Conducting a raid in the heart of enemy territory, and safely extracting dozens of prisoners, was a daring proposition that required considerable planning and review, as well as very accurate intelligence. Extensive rehearsal occurred in Florida between May and November of 1970 in order to prepare the team to execute the mission.

The raid itself was conducted in the early morning of November 21st 1970, involving 6 helicopters and 22 other aircraft flying into North Vietnam in airlift, MiG defense, missile defense, close air support, and command roles. The assault team itself landed in the courtyard of the prison at 2:19 AM, and immediately began to quickly and methodically search the cell blocks while rapidly killing the guards. However, contrary to intelligence, the prison contained no prisoners. (It turns out the prisoners had in fact been moved to another prison closer to Hanoi because it was thought the river the Son Tay prison was next to may flood.) Once they were sure the prison was empty, the raiders quickly withdrew. Despite the fact that the mission was superbly executed, it had failed due to flawed intelligence, and the ensuing criticism would lead to restructuring within the U.S. intelligence agencies. The preparation and execution of the raid was quite intricate and is described in detail in The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten

Despite its failure, the mission did have some lasting benefits. It bolstered morale to show that the U.S. would not forget its POWs. It also caused North Vietnam to concentrate its prisoner population in fewer camps, which had the benefit of decreasing the isolation felt by the POWs. The excellent tactical execution of the raid has also made it one of the models for future Special Forces operations. (See also Beyond Hell and Back: How America’s Special Operations Forces Became the World’s Greatest Fighting Unit)

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 21 1970)

The second Moratorium crowded over half-a-million demonstrators around the Washington Monument in D.C. for the largest political rally in U.S. history. In the White House, only a few hundred yards north of the rally, President Nixon made a point of seeming unaffected by the protests, spending the day watching college football on T.V. However, despite the show of indifference, the demonstrations had impressed upon the Nixon administration the importance of pursuing their policy of Vietnamization and withdrawal, rather than escalation. (See Home to War : A History of the Vietnam Veterans Movement.) The second Moratorium also drew a crowd estimated at up to a quarter-million to a rally at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

A variety of different organizations had aligned and coordinated their efforts in order to bring about the massive attendance at the moratorium protests. However, despite the overall success of the demonstrations, the strains of combining the different ideologies was evident. At the San Francisco rally, David Hilliard, the Chief of Staff of the Black Panther Panther Party, made a controversial speech, alienating a large portion of the crowd, and responding angrily when they booed him. A third Moratorium had been intended for December 15th, but the various factions of the peace movement had splintered apart again, and the event never took place. (See Peace and Freedom: The Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements in the 1960s)

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 15 1969)

At the end of the second week of November, the U.S. setup a landing zone (LZ X-Ray) with 430 troops in the valley of the Drang River (Ia Drang Valley). While they expected some NVA forces to be in the vicinity, they were unaware that the LZ was actually surrounded by about 4,000 NVA soldiers, including 2,000 fresh troops, who were preparing for another siege of Plei Me. For the NVA, it appeared to be a stroke of luck to have the Americans positioned with such a small force in the midst of such overwhelming numbers of NVA troops. But although the U.S. was surrounded, their helicopters made them highly mobile and able to bring in more troops. Once they had captured an NVA prisoner and learned of the enemy presence, it appeared that this could become the type of large and decisive conventional battle that U.S. commanders hoped for, rather than the small and inconsequential skirmishes with the VC that had occurred to date.

The battle that ensued lasted three days with the first two days focused around LZ X-Ray, and the third around nearby LZ Albany, where the NVA ambushed 400 U.S. troops who were traveling overland. Overall victory went to the U.S. forces, which had inflicted disproportionately much higher casualties than they had suffered.

What happened at Ia Drang was to become a template for future battles between the U.S. and NVA. The U.S. had employed its superior air power to great effect, both with the superior mobility of helicopter-borne troops enabling it to place soldiers and supplies where they were needed, and with the massive ordnance that could be brought to battle by air strikes. The NVA had demonstrated considerable resilience. Even after suffering devastating losses, they could regroup and renew the attack. In a war of attrition they would prove difficult to beat, even if they lost the battles. The NVA also learned that the U.S. air strike advantage could be countered by getting close to the enemy, where they couldn’t be bombed or shelled.

