HARD MEN HUMBLE

From the editor of international-affairs journal Strategic Survey, a sympathetic and insightful survey of American veterans who have taken up residence in Southeast Asia.

For various reasons, the men Stevenson (“We Wrecked the Place,” 1996) profiles are unable to extricate themselves from the experience of Vietnam. Whether haunted by guilty memories of acts they considered war crimes, driven by a need to heal and reconcile, or motivated by affectionate respect for the Vietnamese, many of Stevenson's vets returned in search of a personal fulfillment they could not find in the US. The reasons range from mundane to complex. One man cannot stop remembering the fleshly pleasures of Bangkok. A highly decorated career Special Forces officer stays in Southeast Asia because he won't give up what he considers an honorable fight in a just cause. Others, horrified by the war and the way it was fought, or tortured by its appalling images, have spent years trying to come to terms with their experiences. Some are involved in charitable or relief work in Asia. One veteran, a former acquaintance of Dean Rusk’s, runs assistance programs for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation from Hanoi. Another, alienated from American society, teaches English in Ho Chi Minh City. Some expatriates, more philosophical about the war, simply learned to like Vietnam and its people during their service; some pursue closer commercial ties between Vietnam and the US. While their reasons for their chosen exile and their opinions about the war's merit vary, Stevenson's vets commonly express anger and bitterness toward inept politicians and especially unappreciative fellow citizens. Without addressing the morality of the war itself, Stevenson argues that these men exemplified intrinsically important values of sacrifice, bravery, and fidelity to duty that the nation ignores at its peril in an increasingly dangerous world.

A well-analyzed and evenhanded treatment of the survivors of America's most controversial conflict.