Asian Tragedy, An

by David Detzer

From the optimism of the early days of the Vietnam War through the grim reality of the body counts and body bags, a history of the conflict and its effects answers questions about the most debated period in American history.

160 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indeed, a tragedy. It should have become clear to American leadership pretty much by the early 1960s, that the battle between North and South Vietnam was less an ideological struggle in the greater Cold War but more a regional civil war that had very little bearing on the fight for international freedom.

Detzer dives deep into our falling into this quagmire beginning with President Eisenhower sending a handful of advisors to President Kennedy then increasing that number to 16,000 prior to his assassination. LBJ then greatly expanded this number, finally sending in combat troops in great numbers starting in 1965. The Marines sent to Da Nang would prove to be a pivotal point for the US.

The book explores the political scene in Vietnam and what the people were fighting for and how they were fighting for it. By contrast, US policy seems to have totally misinterpreted the scene on the ground and while militarily the US did not lose one major battle of the war, the goals set by the US government were entirely unreachable. There was simply no way through a war of attrition the US was going to control the entire country of Vietnam.

Detzer reminds us of the crucial lesson of King Canute of 12th century England who was surrounded by yesman in his court. Canute reminded them that he is a mere mortal and cannot impose his will upon greater forces.. He evidenced this by taking his court to the beach and proclaiming over the rising sea tide to halt. Obviously the sea did not listen and continued to rise and as it wet the lower portion of his robes he showed his court this proof that even a King cannot control nature and that a true leader understands humility and his role in the world. This lesson of humility and limited government taught to us by King Canute was ignored by our federal government during Vietnam and in fact continues to this day as our leaders still believe they can proclaim to greater natural forces to halt and bend the will of man.