The United States admitted more than 300,000 Southeast Asians after the Vietnam War. Analysts say there is little chance the country will repeat the extensive refugee resettlement effort.
Tag Archives: Vietnam War
America’s Afghan War: A Defeat Foretold?
Recent history suggests that it is foolish for Western powers to fight wars in other people’s lands and that the U.S. intervention was almost certainly doomed from the start.
Vietnam War Victims Seek Answers on Massacre from South Korea
South Korean troops were the largest foreign contingent fighting alongside American soldiers during the Vietnam War. They have long been dogged by allegations of brutality.
Joe Galloway, Decorated Vietnam War Correspondent, Dies at 79
He chronicled the first major battle of the war in “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young” and raised questions about the invasion of Iraq.
To Save His Presidency, Biden Must Tell the Truth About Afghanistan
He may not be able to save his ambitious legislative agenda unless he understands this crucial lesson from the past.
What America Owes Afghanistan and Vietnam War Victims
For Afghans, the war isn’t over simply because the United States declared it so. The nightmare doesn’t end after the last American leaves.
‘In the End We Felt Betrayed’: Vietnamese Veterans See Echoes in Afghanistan
Those who continued fighting for South Vietnam in 1975 know what it’s like when an American-made military is suddenly left with little support.
Mike Gravel, Unconventional Two-Term Alaska Senator, Dies at 91
He made headlines by fighting for an oil pipeline and reading the Pentagon Papers aloud. After 25 years of obscurity, he re-emerged with a quixotic presidential campaign.
Was Daniel Ellsberg’s Leak of the Pentagon Papers Really Heroic?
The way we control secrets has been established by Congress and the executive branch, both accountable to the public and the courts. Daniel Ellsberg, accountable to no one, took it upon himself to steer the ship of state.
The Pentagon Papers’ Lessons Went Unlearned
As a soldier in Vietnam, I already knew what the Pentagon Papers revealed. In the years since, America’s leaders have repeated the same mistakes.
How One Epic Document Exposed the Secrets of the Vietnam War
With the Pentagon Papers revelations, the U.S. public’s trust in the government was forever diminished.
The Way of the Conscientious Objector
A philosophical and moral conversion led this soldier to leave the military. Why don’t more take this path?
How Military Quagmires Have Caught Mighty Powers by Surprise
Both the British and the Americans were unable to defeat enemies they thought would be pushovers.
America, Please Don’t Forget the Victims of Agent Orange
Victims in Southeast Asia have never received compensation from the chemical giants that supplied herbicides during the Vietnam War.
Bob Fass, Pioneer of Underground Radio, Dies at 87
His provocative “Radio Unnameable,” long a staple of the New York station WBAI, offered a home on the FM dial to everyone from Abbie Hoffman to Tiny Tim.
Marshall D. Sahlins, Groundbreaking Anthropologist, Dies at 90
His work focused on the way cultures shape, and are shaped by, individuals — a framework he demonstrated through his passionate political activism.
Ramsey Clark, Attorney General and Rebel With a Cause, Dies at 93
Mr. Clark oversaw the drafting of the Fair Housing Act in 1968 and went on to defend both the disadvantaged and the unpopular.
An Online Museum Shows Life During Wartime
The new Museum of American War Letters is making a range of communications from battle zones available.
I Don’t Want My Role Models Erased
This is how women who covered Vietnam were marginalized in the war’s history.
‘Dear G.I.’: An Unlikely Friendship Built on Letters From a Foxhole
In 1966, a Massachusetts mother of three began writing to young men serving in Vietnam. One became her most steadfast pen pal, writing her 77 letters over seven years.
Man Says He Lived in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium for Years
Several people corroborated parts of the account of Tom Garvey, a Vietnam veteran and former stadium employee who described his “secret apartment” in a recent book.
A Secret War. Decades of Suffering. Will the U.S. Ever Make Good in Laos?
America has never taken responsibility for spraying Agent Orange over the neutral country during the Vietnam War. But generations of ethnic minorities have endured the consequences.
