Jonah Goldberg at the Corner of National Review Online received the following e-mail offering guidance to someone looking for help on studying the Vietnam War from a more conservative position. I think it's worth reproducing. Jonah,
About two years ago, I did my senior thesis on the conservative
approach to Vietnam. Instead of going to mainstream sources, it almost
seemed that I had to relearn everything about Vietnam from the ground
(war) up. There are a few good resources that, if used properly, and if
the parent has a good background knowledge of the war from a
conservative perspective, could be used to teach kids effectively. For the parent, I would suggest both Admiral Jeremiah Denton's
account of life in the Hanoi Hilton [When Hell Was in Session] , Norman Podhoretz's excellent 1982
book Why We Were in Vietnam (completely conservative perspective, as
you well know). Both of these would familiarize a parent with the
conservative interpretation of life in Vietnam and the reasons for
going to war, which are the main contentions of liberals. Most often,
in my research, I found that the spin originated from an attempt to
whitewash Kennedy's involvement in Vietnam, and to play up the misdeeds
of the troops, and the moral superiority of the anti-war crowd. If
either of these is tackled with facts, then the argument collapses. A
good familiarity with Nixonian foreign policy concerning
Vietnamization, and a good solid understanding of the Tet Offensive
(what many would consider the turning point TOWARD America in the war)
would be, at least, a place to start. I would start with the Eyewitness Books Vietnam War: they have a
kid-level run-down of the events, and they'd form enough of a basis for
knowledge that a parent could create lesson plans based on the way that
the war is broken down in the book. From there, the old Time-Life books
that they used to sell on television (while a little liberal), have
really nice photos and maps. Most bookstores will have photo
anthologies of the war on their clearance racks, too. As much as it pains me to say it, PBS had an excellent documentary
series a few years ago that, while it has a decidedly liberal tilt, was
incredibly well done, and comprehensive. It was called Vietnam: a
Television History, and it has hours and hours of video that spans from
the time the British and French first situated themselves in Vietnam
until the last days. It has one particular episode critiquing the
medias role in the anti-war movement that was particularly useful. For
these, PBS has an online resource called Battlefield: Vietnam that has
some good outside resources. Goldberg heard from other homeschooling readers who suggested Michael Medved's tapes. Ramesh Ponnuru suggests these resources:
When I was in high school, I found books by Guenter Lewy, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger (I'm thinking of White House Years and Years of Upheaval) helpful in providing an intelligent conservative perspective. A 1985 article by John P. Roche for NR--called, I believe, "The Strange Death of Liberal Anti-Communism"--was also worthwhile. The Irony of Vietnam, by Leslie Gelb and Richard Betts, was not a "conservative book" but was quite interesting. If I were working now on the paper that got me reading those books then, I would probably add Michael Lind and H. R. McMaster to the list.
A reader responded to Ponnuru Just
saw your item on Vietnam books. I agree that anything written by John
Roche, whether from his time in government or after, is worth reading.
As something of a Vietnam buff myself, I think the most comprehensive,
however revisionist, book I've read on the war is Michael Lind's
"Vietnam: The Necessary War." (I assume that's the Lind work you were
referring to.) [Correct--RP] Despite Lind's recent zaniness about
George W. Bush and his general haughtiness, his Vietnam book is second
to none.
Mackubin Owens offers these ideas:
In addition to Lewy and Podhoretz and some of the others folks have noted, people ought to read Lewis Sorley's A Better War, Doug Pike's PAVN, and Peter Braestrup's classic on coverage of Vietnam, Big Story. My friend Gerry Turley has a riveting account of his adventures as an advisor in The Easter Offensive. It is riveting. T he best novel is Jim Webb's Fields of Fire. Mark Moyar, one of a new generation of scholars has written Phoenix and the Birds of Prey, well worth the read. Jug Burkett's Stolen Valor has taken some heat, but no one that he has accused of being a fraud has been willing to take him to court and testify under oath.
The trouble for people who want good stuff is that all the "clearing houses" for Vietnam are left-wing. Several years ago, I attended a book fair at my son's Catholic school. He was 10 at the time and was interested in military stuff so I was looking to buy him something to read. I found a history of American wars that was written for teenagers, and since he was a pretty good reader, I thought he could handle it. It was fine until it got to Vietnam. Then it simply rehashed the left wing litany of sins and atrocities. My Lai loomed large. I put it back and concluded that the left-wing narrative is too deeply embedded to be rooted out, at least during my lifetime.