Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

American Warriors in Vietnam: Warrior Values and the Myth of the War Experience During the Vietnam War, 1965-1973.

Resic, Sanimir LU (1999)
Abstract
In the Western world there has been a general consensus that in the aftermath of Auschwitz and Hiroshima, romanticized masculine images of war and soldiering have reached a turning point. This book challenges the view that the post- 1945 era has to a great extent been without romantizations of warriorhood. In the thesis I show that the American combat soldiers in Vietnam were not beyond the influence of masculine warrior values and the Myth of the War Experience. I also show how the American combat soldiers who volunteered for combat in Vietnam confirmed the almost timeless celebration and enchantment of warriorhood as the male confirmation. But they saw their pre-battle expectations and images about warriorhood and combat crushed in... (More)
In the Western world there has been a general consensus that in the aftermath of Auschwitz and Hiroshima, romanticized masculine images of war and soldiering have reached a turning point. This book challenges the view that the post- 1945 era has to a great extent been without romantizations of warriorhood. In the thesis I show that the American combat soldiers in Vietnam were not beyond the influence of masculine warrior values and the Myth of the War Experience. I also show how the American combat soldiers who volunteered for combat in Vietnam confirmed the almost timeless celebration and enchantment of warriorhood as the male confirmation. But they saw their pre-battle expectations and images about warriorhood and combat crushed in Vietnam. The Vietnam War turned out to be a political and military disaster for the United States. Furthermore, the American soldiers failed to win the war for a nation that prided itself on a long military tradition of victories. The defeat was a particularly serious blow to the early volunteers and to the male American identity. This generation of American warriors fought and lost what turned out to be the most unpopular martial experience in the history of the United States. Within the legacy of the conflict lies a both implicit and explicit sentiment among many veterans, and Americans in general, that they had been tricked into fighting in an unnecessary and dishonorable war. However, in the last decades, despite the legacy of the war, in many veterans' stories the worth of the warrior is stressed again, and we see attempts to include the American Vietnam warrior in the time-honored tradition of praising masculine warrior feats and values. In their effort to reconstruct the value of warriorhood, these veterans contribute to the perpetuation of the worth of man as warrior. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Amerikanska krigare i Vietnam: Krigarvärderingar och myten om krigserfarenheten under Vietnamkriget, 1965-1973.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Nelson, Keith L., University of California, Irvine
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Myth of the War Experience, United States, warrior values, veteran discourse, Contemporary history (since 1914), Vietnam, duty, honor, courage, masculinity, Warrior, Nutidshistoria (från 1914)
pages
265 pages
publisher
Historiska institutionen, Lunds Universitet
defense location
Dept. of History, Magle Stora Kyrkogata 12 A
defense date
1999-09-18 10:15:00
external identifiers
  • other:ISRN: LUHFDA/HFHI-1999/1093-SE265
ISBN
91-628-3677-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
360fe8a9-a020-44ea-9513-f755ff890249 (old id 19266)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:05:43
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:02:37
@phdthesis{360fe8a9-a020-44ea-9513-f755ff890249,
  abstract     = {{In the Western world there has been a general consensus that in the aftermath of Auschwitz and Hiroshima, romanticized masculine images of war and soldiering have reached a turning point. This book challenges the view that the post- 1945 era has to a great extent been without romantizations of warriorhood. In the thesis I show that the American combat soldiers in Vietnam were not beyond the influence of masculine warrior values and the Myth of the War Experience. I also show how the American combat soldiers who volunteered for combat in Vietnam confirmed the almost timeless celebration and enchantment of warriorhood as the male confirmation. But they saw their pre-battle expectations and images about warriorhood and combat crushed in Vietnam. The Vietnam War turned out to be a political and military disaster for the United States. Furthermore, the American soldiers failed to win the war for a nation that prided itself on a long military tradition of victories. The defeat was a particularly serious blow to the early volunteers and to the male American identity. This generation of American warriors fought and lost what turned out to be the most unpopular martial experience in the history of the United States. Within the legacy of the conflict lies a both implicit and explicit sentiment among many veterans, and Americans in general, that they had been tricked into fighting in an unnecessary and dishonorable war. However, in the last decades, despite the legacy of the war, in many veterans' stories the worth of the warrior is stressed again, and we see attempts to include the American Vietnam warrior in the time-honored tradition of praising masculine warrior feats and values. In their effort to reconstruct the value of warriorhood, these veterans contribute to the perpetuation of the worth of man as warrior.}},
  author       = {{Resic, Sanimir}},
  isbn         = {{91-628-3677-3}},
  keywords     = {{Myth of the War Experience; United States; warrior values; veteran discourse; Contemporary history (since 1914); Vietnam; duty; honor; courage; masculinity; Warrior; Nutidshistoria (från 1914)}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Historiska institutionen, Lunds Universitet}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{American Warriors in Vietnam: Warrior Values and the Myth of the War Experience During the Vietnam War, 1965-1973.}},
  year         = {{1999}},
}