The Battle of Ia Drang Valley is retold in Harold G. Moore’s book We were Soldiers Once…And Young and the first part of the battle is engagingly dramatized in the movie We Were Soldiers.)

Seven Firefights in Vietnam (Dover Books on History, Political and Social Science) has a detailed chapter on the Battle of Ia Drang. If you can stomach reading large volumes of text online, the U.S. Army Center Of Military History has an online version of the book on its web site.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 14 1965)

This protest was part of an ongoing campaign organized by the “New Mobe” (The New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam) which also included the watershed Vietnam Moratorium on October 15th 1969, and a second Moratorium on November 15th. Their recruitment leaflet described:

“The Fall Offensive [...] incorporates a variety of anti-war activities taking place across the United States. It will culminate with the massing of many thousands of people in Washington D.C. for the March Against Death (Nov. 13-15) and finally end on Nov. 15 with a mass march and rally – the most significant and possibly the largest antiwar action this country has ever seen.”

(From The Times Were a Changin’: The Sixties Reader)

The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a depressed man in mourning, who sees no joy or hope in the world. The lines “I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black | With flowers and my love both never to come back” clearly refer to a funeral for a lost loved one. Apparently the death was unexpected: “I could not foresee this thing happening to you”. This was probably originally conceived as a young man mourning the death of his girlfriend, fiancee or wife. But it could just as easily be interpreted as mourning the death of a soldier or other casualty of war. However it doesn’t really matter whether listeners identified the references to the funeral and mourning, because the song’s general sentiment of loss and despair is very apparent. It could just as easily be interpreted as the loss of innocence or of hope.

The song was released as a single in May 1966, and also on the US version of the Aftermath album in June 1966.

Incidentally, the song is also used in the closing credits of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, about a soldier seeing his first combat at the Battle of Hue in 1968, where it makes sense as a song about the loss of innocence.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Perhaps it would never have broken if it wasn’t for a returned serviceman, Ron Ridenhour, who completed his one-year tour at the end of 1968 and was no longer in the army. Ridenhour had started hearing rumors of a massacre at a town called “Pinkville” while he was still in Vietnam. He had followed up the rumors by asking various people who had heard of, witnessed or participated in the incident, and gathered a number of unverified but consistent details that led him to conclude that the men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade had indeed slaughtered an entire village of civilians. Unsure what to do with the information, he wrote a letter and sent it to various members of congress and government officials, saying “I have considered sending this to newspapers, magazines and broadcasting companies, but I somehow feel that investigation and action by the Congress of the United States is the appropriate procedure”. An investigation proceeded.

Journalist Seymour Hersh extensively interviewed 1st Lt. William Calley, who was the officer implicated as a lead antagonist in Ridenhour’s letter, and who had personally slaughtered dozens of victims and ordered the other soldiers in his command to do so. Hersh cabled the story through the left-leaning Dispatch News Service on November 12th 1969 (copied here). The story was picked up and published by Time, Life and Newsweek magazines, and a segment was aired on CBS TV. The public reacted with outrage and the strength of the anti-war sentiment grew, as those who already opposed the war felt vindicated and renewed their efforts, and many who had not previously taken a position felt they could no longer stand on the sidelines.

As James S. Olson and Randy Roberts observe in My Lai: A Brief History with Documents:

“The signs of indiscriminate killing of civilians were apparent… the only casualty of Charlie Company was one self-inflicted wound … officially the “battle” of My Lai listed 128 enemies killed, but only three weapons recovered.  Looking just at the numbers, any experienced officer could have guessed what had taken place.”

In other words, it could hot have been anything but obvious that an extraordinary atrocity had been committed, and a military cover-up had taken place.  But the initial investigation that took place shortly afterwards in April 1968 concluded that no massacre had taken place.  

By the time a proper investigation was conducted, most of the soldiers involved had already left military service, and thus could not be court martialed.   Company Captain Ernest Medina was courtmartialed in 1971.  His trial lasted approximately 60 minutes, and he was found not guilty, alleging that he did not know his troops were out of control until the crimes had already been committed.  Nevertheless, it was the end of his career.  Eventually, only Lt. Calley was found guilty of a crime and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 22 civilians, but the sentence was later reduced and he was released in 1974.

(Note: the image at the top of the article is public domain. It, and many others like it, are so disturbing I considered not including it. I can only imagine the shock these images caused at the time they were first seen).

Sijan was badly injured, with no food and no survival kit. Yet he managed to slowly inch on his back through thorny undergrowth, and across sharp limestone karst, scraping his skin raw, looking for an open area from which he could call in a rescue with what little equipment he had left. He was finally captured December 25th, 46 days later. Even in his emaciated, crippled and sometimes delirious state, he managed to overcome a guard and escape, but was recaptured a few hours later. Detained in the “Bamboo Prison” near Vinh, he was tortured and beaten mercilessly, but did not yield any information. When he didn’t break, he was transferred to the notorious “Hanoi Hilton” (Hoa Loa Prison) where, in his severely weakened and injured state, he contracted pneumonia and died on January 22nd, 1968.

While in both prisons, he was cared for by two Air Force officers, Colonel Robert R. Craner and Captain Guy D. Gruters, from whose recommendation and testimony he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Sijan’s extraordinary bravery and resolve is remembered in many memorials, and held as an example by the U.S. Air Force Academy where his story is on the curriculum for all new cadets. Sijan was also posthumously promoted to Captain.

(His story is movingly retold in Into the Mouth of the Cat: The Story of Lance Sijan, Hero of Vietnam)

Defense Secretary McNamara (himself a Harvard MBA alumni) had been invited to participate in a seminar at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government on November 7th 1966. SDS’ Harvard chapter requested that McNamara participate in a debate on the Johnson administration’s Vietnam War policy. When McNamara refused to debate, SDS determined to make a disruptive demonstration instead. Upon trying to leave the campus, McNamara was confronted by a crowd of 1,000 protestors, with some blocking his car, and others rocking it. McNamara climbed onto the roof of the car and after attempting to answer questions and being yelled down by the crowd, shouted “I spent four of the happiest years of my life on the Berkeley campus doing some of the things you’re doing here… I was tougher then, and I’m tougher now!” (See photo at digitaljournalist.org). He was then escorted away through steam tunnels by police. Harvard apologized for the incident, with apology signed by 2,700 students. This wasn’t the last such incident at Harvard. In October 1967, Fred Leavitt, a recruiter for Dow Chemical, was held hostage by SDS demonstrators for seven hours. (From “Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century“).

The aim of the War Powers Resolution was to limit the President’s ability to involve the U.S. in future lengthy or undesirable conflicts without the involvement and consent of Congress in making such a decision. This wasn’t just prompted by the war in Vietnam, but also by the hugely unpopular invasion of Cambodia. President Nixon vetoed the resolution, but Congress overrode his veto with a two-thirds vote. This new law limited the power of the President to “introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities” only if there had been a declaration of war (which never occurred in the case of Vietnam), a specific authorization by congress, or “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces”. In any circumstance under which U.S. Armed Forces were introduced without a declaration of war, the President was required to submit a written report to Congress within 48 hours. Furthermore, the President must “terminate any use of United States Armed Forces” within 60 days of the report being submitted unless Congress granted an extension or otherwise authorized the continued operation.

It’s understandable that President Nixon tried to veto this law, which restricts the powers of the President as Commander in Chief. There are also debates about its constitutionality. However, it can also be argued that the law provides the President with necessary powers to defend the country from immediate threats and respond to emergencies, while providing safeguards against lengthy overcommitment against the democratic will of the nation. In any case, Presidents have submitted well over a hundred reports to Congress since it was enacted (the tally was 115 in November 2004).  However there have also been circumstances where forces were committed without Congressional authorization, such as Yugoslavia in 1999. For more information on on how the War Powers Resolution has played out over the decades since the Vietnam War, refer to The War Powers Resolution After Thirty Years

In this context, Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower” provides plenty to relate to, and it’s no wonder it was so popular both domestically (reaching #20) and with the troops in Vietnam. The title has a war-time feel, with the term “Watchtower” suggesting a guard station, and being ever wary of enemy attacks. But it’s the opening line “There must be some kinda way outta here” that says it all, summing up what must have been going through everybody’s mind, and reinforced by the lines “There’s too much confusion… I can’t get no relief”. There’s a lot of despondency and disillusionment to be found in lyrics like “None of them along the line know what any of it is worth” and “There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke”, which must have related to a common mindset. The final lines suggest the ominous prelude to a battle or armageddon: “Outside in the cold distance, a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl”. Combine these apparently empathic lyrics with Hendrix’s cool vocals and blistering guitar licks, and what you have is a song that’s very easy to listen to and relate to.

Hendrix’s recording is actually a cover. The song was originally written an recorded the previous year by Bob Dylan, and released on his John Wesley Harding album. However, while Hendrix’s version is a blistering rock anthem with a mood that happens to relate well to the War, Dylan’s original version is quite different. The lyrics are the same, but their original intent is much more cryptic, drawing on biblical references that elude most listeners, from the book of Isaiah, and the Book of Revelations, both of which predict impending doom and the coming of a messiah. The musical delivery is also in the style of a folk ballad, rather than a rock song. In a deliberate artistic choice by Dylan, the song is essentially the introduction to a ballad that is abruptly cut short to leave the listener thinking about where it may lead.

Born in 1949, Springsteen was the right age to serve in Vietnam, but managed to avoid that fate. Apparently he was classified 4-F (not acceptable for military service) because of a brain concussion received in a motorbike accident. However, not all of the guys he knew were so fortunate. “The first drummer in my first band, the Castiles, enlisted and [...] he went and he was killed. [...] One of the best singers in the neighbourhood, he was drafted and he went and he was missing in action. [...] When I got on the bus to go take my physical, I thought one thing: I ain’t goin’.” Being from a working-class background, he also saw injustice in the way men were selected: “I remember thinking what makes my life, or my friends’ lives, more expendable than that of somebody who’s goin’ to school?” (Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts, the Story, page 307-308.) In the decades since, Springsteen has penned a number of songs about the plight of returning veterans, and has also been heavily involved supporting veterans’ movements.

Lost in the Flood is a deep work of poetry, loved by many Springsteen fans. It’s clearly about a Vietnam veteran becoming unhinged after returning from the war. But the specific meanings of many of the lyrics aren’t apparent on a first listen or cursory reading. This is one of those songs that can be listened to many times, in which an engaged listener can keep finding gems. I don’t think there’s any real consensus on the details, but the overall message is clear. The first verse describes a veteran feeling out of place, “like a hungry runaway, he walks through town all alone”. The world he’s re-entered doesn’t make much sense. Indeed the next few lines of lyrics are quite inscrutable, at least to me, and while I’ve read and thought about a few different analyses of what specific phrases might mean, I personally don’t think they’re meant to be precisely interpreted – Springsteen’s not a cryptographer, he’s just describing a bewildering crazy world, and stimulating us to think about it. The line “sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep” may refer to injecting drugs (“sticker” could be a syringe). The last few lines are pretty clear. “His ankles caked in mud” not only brings the imagery of muddy combat boots, but also implies being bogged down in mud, unable to move on with his life. And “that’s quicksand, that ain’t mud” implies that he’s just going to sink further and there is no escape. The next couple of verses are other commentaries on moral flaws and breakdowns in society. The veterans’ plight is just one aspect of a greater societal crisis – the “flood” that people are being lost in.

“Hole in the Ground” is based on a story published by Associated Press on December 18th 1964, about a 10-year old boy who was befriended by South Vietnamese Army officers and their U.S. Army adviser. As the boy munched on candy bars, he demonstrated how well he could strip down guns, and told the soldiers that the Viet Cong paid him to make grenades for them. It transpired that his father was in the Viet Cong, and the boy knew where their tunnel hideout was located. More candy changed hands, and the boy showed them the location. Later on, demolition teams moved in and destroyed the tunnels, killing 16 Viet Cong, including the boy’s father. They didn’t tell the boy that they had killed his father.

Parrott’s telling of the story emphasizes the innocence of a 10-year-old’s perspective: “I life with my mother in town [...] my daddy lives in a hole in the ground [...] The soldiers are nice men yes, they are my friends [...] they say they are new here, could I show them around? Could I show them where my daddy lives in the hole in the ground?” To emphasize the dispicable way the boy was tricked into betraying his own father, the song finishes with a verse about the boy being unable to find his father, who he doesn’t know is dead. But at least he can visit his new friends, the soldiers, who are strangely distant and unable to look the boy in the eye.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

“Never has so much power been used so ineffectively as in Vietnam. If after all of this time and all of this sacrifice and all of this support there is still no end in site, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership not tied to the policies and mistakes of the past. I pledge to you that we shall have an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.”

(See also the “Silent Majority” speech he made one year later.)

Nixon had already had some significant setbacks earlier in his political career, including losing the 1960 Presidential election to John F. Kennedy. This time around, however, he seemed to be well setup for victory. While the Democrats’ campaign was in chaos, Nixon’s election campaign was the best funded in history. His campaign staff used high tech (for 1968) communications tools such as a radio fax machine, ground-to-air telephones and walkie talkies for the staff aeroplane. His campaign also focused on television rather than print media, with a series of carefully coordinated panel interviews in front of live audiences, creating an impression of warmth and genuine desire for peace an an end to conflict at home and abroad (see 1968 in America: Music, Politics, Chaos, Counterculture, and the Shaping of a Generation)

The heavy metal genre was in its prototypical stage in 1970, and was developing into a doleful, downbeat contrast to the eclectic styles of the late 60s. Black Sabbath were highly influential in pioneering and defining the genre, and its style worked perfectly for the lyrics of War Pigs, in which evil and callous generals and politicians are “Evil minds that plot destruction”, treating the common people as fodder for their immoral war machine, and shrouding their motives in propaganda “Poisoning their brainwashed minds”. In the end, however, the corrupt leaders get their comeuppance on judgement day, “Day of judgement, God is calling”, when “Begging mercy for their sins” they are unable to answer for all of their evil and are cast into damnation.

Legend has it that “War Pigs” was inspired after hearing stories from soldiers at a U.S. Air Force base where they were performing. It’s unclear when or where this happened, or if the story is just apocryphal. But given that the band performed extensively in the U.K., and toured Germany, the story is plausible. The Vietnam War was a high profile issue at the time, even in the U.K., where numerous demonstrations had occurred. So the band may have just been expressing their feelings about current affairs. According to “Diary of a Madman: Ozzy Osbourne: The Stories Behind the Songs“, while frontman Ozzy Osbourne concedes the song was about the Vietnam War, he claims “We knew nothing about Vietnam. It’s just an anti-war song.”

This song is from the early in the band’s career, before the fame and excesses of the mid-70s, and while their first album had done surprisingly well in the U.S., reaching #23, the record company didn’t want to be too controversial by releasing a song that was highly accusatory of the U.S. leadership behind the Vietnam War. While they were happy to protest the war, they didn’t want it to define them. So, although they had planned to call their second album “War Pigs”, the name was changed at the last minute to the much less confrontational “Paranoid”. The album art remained the same, with a blurred photo of a psychedelically clad swordsman. In any case, the album was a huge success, reaching #12 in the U.S. and achieving Gold status (500,000 units sold) by mid 1971.

“We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” is a good example of a song taking on new meaning when heard in the context of the war (much like “Homeward Bound“, and some other songs). Lyrically, the song is actually about a young couple wanting to escape the grind and depression of life in a working class industrial city. It was written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. As Mann explained in an interview it was originally intended for The Righteous Brothers, but ended up being recorded by The Animals.

Of the two Vietnam War songs on the album, easily the best known is “Sam Stone“, which is a sad story about a Vietnam War veteran who has returned home shell-shocked and injured, and has developed a morphine addiction that’s progressed to heroin as he tries to deal with his physical and mental pain. The song’s chorus begins with the memorable line “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm, where all the money goes”, which gives an idea of how Sam’s addiction is impacting his family. Sam’s legacy isn’t his wartime bravery anymore, “with a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back”, it’s the “monkey on his back” (addiction) that dictates his life now. In the end, Sam takes his own life with an overdose. While there were many anti-war songs during the era, Prine’s was one that lamented the tragic consequences the war had for some of the surviving soldiers.

Another piece of Vietnam War music on Prine’s first album was “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore“. This is humorous song uses irony to criticize jingoism. The protagonist of the song sticks flag decals everywhere he can, even “one on my wife’s forehead”, until he has so many that he can’t see though his windshield, crashes his car and dies. But when he gets to Heaven, he’s turned away because Heaven’s already at full capacity dealing with all the dead from the Vietnam War. But at least he did the right thing and stuck a flag on his window to support the war, right? Prine’s saying that there’s a difference between patriotism and jingoism, and that the war is wrong. “Now, Jesus don’t like killin’ | No matter what the reason’s for”.

“Never has so much power been used so ineffectively as in Vietnam. If after all of this time and all of this sacrifice and all of this support there is still no end in site, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership not tied to the policies and mistakes of the past. I pledge to you that we shall have an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.”

Throughout his first year in office, public protest against the war continued to rise, and in October, the nation-wide “Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam” protests drew demonstrators from diverse segments of the American population.

President Nixon delivered his famous televised “Silent Majority” speech on November 3rd 1969 at 9:30 PM. He had built suspense by not distributing any advance texts or briefs on what he was going to say, and delivered the speech live, completely from memory, with no notes and no teleprompter (from Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full)

His speech argued a number of points:

1. Immediate withdrawal would allow communist North Vietnam to conduct massacres in South Vietnam, citing examples such as when the communists took control of the North, “they then murdered more than 50,000 people and hundreds of thousands more died in slave labor camps”
2. Defeat for the U.S. would undermine confidence in America’s strength and leadership in other troubled areas in the world, “in the Middle East, in Berlin, eventually even in the Western Hemisphere.  Ultimately, this would cost more lives. It would not bring peace; it would bring more war.”
3. He enumerated the many actions his administration had pursued over the past year to negotiate a peace with North Vietnam, concluding that “It has become clear that the obstacle in negotiating an end to the war… is the other side’s absolute refusal to show the least willingness to join us in seeking a just peace.”
4. After explaining the disappointing diplomatic results, he explained the Vietnamization strategy of training and equipping the South Vietnamese that was launched earlier in the year: “U.S. policy should be to help them fight the war but not to fight the war for them… the primary mission of our troops is to enable the South Vietnamese forces to assume the full responsibility for the security of South Vietnam”
5. He described various statistics indicating a corner had been turned, such as the reduction of U.S. forces, the reduction in U.S. casualties, the South Vietnamese assumption of former U.S. responsibilities, and a reduction in Viet Cong infiltration.
6. He explained that there is no firm timetable, and progress will depend on progress of negotiations, progress of Vietnamization, and the level of enemy activity.


(Video from the millercenter.org)

7. He stressed that ultimately, only two options are available: immediate withdrawal with dire consequences; and the current strategy of Vietnamization and negotiation.
8. He appealed to “the young people of this Nation who are particularly concerned”, expressing empathy and respect.
9. In his conclusion he requested “to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support.”

The speech was very well received, and resulted in thousands of letters and telegrams of support. However, there were also letters that opposed the President’s arguments, such as this letter from servicemen (from the Nixon Library).

(Photograph from Signal Corps, courtesy of U.S. Army Center of Military History)

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 3rd 1967)

The song can be easily understood as blaming soldiers for war, as it essentially makes that case that throughout history, soldiers have fought and killed for all states, all religions and many righteous causes, under the mistaken belief that by fighting and killing they will bring about peace according to their ideology. It makes the case that without soldiers, warmongers would have no power. For the most part, the song seems to imply that war is the fault of the soldiers, and if only they would refuse to fight, there would be no wars. This seems simplistic these days, as it did to many back then too. But there’s more to it than that. It’s ultimately critical of citizen apathy, and makes the case that it’s up to people to take part in the country’s democracy to make sure the state makes the right decisions. It advocates involvement in order to instigate change. Unfortunately, you need to listen carefully to the last few lines to get this part of the message:

Yes, he’s the Universal Soldier, and he really is to blame:
His orders come from far away, no more.
They come from him and you and me, and brothers, can’t you see?
This is not the way to put an end to war.

In other words, yes the soldier is responsible for his actions, and shouldn’t be fighting, but it’s up to the people to take responsiblity for their state’s decisions and policies and stop the war. This song isn’t just a criticism, it’s a rallying cry.

Buffy Sainte-Marie describes the origin of the song in this video:

Then again, we may be reading much too much into this. The band was from Canada, and may have just been suffering culture shock from touring in big, busy American cities, and with a backdrop of the social unrest around the Vietnam War. They may have just been homesick. The song was apparently the product of a spontaneous jam, with the band improvising the entire piece – rhythm, tune and lyrics – live on stage, with the various meanings of the song coming from the minds of the listeners, not the performers themselves (see superseventies.com). But, whether they intended it or not, the Guess Who recorded one of the classic anti Vietnam War songs.

By the way, when listening to the song, you may be surprised that actually starts with a relatively gently sung introduction, backed by a casual acoustic guitar, before launching into the well-known rock riffs we’re all familiar with.

On the same album (also called “American Woman”) is a song called “No Time“, which also works really well as Vietnam War music, although it probably wasn’t intended that way either. It was originally released on the previous album, 1969′s “Canned Wheat“, with the two verses in the opposite order, and at a slower tempo. “No Time” can be interpreted as a “Dear John” letter, with lines like “No time for the love you send”, “Seasons change, and so did I”, or “There’s no time left for you”. And the line “No time for the killing floor” could be interpreted as a reference to the Vietnam War. However, it turns out the intended meaning of the song is quite different. It’s actually a letter from a man to a woman, ending a summer romance. Seen from this point of view, the line “No time for a Summer friend” makes a lot more sense. As for the “killing floor”, this actually refers to the meat processing plants of Manitoba, the province that the band is from. Essentially, the song’s saying “I need to get out of this dead-end relationship, and avoid spending the rest of my life in an unpleasant dead-end job”. (See Blinded by the Lyrics, pages 84-85) [Added Jan 17th 2012: Actually it looks like this info is wrong. Read Cher's comment below.]

Morrison’s tragic act was one of a handful of self-immolation protests by Americans during the war. He quickly became well known as a folk hero in Vietnam. The year before, in 1963, a number of self-immolations by Buddhist monks in South Vietnam had ultimately contributed to the downfall of the oppressive Diem regime. On November 9th, a week after Morrison’s death, Roger Allen LaPorte, a Catholic Worker, set himself on fire outside the United Nations building in New York. Before dying of his injuries the next day, he explained his actions simply “I’m a Catholic Worker. I’m against war, all wars. I did this as a religious action.”

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 2nd 1965)

Ngo Dinh Diem

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

On November 1st, the generals offered Diem safe passage and exile if he surrendered. However, Diem tried to escape and was captured and executed on November 2nd. North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh declared “I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid” and the North Vietnamese Politburo predicted the coup’s consequences would be

“…contrary to the calculations of the U.S. imperialists… Diem was one of the strongest individuals resisting the people and Communism. Everything that could be done in an attempt to crush the revolution was carried out by Diem. … [of the alternatives] no one has the political assets and abilities to cause others to obey. Therefore … the coup d’etat … will not be the last.”

(From Mark Moyar’s Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965).

In his dictated memoir President Kennedy also expressed mixed feelings about the coup and about the way in which his administration had handled it:

“It culminated three months of a conversation about a coup. A conversation which divided the government here and in Saigon. [...] our cable of early August in which we suggested a coup. In my judgement that wire was badly drafted [...] I should not have given my consent to it without a roundtable conference at which McNamara and Taylor could have presented their views. While we did redress that balance in later wires, that first wire encouraged Lodge along a course to which he was in any case inclined. [...] I was shocked by the death of Diem and Nhu. [Diem] was an extraordinary character. While he became increasingly difficult in the last months, nevertheless over a ten year period he’d held his country together, maintained its independence under very adverse conditions. The question now is whether the generals can stay together and build a stable government or whether [public opinion] will turn on this government as repressive and undemocratic in the not too distant future.”

Indeed, the predictions of both President Kennedy and the Politburo were prescient. Over the next 19 months there would be seven Presidents, one presidential committee, and seven Prime Ministers before settling on before settling on Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky in June 1965.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 2nd 1963)

The cessation of Rolling Thunder was an important bargaining chip in the peace negotiations that had taken place in Paris during October.  It was also very welcome news in America.  The announcement came just days before the presidential election (Johnson had declined to run for another term), and both candidates endorsed it.  Rumors of the decision had circulated earlier in the month, causing a rally in the stock and bond markets on October 18th.

However, South Vietnam was far from impressed, and President Thieu accused the U.S. of acting unilaterally.  This was a sign of things to come, as the U.S. gradually withdrew from the War over the next few under the Nixon administration, South Vietnam’s leaders would feel increasingly exposed and abandoned.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for November 1st 1968)

Ambassador Taylor

The 118th Assault Helicopter Company was stationed at the base at the time, but despite their helicopters being completely unprotected, none of the vehicles were damaged. Following the attack, the 118th constructed sandbag barricades to protect the helicopters in future attacks. The attack is briefly described by John C. Bahnsen, who was a member of the 118th, in his book American Warrior: A Combat Memoir Of Vietnam
(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” / “Vietnam War History” for November 1st 1964)

Conducted simultaneously to this was the longer term Phoenix Program (Phuong Hoang), which ran until 1972. It was designed by the CIA to spot supporters and members of the Viet Cong and neutralize them, preferably by capturing them and imprisoning them for up to six years, although infiltration, assassination, and turning into double-agents were also options. In order to protect against false accusations, neutralization required three separate sources of evidence before it was permitted.

