Spending some time tracking down photos for my upcoming book on the Army in Vietnam, Oct 68-Dec 69, and just discovered a trove of pics in the USACE digital archives. Most need a bit of Photoshop love, but some real great ones in there. Here is An Khe, circa 1967-68.

Mail days like this one are pretty rad! Thanks, University of Chicago Press, for sending me the upcoming release by @elisatamarkin.bsky.social ! 📚

NEW EPISODE - When #Terrorism Went #Global: Plane #Hijackings and Violence in the 1970s Listen here 🎧🎧 coldwarconversations.com/episode437/ @germanatpompey.bsky.social @Jasonburke2.bsky.social @lucatrenta.bsky.social #raf #blackseptember #redarmyfaction #terrorism

Another instance of there being readily available photographs depicting a protester handing a flower to a soldier, but instead an AI image is used. Check out the details circled in white to see some of the tells.

Why use a real picture of Borman, Lovell, and Anders when you can generate one to fit the rest of an AI-generated aesthetic?

Yet another case of history being distorted through fake imagery. While some AI generators might be improving at tells like how many fingers people have, but check out the helicopters in this one. How many rotors and rotor blades to those things have?

New acquisition: "La guerra de Vietnam" (Los Dos Navegantes Luz y Chuy), not seen this one before

They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?! Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

#OtD 31 Dec 1969 Dwight and Karl Armstrong stole a twin engined Cessna plane from outside Madison and dropped three bombs on the Badger Army Ammunition Plant in protest against the Vietnam War. The bombs failed to explode. More in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/2020/09/23/e...

#tdih 1971: Daniel Ellsberg and Tony Russo indicted for releasing Pentagon Papers to news. Papers outlined "history" of US in Vietnam since 1945. In other words, their “crime” was to reveal history. Sound familiar? Read ⬇️ Donate: zinnedproject.org/donate/ www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/el...

African Americans have always been involved in United States military service since its inception despite official policies of racial segregation and discrimination. 🧵

No, this is not AI. And the centipedes in Vietnam aren't really that big. From the OP on Reddit: "Not shopped at all. Forced Perspective. It was 10 inches long and my dad and his buddies put it on a string and stood behind it to make it look bigger."

Huey, a sketchbook entry. #watercolor #gouache #comicart #vietnamwar #eveofdestruction #fortunateson #huey #uh1huey #uh1 #watercolorcomics #fumetti #bandedesssinee

So, LLMs are a form of information laundering. They insulate you from the sources, which makes it impossible to judge the reliability of the source.

Interestingly, many Vietnamese voters support Trump. This is not a trend new to his current presidency. In fact, you could see the Republic of Vietnam's (South Vietnam) flag flown at the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. These supporters agree with the anti-communist views of the conservative party.

Five Books About the Most Important Photographs of the Vietnam War—and the Photographers Who Took Them: In April 2023, George Black wrote in an introduction to his reading list on these pages that “something like thirty thousand books have been written about ‘the… #ArtandPhotography #Features

There are millions of photos from the Vietnam War available across the internet, depicting the actual experiences of people on all sides. Create art, by all means, but doing so through AI (which uses mined images and art made by others) creates misleading images that disrespect creators & others.

Operation Babylift was an earnest attempt to save children during the fall of Saigon in 1975. Fifty years later, a generation of adoptees wrestle with Vietnam’s legacy of transnational adoption. Read more from @chameauleon.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

Anyone interested in this copy of Cracks in the Empire by Paul Joseph? I will ship in the US via media mail.

Does anyone have access to the following article? '“Distinctly Australian Interests”: Australian Strategy and the Vietnam War' by Laura Seddelmeyer in the 'Australian Journal of Politics & History' onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... #VietnamWar #skystorians

*taps mic* Ahem THE US MILITARY IS NOT APOLITICAL, IT IS NONPARTISAN. BY ITS VERY EXISTENCE IT IS POLITICAL. Please disseminate to the highest levels because they still aren’t getting it That is all. Carry on.

Anyone have any recommendations for podcasts about WWII? Particularly anything covering espionage. Thank you!

Available until December 12, 2025 www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/... Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong has been tackling the link between health hazards such as birth defects and the spraying of Agent Orange by the U.S. military for over 50 years since the Vietnam War.

PM Harold Macmillan went on to send a British Advisory Mission to Saigon, headed by Sir Robert Thompson, to advise the Republic of Vietnam (aka South Vietnam) on counterinsurgency measures based on the British experience in Malaya.

Also notable: the Ticonderoga’s logs showed it had recently conducted air strikes over Vietnam from the Gulf of Tonkin while carrying nuclear weapons. The A-4E, pilot’s body, and bomb were never recovered. DOD’s belated acknowledgement of the actual accident site sparked a political furor in Japan.

