Almost half a century ago, a young reporter from Germany arrived in
still-glamorous Saigon to cover the Vietnam War over a period of five
years. In this memoir he now tells the story of how he fell in love with
the Vietnamese people. He praises the beauty, elegance and feistiness
of their women. He describes blood-curdling Communist atrocities and
fierce combat scenes he had witnessed.
He introduces a striking array of
characters: heroes, villains, statesmen and spooks, hilarious
eccentrics, street urchins and orphans herding water buffalos. He shows
how professional malpractice by U.S. media stars such as Walter Cronkite
turned the military victory of American and South Vietnamese forces
during the 1968 Tet Offensive into a political defeat. He mourns the
countless innocent victims of the Communist conquest of South Vietnam,
which was the grim consequence of its abandonment by the United States.
Read the 13 customer reviews and then you will order, I am sure.
Growing up in a war-torn country, one is anxious to discover the root
causes of a protracted war in this nation: Why did we have to fight the
Communists? Why couldn’t we overcome them in spite of the material aid
from western superpowers such as France and the United States? These
questions became a constant obsession to me.
Very early in my youth, I pored over literature about the French Indochina war. I got acquainted with names like Jean Lartéguy and Jules Roy describing the tragic destruction of the French Expeditionary forces on Route Coloniale 4 in 1950 when they tried to withdraw from frontier towns of Cao Bang, Lang Son, or the bloody siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
At that age, I could not grasp the fact that the highly technological warfare of the West is no match to the strategy of Mao Tse Tung wasting human lives, waging a long war that will eventually wear out the enemy.
Uwe has brilliantly quoted Mao’s statement in his book: “ He who cannot win the insurrectional war, loses. He who does not lose a protracted insurrectional war, wins”. This seems to be a lesson the West — and we — never learn.
You notice that I mention Mao, not Ho Chi Minh or Vo Nguyen Giap, because right in the beginning, the enemy’s strategy is Mao’s. At the RC4 battles, Chinese military and political advisors such as Cheng Geng and Luo Gui Bo were already present alongside Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap.
Later on, after Dien Bien Phu, our country was divided along the 17th parallel into North and South Viet Nam. Then came the Americans. This time I had all the reasons to rejoice.
“John Wayne is coming to our rescue. How can we lose?” I thought.
Dr. Khoi Nguyen’s speech at the May 4, 2013 book signing of Đức
Very early in my youth, I pored over literature about the French Indochina war. I got acquainted with names like Jean Lartéguy and Jules Roy describing the tragic destruction of the French Expeditionary forces on Route Coloniale 4 in 1950 when they tried to withdraw from frontier towns of Cao Bang, Lang Son, or the bloody siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
At that age, I could not grasp the fact that the highly technological warfare of the West is no match to the strategy of Mao Tse Tung wasting human lives, waging a long war that will eventually wear out the enemy.
Uwe has brilliantly quoted Mao’s statement in his book: “ He who cannot win the insurrectional war, loses. He who does not lose a protracted insurrectional war, wins”. This seems to be a lesson the West — and we — never learn.
You notice that I mention Mao, not Ho Chi Minh or Vo Nguyen Giap, because right in the beginning, the enemy’s strategy is Mao’s. At the RC4 battles, Chinese military and political advisors such as Cheng Geng and Luo Gui Bo were already present alongside Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap.
Later on, after Dien Bien Phu, our country was divided along the 17th parallel into North and South Viet Nam. Then came the Americans. This time I had all the reasons to rejoice.
“John Wayne is coming to our rescue. How can we lose?” I thought.
More @ Viet Thuc
Book so ordered.
ReplyDeleteBob
III
This is where I found out about the book:
Deletehttp://www.fightingforthefaith.com/
Chris interviews Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, fascinating
The interview starts around the 44 minute mark – goes for about 30 or so minutes
BTW, Fighting For the Faith is great!
Also, thanks for all you do.
Dan
Thanks and I'll check it out.
Delete