INTRODUCTION
A defining event of the last fifty years, the Vietnam War was the final battle in Vietnam's struggle for independence from the colonizing French. After World War II the United States supported France's efforts to maintain their Southeast Asian colonies, slowly becoming more and more entrenched in the conflict. As the French withdrew the U.S. became fearful that communism would take hold. Thus, the U.S. began to directly support South Vietnam in their fight against communist North Vietnam, leading to the introduction of United States troops in 1965.
Through the 1960's, as the war in Vietnam progressed, the American public became increasingly disillusioned with United States government and its policies. The war became a divisive topic, hotly debated among people from all walks of life. Anti-war protesters, angered over the U.S. presence in Vietnam and the seemingly senseless killing, became a powerful faction within the American public, the movement furthered by the government's failure to honestly disclose information about the war.
After a decade of war, and the loss of 58,000 Americans and about 2 million Vietnamese, the United States left their final post in Saigon and the Communists took control of a united Vietnam.
This site is intended for those interested in the Vietnam war, including students, veterans, and the general public. It is intended as a guide to some of the best sites on the web. The sites listed here represent a variety of viewpoints, and contain a wealth of information on the topic. Primary documents, personal narratives, reflections and remembrances, and historical data can all be found on these sites.
Vietnam Online was developed by PBS to accompany a television documentary history on the Vietnam War. The site includes an overview of the conflict, a who's who biography of the major players in the Vietnam war, an interactive timeline, a bibliography for further reading, maps, a dictionary of terms, primary source material, and additional resources. Experts on Vietnam including those who were there were consulted on this project. The site is updated regularly.
The site includes images, articles, documents, unit histories and links to homepages, memoirs and personal accounts, a list of resources and links to Internet resources, and a recommended reading list. The archives of USENET newsgroup soc.history.war.vietnam, which chronicles the division of viewpoints on the war is also available. Built by veterans this site has an extreme amount of depth, accuracy, and thoroughness. It is updated regularly.
A brief history, timeline, explanations of Vietnamese guerrilla tactics, and important aircraft of the war can be found at this site. There is a special section on the siege of Khe Sanh, presented through interactive sections on the tactics and chronology, a map, and stories and photos. Links to other web sources can also be found here. Another site built by PBS, experts were consulted on this project. Updated regularly.
"An Academic Information Portal For Education and Research." The site categorizes aspects of the conflict and provides links for each category to other sites, documents, or other pages within the site. Completely comprehensive, it includes primary sources and personal narratives. This site includes information on topics such as African-Americans in Vietnam, Cold War theories, the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese Armies, POWs/MIAs, the antiwar movement, memorials, veterans, and much more. Created by Professor John K. Swensson of De Anza College.
A wonderful source of primary material, this site includes considerable oral history transcripts, transcripts of Johnson's phone conversations, and excerpts from the President's daily diary. A photo archive, video and audio clips, biographical information on the Johnsons, and a reference desk with frequently requested information is also available. The wealth of primary source material makes this an objective and authoritative site. Updated regularly.
Providing information from the veterans' perspective, this site contains fiction, poetry, narratives, images, maps, Q & A sections, artwork, "Vietnam Veterans Memorials", search aids for the Wall, a glossary of terms, links to veterans organizations and support groups, and other resources. Built by veterans this site is thorough, accurate, and well maintained.
Aimed at teachers and students, this site contains 4,000 primary source documents, a timeline, a considerable number of links, FAQ's, information on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, an introduction by Walter Cronkite, and other resources. Also available on this site are photos from veterans and reporters in Vietnam, government documents and analysis, video newsreels, and audio broadcasts. Frequently updated.
This site includes pictures of not just the war but of the country of Vietnam itself. The photos are from veterans, professional photographers, and Vietnamese citizens. This site provides insight into the country of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people providing good visual materials on the people and geography of the country where the war was fought.
Photographs by a veteran, including children, Montagnard Tribesmen, the military, Vietnamese people, shrines, and protests. The photos were taken by E. Kenneth Hoffman, Ph.D, a Vietnam veteran. A short narrative piece from Hoffman can also be found on this site. The site also includes links to other sites.
Created by Paul Halsall, Professor at Fordham University, this site provides access to primary sources and documents. Click on "US Power" to find documents on the Vietnam War. Click on "Bipolar world" for information on the Cold War and the Vietnam War. The site also has considerable information on the entire Vietnam era in addition to the war itself, valuable for researching other aspects of society that influenced the war or were influenced by it. This site is frequently updated.
This site contains a wealth of primary documents. The bulk of documents are on the Vietnam War era but primary documents dating back to the colonial era of Vietnam can be found here. Documents on current U.S.- Vietnam relations are also included. Vincent Ferraro, Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke built and maintains this site.
The History Net covers all eras but contains a large section on Vietnam. The site contains articles, essays, and reviews from Vietnam journal, edited by Colonel Harry Summers who has published much on the Vietnam conflict. The site offers a distinctly military viewpoint. The National Historical Society maintains the site.
This web site contains back issues of the journal Vietnam Generation with access to Sixties-1 archives and other material. The site is strongly antiwar. Resources on other topics important to study of the 1960's are also available. Kali Tal, the director of the Sixties Project maintains the site. Although this site is not updated regularly the archives on this site are still very relevant because of their historical nature.
Part of the Vietnam Veterans Homepage,this site contains pictures and stories from the Vietnam Wall. The text has been written from a variety of sources from children who visit The Wall to veterans to published authors. The stories here provide poignant evidence of the tragedy of 58,000 lost Americans and the impact the memorial has on all who visit it.
Part of the Vietnam Veterans Homepage network, the narratives found here are written by women who are veterans, or in the memory of fallen female comrades. This site also contains some photos of the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, D.C. For anyone who never knew the role women played in this conflict, this site will remind you that many heros are often the women who go unnoticed and uncelebrated.
Full-text public domain books are included on this site, along with other research material, the publication catalog for the U.S. Army Center of Military History, and a section with photographs and artwork. Created and maintained by a military body this site will obviously provide a military view on the war.
A good source for primary documents on the diplomatic side of the Cold War and the Indochina/Vietnam wars. Also Foreign Relations of the United States publications are available here.A timeline of diplomatic history is in the works. This government site is an excellent resource for researching the government side of the war.
This site contains a chronology, maps, a section on the law of war, peers report, biographies, excerpts from court martials, opinion polls, images, a chain of command diagram, links, and a bibliography. This site is part of the Famous American Trials Project by Doug Linder, Professor of Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
An expert on Vietnam and a professor at Clemson University, Moise has developed an extremely comprehensive bibliography on this site. Films, literature, government documents, and a variety of other resources are all included. The outline format divides cited works into topics and subtopics, with cross-references. Most entries contain critical annotations and thus the site is an excellent resource for compiling research materials.
Bibliographies of various types of literature on the war as well as web links can be found here. This resource can be used for compiling print resources for research or for finding additional information on a particular topic of the war. This site is maintained by Sandra Wittman, Professor Emeritus of Oakton Community College.