Honorable Exit

Author : Thurston Clarke
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2020-03-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781101872345

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Honorable Exit by Thurston Clarke Pdf

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB A groundbreaking revisionist history of the last days of the Vietnam War that reveals the acts of American heroism that saved more than one hundred thousand South Vietnamese from communist revenge In 1973 U.S. participation in the Vietnam War ended in a cease-fire and a withdrawal that included promises by President Nixon to assist the South in the event of invasion by the North. But in early 1975, when North Vietnamese forces began a full-scale assault, Congress refused to send arms or aid. By early April that year, the South was on the brink of a defeat that threatened execution or years in a concentration camp for the untold number of South Vietnamese who had supported the government in Saigon or worked with Americans. Thurston Clarke begins Honorable Exit by describing the iconic photograph of the Fall of Saigon: desperate Vietnamese scrambling to board a helicopter evacuating the last American personnel from Vietnam. It is an image of U.S. failure and shame. Or is it? By unpacking the surprising story of heroism that the photograph actually tells, Clarke launches into a narrative that is both a thrilling race against time and an important corrective to the historical record. For what is less known is that during those final days, scores of Americans--diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, missionaries, contractors, and spies--risked their lives to assist their current and former translators, drivers, colleagues, neighbors, friends, and even perfect strangers in escape. By the time the last U.S. helicopter left Vietnam on April 30, 1975, these righteous Americans had helped to spirit 130,000 South Vietnamese to U.S. bases in Guam and the Philippines. From there, the evacuees were resettled in the U.S. and became American citizens, the leading edge of one of America's most successful immigrant groups. Into this tale of heroism on the ground Clarke weaves the political machinations of Henry Kissinger advising President Ford in the White House while reinforcing the delusions of the U.S. Ambassador in Saigon, who, at the last minute, refused to depart. Groundbreaking, page-turning, and authoritative, Honorable Exit is a deeply moving history of Americans at a little-known finest hour.

Author : Éric Vuillard
Publisher : Other Press, LLC
Page : 161 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2023-04-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9781635423532

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An Honorable Exit by Éric Vuillard Pdf

From the award-winning author of The Order of the Day, a piercing account of the lesser-known conflict preceding the Vietnam War that dealt a fatal blow to French colonialism. How can a modern army lose to an army of peasants? Delving into the last gasps of the First Indochina War (1946–1954), which saw the communist Việt Minh take control of North Vietnam, Éric Vuillard vividly illustrates the attitudes that both enabled French colonialist abuses and ultimately led to their defeat and withdrawal. From the Michelin rubber plantation, where horrific working conditions sparked an epidemic of suicides, to the battlefield, a sense of superiority over the “yellow men” pervaded European and American forces. And, as with so many conflicts throughout history, there were key actors with a motivation deeper than nationalism or political ideology—greed. An Honorable Exit not only brings to life scenes from the war, but also looks beyond the visceral reality on the ground to the colder calculations of those who seek to benefit from conflict, whether shrewd bankers, who can turn a military win or loss into financial gain, or intelligence operatives like the CIA, who aim to influence governments across the globe.

Author : Michael A. Eggleston
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2014-04-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476614588

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Exiting Vietnam by Michael A. Eggleston Pdf

Although the Paris Peace Accords ended direct United States military involvement in Vietnam on January 27, 1973, the process of withdrawal lasted over three years. This illuminating volume chronicles this withdrawal, its background, and its impact through a combination of official history and first-person accounts from key players at every level. Brief historical narratives join recollections from U.S. servicemen and support staff, North and South Vietnamese soldiers, and such notable figures as Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig and Richard Nixon to reveal the human story behind the history. A biographical dictionary summarizes the lives of important individuals, a glossary presents unusual terms and acronyms, and an appendix analyzes the war casualties under each U.S. president.

