived the full-scale battle at Ban Me Thuot during Tet, 1968. Worst, he witnessed the decline of the mountain people from proud highlanders to refugees from a war none of them wanted and few understood.Hickey became respected by all parties as a fair intermediary between the highlanders, the American mission, and to some extent the Saigon government. His understanding of the montagnards, and his representation of their interests, helped to resolve their conflict with Saigon in 1965 and assured their alliance with U.S. forces through the rest of the war.These are his experiences, told with the calm yet deep emotion of a man who invested a major portion of his life and career in the events of the war and with the people among whom he lived and worked. His is a unique viewpoint and one to which we should attend."[Hickey's] studies of these independent, brave, and misunderstood people provide the scholarly record; this fine book expresses his devotion and his despair at their inevitable and often cruel assimilation."—Douglas Pike

Genres: History, Anthropology

394 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kim Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that I did not read this book to learn about the effects of war on the ethnic tribes of Vietnam. Rather, I was looking for glimpses of the author's daily life whenever he was in Saigon, as part of my research for my new novel. That said, this is a terrific book for anyone who who wants to learn more about a part of Vietnamese history and culture that is rarely written or talked about. Hickey spent decades researching Vietnamese ethnic tribes for various organizations, and although he is an academic, he has a remarkably personable writing style. Not to mention compassion, and more than a little courage for sticking around the country even after he experiences first-hand a horrific attack on a village. He reveals fascinating facets of Vietnam's ethnic minorities, many of which disappeared as tribes were relocated and "Vietnamized" all in the name of national interest and political gain. It's sad to think about the rich minority cultures that might still exist were it not for the war. Thankfully Hickey was able to memorialize much of it with his research, ensuring that the history of the country's great highland diversity can never be lost.