Goodbye Vietnam
Apr 2013 · Open Road Media
3.0star
1 review
Ebook
284
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
In this “essential” memoir, a former marine returns to Vietnam years later to try to make sense of the war (Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead).
When William Broyles Jr. was drafted, he was a twenty-four-year-old student at Oxford University in England, hoping to avoid military service. During his physical exam, however, he realized that he couldn’t let social class or education give him special privileges. He joined the marines, and soon commanded an infantry platoon in the foothills near Da Nang. More than a decade later, Broyles found himself flooded with emotion during the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. He decided to return to Vietnam and confront what he’d been through. Broyles was one of the very first combat veterans to return to the battlefields. No American before or since has gone so deeply into the other side of the war: the enemy side. Broyles interviews dozens of Vietnamese, from the generals who ran the war to the men and women who fought it. He moves from the corridors of power in Hanoi—so low-tech that the plumbing didn’t work—to the jungles and rice paddies where he’d fought. He meets survivors of American B-52 strikes and My Lai, and grieves with a woman whose son was killed by his own platoon. Along the way, Broyles also explores the deep bonds he shared with his own comrades, and the mystery of why men love war even as they hate it. Amidst the landscape of death, his formerly faceless enemies come to life. They had once tried to kill each other, but they are all brothers now.
Previously published as Brothers in Arms, this edition includes a new preface by the author.
When William Broyles Jr. was drafted, he was a twenty-four-year-old student at Oxford University in England, hoping to avoid military service. During his physical exam, however, he realized that he couldn’t let social class or education give him special privileges. He joined the marines, and soon commanded an infantry platoon in the foothills near Da Nang. More than a decade later, Broyles found himself flooded with emotion during the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. He decided to return to Vietnam and confront what he’d been through. Broyles was one of the very first combat veterans to return to the battlefields. No American before or since has gone so deeply into the other side of the war: the enemy side. Broyles interviews dozens of Vietnamese, from the generals who ran the war to the men and women who fought it. He moves from the corridors of power in Hanoi—so low-tech that the plumbing didn’t work—to the jungles and rice paddies where he’d fought. He meets survivors of American B-52 strikes and My Lai, and grieves with a woman whose son was killed by his own platoon. Along the way, Broyles also explores the deep bonds he shared with his own comrades, and the mystery of why men love war even as they hate it. Amidst the landscape of death, his formerly faceless enemies come to life. They had once tried to kill each other, but they are all brothers now.
Previously published as Brothers in Arms, this edition includes a new preface by the author.
Ratings and reviews
3.0
1 review
About the author
DIVDIVWilliam Broyles (b. 1944) was born in Houston, Texas. After studying as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, he served with the marines in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, an experience he would write about in Brothers in Arms: A Journey from War to Peace (now titled Goodbye Vietnam). After his tour of duty, Broyles became a journalist, contributing to many publications including the Atlantic, the Economist, and Esquire. His essay “Why Men Love War” was included in The Eighty Greatest Esquire Stories of All Time. Broyles was the founding editor of Texas Monthly as well as editor in chief of Newsweek. He is also renowned as a screenwriter, having co-created the television series China Beach—which was inspired by Goodbye Vietnam—and written or co-written such films as Apollo 13, Cast Away, Flags of Our Fathers, and Jarhead. /div/div
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