Author : Marvin Kalb
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2013-05-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9780815724438

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The Road to War by Marvin Kalb Pdf

Not since Pearl Harbor has an American president gone to Congress to request a declaration of war. Nevertheless, since then, one president after another, from Truman to Obama, has ordered American troops into wars all over the world. From Korea to Vietnam, Panama to Grenada, Lebanon to Bosnia, Afghanistan to Iraq—why have presidents sidestepped declarations of war? Marvin Kalb, former chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS and NBC News, explores this key question in his thirteenth book about the presidency and U.S. foreign policy. Instead of a declaration of war, presidents have justified their war-making powers by citing "commitments," private and public, made by former presidents. Many of these commitments have been honored, but some betrayed. Surprisingly, given the tight U.S.-Israeli relationship, Israeli leaders feel that at times they have been betrayed by American presidents. Is it time for a negotiated defense treaty between the United States and Israel as a way of substituting for a string of secret presidential commitments? From Israel to Vietnam, presidential commitments have proven to be tricky and dangerous. For example, one president after another committed the United States to the defense of South Vietnam, often without explanation. Over the years, these commitments mushroomed into national policy, leading to a war costing 58,000 American lives. Few in Congress or the media chose to question the war's provenance or legitimacy, until it was too late. No president saw the need for a declaration of war, considering one to be old-fashioned. The word of a president can morph into a national commitment. It can become the functional equivalent of a declaration of war. Therefore, whenever a president "commits"the United States to a policy or course of action with, or increasingly without, congressional approval, watch out—the White House may be setting the nation on a road toward war. The Road to War was a 2013 Foreword Reviews honorable mention in the subject of War & Military.

Author : Håkan Karlsson,Tomás Diez Acosta
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2021-05-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000384130

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The Nixon Administration and Cuba by Håkan Karlsson,Tomás Diez Acosta Pdf

This book presents a detailed analysis of the U.S. policy that was adopted toward Cuba by the Richard M. Nixon administration between January 20, 1969, and August 8, 1974. Based on governmental, as well as other, sources from both the U.S. and Cuba, this book examines the rupture where the policy of “passive containment” was complemented with a policy of “dirty war.” President Nixon attempted to reestablish a confrontational and violent path of action, and once again, Cuba was exposed to a “dirty war” consisting of different forms of aggressive terrorist activities. Since the conditions for this violent route had changed dramatically both in the U.S. and in Cuba, a policy characterized by a continuity of the economic and psychological warfare came to be the central one for the Nixon administration. This book is unique since it is written from a Cuban perspective, and it therefore complements and enriches the knowledge of the U.S.–Cuban relationship during the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, and the policy adopted by the Nixon administration. It is of relevance to everyone interested in the issue, and especially for students and researchers within the disciplines of history and political science.

Author : Kathryn A. Sloan
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2017-04-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780520964532

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Death in the City by Kathryn A. Sloan Pdf

At the turn of the twentieth century, many observers considered suicide to be a worldwide social problem that had reached epidemic proportions. In Mexico City, violent deaths in public spaces were commonplace in a city undergoing rapid modernization. Crime rates mounted, corpses piled up in the morgue, and the media reported on sensational cases of murder and suicide. More troublesome still, a compelling death wish appeared to grip women and youth. Drawing on a range of sources from judicial records to the popular press, Death in the City investigates the cultural meanings of self-destruction in modern Mexico. The author examines responses to suicide and death and disproves the long-held belief that Mexicans possess a cavalier attitude toward suffering.

Author : David M. Kennedy
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 333 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2011-11-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781408828892

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Don't Shoot by David M. Kennedy Pdf

The remarkable story of David Kennedy's crusade to combat America's plague of gang- and drug-related violence - with methods that have been astonishingly effective across the country. 'If you want to read a book on urban gangs and find out why they exist and why they kill each other, read this ... this is a sociology book, but it's like immersing yourself in The Wire ... When Kennedy says something, you believe him' Scotsman Gang- and drug-related inner-city violence, with its attendant epidemic of incarceration, is the defining crime problem in our country. In some neighborhoods in America, one out of every two hundred young black men is shot to death every year, and few initiatives of government and law enforcement have made much difference. But when David Kennedy, a self-taught and then-unknown criminologist, engineered the "Boston Miracle" in the mid-1990s, he pointed the way toward what few had imagined: a solution. Don't Shoot tells the story of Kennedy's long journey. Riding with beat cops, hanging with gang members, and stoop-sitting with grandmothers, Kennedy found that all parties misunderstood each other, caught in a spiral of racialized anger and distrust. He envisioned an approach in which everyone-gang members, cops, and community members-comes together in what is essentially a huge intervention. Offenders are told that the violence must stop, that even the cops want them to stay alive and out of prison, and that even their families support swift law enforcement if the violence continues. In city after city, the same miracle has followed: violence plummets, drug markets dry up, and the relationship between the police and the community is reset. This is a landmark book, chronicling a paradigm shift in how we address one of America's most shameful social problems. A riveting, page-turning read, it combines the street vérité of The Wire, the social science of Gang Leader for a Day, and the moral urgency and personal journey of Fist Stick Knife Gun. But unlike anybody else, Kennedy shows that there could be an end in sight.