60 years ago today, an A-4E Skyhawk carrying a 1-Megaton B43 H-bomb during a weapon loading exercise rolled off the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) about 70 miles off Japan’s Ryuku Islands, landing upside down in the water and quickly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, killing pilot LTJG Douglas Webster.

The Black freedom movement is inseparable from the history of the Vietnam War. They are each tied inextricably to the global Cold War. Communist propaganda targeted Black service members to exploit the racial divisions of the United States.

This does surprise me a bit. HQ sign for the 3d Bn, 187th Inf, 101st Abn Div, Vietnam, at Phuoc Vinh (circa 1867-1968). Courtesy of R.C. Smith, B Co, 3d Bn, 187th, via the TSTPRakkasans dot com website. Not a red torii in sight!! :]

Those Who Stayed by Claudia Krich was published in April this year. Check out the quote below from my review for @libraryjournal.bsky.social

I can't stress enough that you should take every opportunity that comes your way to support your local public libraries. Many of them are currently struggling and are being DEFUNDED. Local action matters on this front. Don't sit back until those libraries are gone before taking ACTION.

Check out "Alliances & Armor", an examination of how the Soviet Union supported North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. 💻️: https://tinyurl.com/4426236p #militaryhistory #militarybooks #warhistory

Let's get this out of the way: Trans rights are human rights. Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Immigrants belong in the United States. Black lives matter. These are not up for debate.

I had to do a lot of color correction because the original photo was riddled with color problems, but I really liked the composition. These are soldiers from the 3d Bn, 187th Inf, 101st Abn Div, in III Corps, S. Vietnam, in the summer of 1968. Captures those quiet interludes between the chaos.

Hey everyone! Currently working on migrating (and updating) the site to @wordpress.com. Not live yet, but keep an eye out! I offer articles about specific topics (like war crimes and Agent Orange), overviews of military operations, & book reviews. Follow to learn more #history of the #VietnamWar!

Two soldiers from the 2d Bn, 35th Inf, 4th ID, operate an 81-mm. mortar at LZ Valentine, 11 Mar 1969. Photo by Sp4 Kenneth Sloeberg 221st Sig Co Restoration by erikthehistorian (erik villard)

globalmaritimehistory.com If you are a maritime historian (broadly conceived), and you would like to promote your work, we are looking for people who are interested in writing for us. If you want to write about a neat project you are working on, or if you have a short series (or even long series)

Dissertations re:My Lai I found useful Pauline M. Kaurin, “Agency and Character: A View of Action and Agency” (diss., Temple University, 1997) Rives M. Duncan, "What Went Right at My Lai: An Analysis of the Roles of Habitus and Character in Lawful Disobedience" (diss., Temple University, 1997),

Turse's work also shows the ways in which the historical moment in which we live influence our work as historians. He was writing at a time during which Abu Ghraib became a public scandal and in which the American Left railed against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is one area in which Turse and I differ in approach. For him, all atrocity allegations are valid, and the goals of the claimant do not impinge on their reliability. I'm ore interested in the motivations and methods of allegations than the atrocities.

This is one of the issues with claims of atrocities as a function of policy - do we take allegations as entirely accurate and unmotivated by external concerns? Many allegations include motivations to have an effect that cannot be discounted.

While this is a damning account of the sort that Turse and those who admire his work use to claim that there was a "My Lai a Day in Vietnam," it remains unproven.

According to Lewis, snipers in the 9th Division had a bounty system that gave them leave time based on number of kills, gaining decorations and leave for high numbers. This lead to 20 civilian deaths at the hands of snipers i the 39th Infantry Brigade daily.

He claimed that helicopters hovered over Vietnamese until they ran, providing a legal rationale to them. GIs reported them as Viet Cong “taking evasive action.”

Lewis equested an investigation into the 9th Infantry Division, especially the 39th Infantry Brigade. Lewis claimed the Division’s policy to shoot anyone who fled from U.S. troops systematically led to civilian deaths.

There were some allegations that make atrocities in Vietnam look quite systemic. The best example I have is the "Concerned Sergean" allegation, in which SP4 George Lewis wrote to William Westmoreland and Major Generals William Enemark and Orwin C. Talbott.

There's no space to discuss the cover-up here, but while several officers properly reported the massacre through the chain of command, My Lai was initially reported by the 11th Brigade (and the NYT) as a successful operation against the Viet Cong.

We all know the story of Hugh Thompson and his crew. Thompson was eventually recognized for the heroism of his actions, but he not only faced potential punishment for his argument with Calley at My Lai, and hid his role for parts of his career.

Stanley drew his sidearm and told Calley “We all going to die here anyway. I just as soon go out right here and now – but I ain't killing no women and children. That Stanley was not court-martialed for this is simply amazing.

When ordered to shoot villagers in a ditch, Robert Maples refused and threw down his M-60. Other soldiers intervened when Calley threatened to shoot Maples. When HarryStanley refused to pick up the weapon, and Calley jammed his rifle into Stanley's gut, threatening to shoot him.