Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading kill anything that moves. Of course, this is hardly the first time allegations of mass murder in vietnam have been raised. An investigative journalist indicts the leadership of the american military for war crimes in vietnam. How the military invades our everyday lives, 2008, etc. A new book lays bare the grisly logic of mass killing in vietnam jeff. In 1971, major gordon livingston, a west point graduate who served as regimental surgeon with the 11th armored cavalry regiment, testified before members of congress about the ease with which americans. Nick turse, in his new book kill anything that moves. With nick turse, author of a forthcoming book called kill anything that moves. Kill anything that moves by nick turse american empire. Jan 15, 20 kill anything that moves takes us from archives filled with washingtons longsuppressed war crime investigations to the rural vietnamese hamlets that bore the brunt of the war. Aug 30, 2011 kill anything that moves is the total fulfillment and completion of ron ridenhours belief, which he took to his early grave, that my lai was not an aberration but an operation like many another.
To ask other readers questions about kill anything that moves, please sign up. A new book lays bare the grisly logic of mass killing in vietnam. Nick turse born 1975 is an american investigative journalist, historian, and author. Until this history is acknowledged it will be repeated, one way or another, in the wars the u. It was, in their estimation, a lot of times safer to just shoot first because they. The real american war in vietnam metropolitan books, 20. The real american war in vietnam explained the horrifying brutality inflicted on vietnamese civilians, why the my lai massacre was not an aberration. Kill anything that moves by nick turse american empire project.
Another interesting whistleblower in turses book was a veteran, the concerned sergeant, who wrote anonymously to the united states commander in vietnam, general william westmoreland, in may 1970, offering eyewitness testimony about an atrocity far larger and more damning than my lai, the mass killing of civilians in the mekong. The real american war in vietnam, turse argues that the intentional killing of civilians was quite common in a war that claimed 2 million civilian lives. The real american war in vietnam american empire project. Gary kulik and peter zinoman, misrepresenting atrocities. The real american war in vietnam, a new work of history that argues, persuasively and chillingly, that the mass rape, torture, mutilation and slaughter of vietnamese civilians was not an aberration not a oneoff atrocity called my lai but rather the systematized policy of the. Ridenhour was the man who blew the whistle on my lai see. The real american war in vietnam by nick turse in djvu, fb3, rtf download ebook. Turse positions the book as a challenge to the supposedly dominant. The problem, as described in turses kill anything that moves, is the tension between the bad apples argument which sees atrocities in vietnam as the exception and the reality of the. Army draftee from december 1967 to december 1968as well as what i know about.
Nick turses kill anything that moves is essential reading, a powerful and moving account of the dark heart of the vietnam war. Following seymour hershs groundbreaking my lai expose in 1969, a flood of influential longform magazine pieces and books appeared that ate away at the notion, turse writes, that each atrocity brought to the attention of the american public was a singular incident. The real american war in vietnam, awakens those ghosts and gives them a voice, and in the process has written one of the most important books about the american war in vietnam. Smail professor of history at the university of wisconsinmadison. New book exposes hidden crimes of the war kerry, hagel fought in vietnam democracy now. As america again makes war on an industrial scale on nations far less advanced, and commits again torture, assassinations, mass killings and keeps secret prisons while all the while trying to hide its dirty hands from the american public, that turses book was. Meticulously researched, kill anything that moves is the most comprehensive account to date of the war crimes committed by u. While it is a book about the past, it is clearly about things that happen still in the present day, right up until the immediate moment of august 6, 20.
Turse is an awardwinning journalist and historian, managing editor for and a fellow at the nation institute. Turse, who devoted 12 years to tracking down the true story of vietnam, unlocked secret troves of documents, interviewed officials and veterans including many accused of war atrocities and traveled throughout the vietnamese countryside talking with eyewitnesses to create his book, kill anything that moves. In the end, i hope, turses book will become a hardtoavoid, hardtodismiss corrective to the very common. The real american war in vietnam discussion in world affairs started by beijingwalker, jan 26, 20.
Civilians and the vietnam war fresh air january 28, 20 in a new book, nick turse says the pressure on u. The vva veteran, a publication of vietnam veterans of america. The things they carried by tim obrien, the sympathizer by viet thanh nguyen, the quiet american by graham greene, matterhorn b. Dec 31, 20 nick turses kill anything that moves is essential reading, a powerful and moving account of the dark heart of the vietnam war. In the end, i hope, turses book will become a hardtoavoid, hardtodismiss corrective to the very. The real american war in vietnam american empire project kindle edition by turse, nick. Kill anything that moves is obligatory reading for americans, because its implications for the likely scale of atrocities and civilian casualties inflicted and covered up in our latest wars are inescapable and staggering. Kill anything that moves is not only one of the most important books ever written about the vietnam conflict but provides readers with an. The real american war in vietnam is not only one of the most. The book plunges us into the chaos and intensity of combat, even as it explains the rationale that got us into vietnam and kept us there for so many years. All these decades later, americans still havent drawn the right lesson from vietnam. The viet cong doctrine was to shoot and run, and then blend into the civilian population.
Kill anything that moves is not only one of the most important books ever written about the vietnam conflict but provides readers with an unflinching account of the nature of modern industrial warfareturse, finally, grasps that the trauma that plagues most combat veterans is a result not only of what they witnessed or endured, but what they did. May 02, 2014 nick turses book, kill anything that moves. The following is an excerpt from nick turses book, kill anything that moves. Nov 08, 2012 the most acclaimed vietnam war movies depict the harrowing side of the conflict. I also am judging turses work based on what i saw and heard when i was in vietnam as a u. The real american war in vietnam metropolitan books. The history of an unwinnable war, 19451975 nick turses kill anything that moves is essential reading, a powerful and moving account of the dark heart of the vietnam war. Come home from that pointless and immoral war and find one. Kill anything that moves uncovering war crimes in vietnam. The real american war in vietnam a book by nick turse. I wholly recommend this book to whoever wants to know more about the vietnam war or about the army. Forty years ago, daniel ellsberg explained to filmmaker peter davis, we. Feb 21, 20 nick turse, author of kill anything that moves. The real american war in vietnam,carries readers to the core of that evil.
An indispensable, paradigmshifting new history of the war. Devastating and definitive, kill anything that moves finally brings us facetoface with the truth of a war that haunts america to this day. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Kill anything that moves takes us from archives filled with washingtons longsuppressed war crime investigations to the rural vietnamese hamlets that bore the brunt of the war. Kill anything that moves and the continuing distortions of the war in vietnam, crosscurrents. Vietnam books goodreads meet your next favorite book. The real american war in vietnam by nick turse online at alibris.