Author : Van Nguyen Duong
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2014-07-15
Category : History
ISBN : 0786483385

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The Tragedy of the Vietnam War by Van Nguyen Duong Pdf

What Americans call the Vietnam War actually began in December 1946 with a struggle between the communists and the French for possession of the country—but Vietnam’s strategic position in southeast Asia inevitably led to the involvement of other countries. Written by an officer in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, this poignant memoir seeks to clarify the nuances of South Vietnam’s defeat. From the age of 12, Van Nguyen Duong watched as the conflict affected his home, family, village and friends. He discusses not only the day-to-day hardships of wartime but his postwar forced relocation and eventual imprisonment. A special focus is on the anguish caused by the illusive reality of Vietnamese independence. The political forces at work north and south, the hardships suffered by RVNAF soldiers after the 1975 U.S. withdrawal, and the effects of reunification on the Vietnamese people are discussed.

Author : Ted Unarce
Publisher : Page Publishing Inc
Page : 177 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-02
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781642144970

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Silicon Valley Secrets by Ted Unarce Pdf

Book Delisted

Author : John Ferling
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 453 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2010-05-16
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781608190959

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The Ascent of George Washington by John Ferling Pdf

A behind-the-scenes portrait of the first president reveals his formidable persuasive talents, careful display of a virtuous public image and leadership capabilities of particular compatibility with a young America. Reprint.

Author : Oregon State Medical Association
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 1877
Category : Electronic
ISBN : UOM:39015073482468

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Transactions of the ... Annual Meeting of the Oregon State Medical Society by Oregon State Medical Association Pdf

Author : Munaf Yassiri
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 113 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2006-03-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781462804917

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What Is Happening in Iraq? by Munaf Yassiri Pdf

What is Happening in Iraq? The ABC of the Current Situation in Iraq. Since the American-British invasion on March 21, 2003, Iraq has been in turmoil. The Iraqi peoples suffering under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein has now been extended by the remnants of his regime. The Saddam Baathists have currently embraced openly the al-Qaeda Wahhabi terrorists ostensibly to fight the occupation forces, but, for the most part, they have in fact joined forces to intimidate and terrorize the Shiite population who constitute the majority of Iraqis. They are trying by all brutal means to prevent the establishment of a true democracy reflecting the will of the majority of the population.

Author : Gregg A. Brazinsky
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 442 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2017-02-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781469631714

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Winning the Third World by Gregg A. Brazinsky Pdf

Winning the Third World examines afresh the intense and enduring rivalry between the United States and China during the Cold War. Gregg A. Brazinsky shows how both nations fought vigorously to establish their influence in newly independent African and Asian countries. By playing a leadership role in Asia and Africa, China hoped to regain its status in world affairs, but Americans feared that China's history as a nonwhite, anticolonial nation would make it an even more dangerous threat in the postcolonial world than the Soviet Union. Drawing on a broad array of new archival materials from China and the United States, Brazinsky demonstrates that disrupting China's efforts to elevate its stature became an important motive behind Washington's use of both hard and soft power in the "Global South." Presenting a detailed narrative of the diplomatic, economic, and cultural competition between Beijing and Washington, Brazinsky offers an important new window for understanding the impact of the Cold War on the Third World. With China's growing involvement in Asia and Africa in the twenty-first century, this impressive new work of international history has an undeniable relevance to contemporary world affairs and policy making.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 688 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1883
Category : Military art and science
ISBN : UOM:39015076638470

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The United Service by Anonim Pdf

Author : JD Foster
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 890 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2017-01-19
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781524576493

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2016: the Campaign Chronicles by JD Foster Pdf

How did Donald Trump, a man with zero direct political experience and no particular affiliation to either political party go in the span of a two-year campaign from preposterous aspirant to President-elect of the United States? It will likely take years, if not decades, before a confident consensus develops, but formulating an answer begins with chronicling the key events in the campaign, in the country, and sometimes in the wider world as they happened. This book is an attempt to provide such a chronicle, by no means the last word but perhaps a useful and entertaining first word toward answering the question, What the heck?