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THE VETERAN

Page 5
Download PDF of this full issue: v54n2.pdf (38.8 MB)

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Race in the Crucible of War

By John Bromer (reviewer)

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Race in the Crucible of War: African American Servicemen and the War in Vietnam
(Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond)
by Gerald F. Goodwin
‎(University of Massachusetts Press, 2023)

Race in the Crucible of War, by Gerald F. Goodwin, is a challenging book to read on several levels. At least it was for me.

The book's not long, under 230 pages (excluding notes), but it's densely packed with research and personal experiences. The subtitle is African American Servicemen and the War in Vietnam, and that's what it's about. I'm not Black, and I've never been to Vietnam. Part of the difficulty for me was coming to see just how thoroughly racism, discrimination, and abuse are baked into the armed forces and our country. Naive, huh?

Goodwin is a college professor of history and political science. He interviewed more than 50 African American veterans of the war and studied archives, print, and video records. I read the first 40 pages and put the book down for a few months, thinking it was primarily statistics, though there are quotes from men he interviewed throughout. When I picked it up the next time, I quickly went from interested to engrossed.

The Vietnam War was the first in which the armed forces were fully integrated. In basic training, many Blacks found the same racists and prejudices that they had lived with growing up. When they got to Vietnam, and especially in combat, a lot of that went away or was subsumed because your life depended on the men on each side of you. "The barrier of color is false," said one soldier. At the same time, "The further you got from combat, the more bullshit there was." (Anything in quotation marks is from the book)

Racism was evident in Blacks being assigned to menial duties—"the hardest, dirtiest, and most unpleasant chores"—disproportionately being sent into combat, being disciplined for petty offenses when whites were not, brought up on charges and held in pre-trial detention for months, given dishonorable discharges, the list goes on and on. Riots in military stockades, violence between Blacks and whites, fragging (a quote from a young Colin Powell who was an officer in Vietnam 1968-69—he moved his cot every night because he "did not rule out attacks on authority from within the battalion itself.")

When violence broke out between white and Black troops, it was immediately assumed by officers that the Black troops were responsible, regardless of the facts.

Goodwin cites many examples of these episodes leading to deaths. I was disappointed that he didn't say what happened to the perpetrators, but that's not the focus of this work.

The book goes into relations with the Vietnamese (and Montagnards), both fighters and civilians. It was complicated, with African American soldiers seeing similarities between oppression at home and abroad while at the same time being there to fight these people. Communist propaganda focused on telling Black Americans they should go home and fight the real battle there. The assassinations and riots in America were, of course, at their height in the late 60s and early 70s, so many Black troops had mixed feelings about the whole deal.

Even after they returned home, Black veterans were disrespected, assaulted, and, in some cases, killed by racists who only saw the color of their skin. A Black veteran on the second day of the Detroit riots—"I just got back from Vietnam a few months ago… but you know I think the war is here."

Near the end of the book are four or five pages of vets talking about their PTSD. I thought I had an idea what PTSD is, but this is chilling.

I don't write long book reviews, and this one is late, so I'll stop. There's much, much more in this book. To Black American vets, it may be, duh, old news. Or not.

To me and others, it's an eye-opener, with so much detail and information that was never reported or publicized.

It's not an easy read, but it's worth reading. It has my highest recommendation.


John Bromer is a Vietnam-era veteran and a Lifetime Member of VVAW.



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