In Lady Bird Johnson’s Secret Diaries, a Despairing President and a Crucial Spouse
A new book reveals how the former first lady not only provided a spouse’s emotional ballast but also served as an unrivaled counselor who helped persuade Lyndon B. Johnson to stay in office.
‘F.T.A.’: When Jane Fonda Rocked the U.S. Army
A newly exhumed documentary delves into the actress’s anti-Vietnam vaudeville tour of American military bases in 1972.
A Black Soldier’s Heroism, Overlooked in 1965, May Finally Be Lauded in 2021
Comrades repeatedly told the Army that Capt. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers in the Special Forces, deserved the Medal of Honor. The Army kept losing the paperwork.
My Veteran Problem
I have an instinct to protect the image of American service members. But veterans alone should not control the conversation.
Rennie Davis, ‘Chicago Seven’ Antiwar Activist, Dies at 79
The trial arising from the “police riot” at the 1968 convention thrust him into the spotlight. He later became an unlikely spokesman for a teenage guru.
Alan Canfora, Who Carried Wounds From Kent State, Dies at 71
He devoted his life to pursuing the truth about the tragic events of May 4, 1970, and to keeping them in the public eye.
Neil Sheehan Forced an American Reckoning
Working with the reporter who obtained the Pentagon Papers for The Times, I saw firsthand his moral fervor about the people’s right to know the truth.
Neil Sheehan, Reporter Who Obtained the Pentagon Papers, Dies at 84
His extensive coverage of the Vietnam War also led to the book “A Bright Shining Lie,” which earned him a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.
Joe Biden’s Non-Radical 1960s
Trump has called Biden a tool of leftist agitators. Friends say that has never much been his way, even as a young man surrounded by protest.
I Built a Time Machine to the 1960s
Watching TV news from the past helps me get a grip on the present.
The Bumbling 1960s Data Scientists Who Anticipated Facebook and Google
In “If Then,” the historian Jill Lepore recounts the story of the Simulmatics Corporation, which tried to use primitive computing power to shape Americans’ behavior.
The Untold Story of the Black Marines Charged With Mutiny at Sea
Racial strife aboard a Navy ship left three men facing the threat of the death penalty. They became little more than statistics in the military’s dismal record of race relations in the Vietnam era.
Nixon Also Called In the Military Against Protesters
Washington’s police chief took the blame. But Nixon was behind the decision.
We Need a Monument to the Unknown America
A memorial makes a statement about who is worth preserving. Why not a sacred and beautiful nothingness?
Vietnamese Lives, American Imperialist Views, Even in ‘Da 5 Bloods’
Black soldiers finally get their own story, but in one important respect, the film is no different from other Hollywood dramas that came before.
A Pop-Culture Glossary for ‘Da 5 Bloods’
Spike Lee’s movie is filled with references to movies and Vietnam-era events. We explain who’s who and what’s what.
Sam Johnson, Congressman and Former P.O.W., Is Dead at 89
A much-decorated pilot held by the North Vietnamese for years, he would later criticize his fellow Republican Donald Trump for disparaging John McCain.
A Son’s Long Struggle to Clear His Family’s Name Is Only Half Won
When it left Vietnam in 1973, the South Korean military said none of its soldiers had been taken prisoner. It took Ahn Yong-soo decades to change the narrative.
Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas Dies at 89
Mr. Johnson was a military pilot who spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam before serving more than two decades representing a Dallas-area district in Congress.
Spike Lee and the Battlefield of American History
With his new film, the peerless American filmmaker — self-isolating and reflective in New York — unsettles past and present conflicts.
How the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Like the Vietnam War
Chance rules. Leaders lie. Deaths become statistics. The parallels between the disease and the war are everywhere.
How the Kent State Shootings Changed America
They marked the end of the 1960s, and the beginning of our era of political polarization.
Grim Milestones: U.S. Deaths in the Pandemic and in Vietnam
The former Times correspondent Fox Butterfield draws a comparison between the actions of presidents then and now. Also: New York cancels its primary election; being empathic; ethics in critical care.
Is the Light at the End of This Tunnel the Beam of an Oncoming Train?
A Times correspondent, now in New York, compares the fight against the coronavirus with other wars he has known.