"Legacy of Discord"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the book, "Legacy of Discord: Voices of the Vietnam War," by Gil Dorland. It looks at how the book was written in 2001, twenty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War and how the book was intended to present some sort of understanding of the causes and motivations behind the Vietnam War through interviews with eighteen people representing a variety of often contradictory viewpoints. It explores the general themes in the book, which include incrementalism, McNamara, micromanagement of the action, and relationships with the Vietnamese army.

From the Paper:

"Aside from the minor complaints made above, the book is a very informative and provocative account of the Vietnam War. There are, however, complaints that could be leveled at the book: for instance, that the evidence presented by interviewees was not entirely truthful. We, as readers, as children of this American foreign policy gone wrong, are asked to put our faith in some of the key players of the war, to believe that they will tell us the truth about their view of events in and surrounding the war: whilst the interviews presented are full of candor, it is a matter of debate as to whether these people can be trusted to tell the truth, and whether we can ever use such sources to base opinions of such events upon."

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