What do you think?
Rate this book
Dissenting POWs: From Vietnam’s Hoa Lo Prison to America Today
A fresh look at the resistance of US troops to the American war in Vietnam
Even if you don't know much about the war in Vietnam, you've probably heard of "The Hanoi Hilton," or Hoa Lo Prison, where captured U.S. soldiers were held. What they did there and whether they were treated well or badly by the Vietnamese became lasting controversies. As military personnel returned from captivity in 1973, Americans became riveted by POW coming-home stories. What had gone on behind these prison walls? Along with legends of lionized heroes who endured torture rather than reveal sensitive military information, there were news leaks suggesting that others had denounced the war in return for favorable treatment. What wasn't acknowledged, however, is that U.S. troop opposition to the war was vast and reached well into Hoa Loa Prison. Half a century after the fact, Dissenting POWs emerges to recover this history, and to discover what drove the factionalism in Hoa Lo.
Looking into the underlying factional divide between pro-war “hardliners” and anti-war “dissidents” among the POWs, authors Wilber and Lembcke delve into the postwar American culture that created the myths of the Hero-POW and the dissidents blamed for the loss of the war. What they found was It wasn’t simply that some POWs were for the war and others against it, nor was it an officers-versus-enlisted-men standoff. Rather, it was the class backgrounds of the captives and their pre-captive experience that drew the lines. After the war, the hardcore hero-holdouts―like John McCain―moved on to careers in politics and business, while the dissidents faded from view as the antiwar movement, that might otherwise have championed them, disbanded. Today, Dissenting POWs is a necessary myth-buster, disabusing us of the revisionism that has replaced actual GI resistance with images of suffering POWs―ennobled victims that serve to suppress the fundamental questions of America’s drift to endless war.
Even if you don't know much about the war in Vietnam, you've probably heard of "The Hanoi Hilton," or Hoa Lo Prison, where captured U.S. soldiers were held. What they did there and whether they were treated well or badly by the Vietnamese became lasting controversies. As military personnel returned from captivity in 1973, Americans became riveted by POW coming-home stories. What had gone on behind these prison walls? Along with legends of lionized heroes who endured torture rather than reveal sensitive military information, there were news leaks suggesting that others had denounced the war in return for favorable treatment. What wasn't acknowledged, however, is that U.S. troop opposition to the war was vast and reached well into Hoa Loa Prison. Half a century after the fact, Dissenting POWs emerges to recover this history, and to discover what drove the factionalism in Hoa Lo.
Looking into the underlying factional divide between pro-war “hardliners” and anti-war “dissidents” among the POWs, authors Wilber and Lembcke delve into the postwar American culture that created the myths of the Hero-POW and the dissidents blamed for the loss of the war. What they found was It wasn’t simply that some POWs were for the war and others against it, nor was it an officers-versus-enlisted-men standoff. Rather, it was the class backgrounds of the captives and their pre-captive experience that drew the lines. After the war, the hardcore hero-holdouts―like John McCain―moved on to careers in politics and business, while the dissidents faded from view as the antiwar movement, that might otherwise have championed them, disbanded. Today, Dissenting POWs is a necessary myth-buster, disabusing us of the revisionism that has replaced actual GI resistance with images of suffering POWs―ennobled victims that serve to suppress the fundamental questions of America’s drift to endless war.
- GenresHistory
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 22, 2021
4 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 15, 2024
I had been meaning to read this book since my uncle and Lembcke wrote it but college and life had always gotten in the way. Since majoring in political science and wanting to know more about my family’s history I put it at the top of my “to-do” list for Winter break.
This account on Veteran dissent and the formation of America’s post-war narrative is a must read. Full stop.
Alongside the application of class stratification several points in the book were especially intriguing to me. 1) it’s interesting to read how the pathologizing of dissenting POWs coincided with great leaps in the world of psychology. While this has been a vital development for the world there is also a pervasive tendency to use it as fuel for ad hominem debates. Even more so, it’s proven to be a handy scapegoat for everything from the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell to the cause of America’s gun violence issue. I would like to read more on this subject in the future.
2) it’s striking to me that several of the anti-dissenter actions taken by actors in this account were inspired by fiction. So often we believe that fiction is inspired by real life but here it proves to be almost the reverse. Of course in reality it’s more cyclical in nature (both feeding into each other) but the way that myths form our actions speaks volumes of human nature. If anything it’s even a part of the reason I picked up this book; I wanted to know about my own family’s legend: Gene Wilber. I wanted to know the story of the man who’s blood circulates in my own veins and how that relates to who I am today.
3) The chapter on the formation of the “self” through the “other” was especially eloquent—it’s something I’ll be mulling over for a while I think.
Overall, Wilber and Lembcke provided a nuanced and well executed account of history America would prefer to brush aside. It is especially salient as we venture further into the Trump era and revanchism takes precedence once again.
This account on Veteran dissent and the formation of America’s post-war narrative is a must read. Full stop.
Alongside the application of class stratification several points in the book were especially intriguing to me. 1) it’s interesting to read how the pathologizing of dissenting POWs coincided with great leaps in the world of psychology. While this has been a vital development for the world there is also a pervasive tendency to use it as fuel for ad hominem debates. Even more so, it’s proven to be a handy scapegoat for everything from the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell to the cause of America’s gun violence issue. I would like to read more on this subject in the future.
2) it’s striking to me that several of the anti-dissenter actions taken by actors in this account were inspired by fiction. So often we believe that fiction is inspired by real life but here it proves to be almost the reverse. Of course in reality it’s more cyclical in nature (both feeding into each other) but the way that myths form our actions speaks volumes of human nature. If anything it’s even a part of the reason I picked up this book; I wanted to know about my own family’s legend: Gene Wilber. I wanted to know the story of the man who’s blood circulates in my own veins and how that relates to who I am today.
3) The chapter on the formation of the “self” through the “other” was especially eloquent—it’s something I’ll be mulling over for a while I think.
Overall, Wilber and Lembcke provided a nuanced and well executed account of history America would prefer to brush aside. It is especially salient as we venture further into the Trump era and revanchism takes precedence once again.
October 28, 2024
An interesting retrospective on an often brushed-over aspect of one of America's "hidden histories," confronting uncomfortable truths & the manufactured consent behind the Vietnam (& other) wars. It was interesting reading about the soldiers' "hierarchy" systems in POW conditions & the sort of "rival groups" formed between dissenting soldiers & their leadership. Recommended reading for anybody interested in the Vietnam war, especially given that it challenges many aspects of the mainstream narrative, or the "true story."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews