Reply #26: "The Spitting Image: Myth , Memory, and Legacy of Vietnam" [View All]

by Jerry Lembcke is a book I read last winter that claims to refute this "myth" (his words, not mine). He is a socialogist at Holy Cross and was active in Vietnam Veterans Against the War

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Images of long-haired antiwar protesters, almost always women, spitting on returning Vietnam veterans have become a shameful part of America's collective memory. Lembcke (sociology, Holy Cross Univ.), a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, here presents a stunning indictment of this myth?an illusion created, he maintains, by the Nixon-Agnew administration and an unwitting press to attribute America's loss in Vietnam to internal dissension. In fact, the antiwar movement and many veterans were closely aligned, and the only documented incidents show members of the VFW and American Legion spitting on their less successful Vietnam peers. But Lembcke's most controversial conclusion is that posttraumatic stress disorder was as much a political creation?a means of discrediting returning vets who protested the war as unhinged?as it was a medical condition. The image of the psycho-vet was furthered through such Hollywood productions as The Deer Hunter and Coming Home. This forceful investigation challenges the reader to reexamine assumptions about the dark side of American culture that glorifies war more than peace. Highly recommended for large public libraries and for all academic peace studies collections.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0814751474/qid=1068058325/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-3969183-7746518?v=glance&s=books