There’s a picture of a Le Loi psy-op postcard, and several Phoenix psy-op leaflets at psywarrior.com

There was considerable controversy over the Phoenix program, with its detractors arguing that despite the program’s theoretical standards and procedures, in practice these were not effectively implemented because the program was decentralized, the facts on the ground were often ambiguous, and local officials and informants were not immune to corruption, personal bias or malice.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 30th 1970)

Two days later, U.S. Marines (I Company 3rd Battalion 9th Marines) successfully ambushed and thwarted another Viet Cong party thought to be en-route to attack Da Nang Airbase, killing 56 Viet Cong.

The song “Monster / Suicide / America” sings of an America that has become an out of control “monster”, no longer serving its people, but endangering its own citizens and the rest of the world. At over 9 minutes long, it covers a lot of ground. The first half talks about America’s past, of its hopeful origins “Chasing the promise of freedom and hope | Came to this country to build a new vision”, and the ugliness of slavery, witch burning, persecution of the Native Americans (“While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland | We began the slaughter of the red man”) and the civil war. It counterpoints this by saying that despite this, it was still a kind-spirited country (which is a little strange considering it spends a few minutes pointing out the ugliness, and scant time highlighting any virtues). The song moves on to say that lately this “kind spirit” has vanished, and “Now it’s a monster and will not obey”. It sings about corruption, overbearing police, and the Vietnam War:

We don’t know how to mind our own business
‘Cause the whole world’s got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who’s the winner
We can’t pay the cost

The song “Draft Resisters” portrays draft resisters as brave heroes who stand up for what’s right despite the personal consequences, who “suffer for the sake of honesty” and “refuse to follow traitors to humanity”. They’re unjustly punished, sent “off to prison in this land of liberty”, and we shouldn’t forget their bravery because “they will go for you and me”. These lyrics are an ironic reflection of the patriotic songs of the War, that praised the bravery of the soldiers and the extolled the just purpose of the war and the fact that it was being fought for our freedom.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Interestingly, the album has another song on it that, if it were written a few years later, would have worked very well as an anti-Vietnam War song. “With God On Our Side” sings of the recurring hypocrisy of justifying wars with the belief that God is on anybody’s side. He describes how God was apparently on the side of the U.S. versus the native Americans (“The cavalries charged | The Indians died | Oh the country was young |With God on its side”); both sides in the American Civil War; in the Spanish-American War; and in both World Wars. It then sings of the nuclear stand-off with the Soviet Union, and how it would apparently be okay to press the button with God on our side. But the song makes no mention of Vietnam, which is hardly surprising in 1963. I wonder if there would have been an extra verse if it was written in 1965 or 1966? The last lines summarize what Dylan thinks God would really do if he was on anybody’s side: “If God’s on our side | He’ll stop the next war”. In other words, war is a human thing which humans should take full responsibility for.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Starr followed “War” with another single, “Stop the War Now“, which also belongs in the list of Vietnam War songs. While not as musically impactful or commercially successful as “War”, it is still an effective piece of music delivered in a similar style. “Stop the War Now” deals with some specific issues, such as: the unjustness of the draft; the moral strain of killing; the mounting death toll; the insult of a pension and medal in return for a son’s life. But in other respects it’s similar to “War”, just not quite as effective.

While Edwin Starr made “War” a hit, he wasn’t the first to record it. The song was actually written for Motown by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was recorded by The Temptations and released on their “Psychedelic Soul” album in May 1970. Apparently the studio received requests from fans to have “War” released as a single, but the studio thought it may offend the more conservative segment of The Temptations’ fan base, so they recorded the song with Starr and released that version as a single. For the Temptations, they released another classic piece of Vietnam War music, “Ball of Confusion“. The Temptations’ performance of “War” is well executed, and features a background chant of “hup, two, three, four” behind the verses, but it ultimately does not have the same level of emotional impact as Starr’s.

In the years since, many other performers have covered this song. The one that has achieved the most widespread popularity is a live performance by Bruce Springsteen, done at the end of his “Born in the U.S.A.” tour in 1985. Not only is Springsteen’s performance effective, but it’s also poetically appropriate, given that “Born in the U.S.A” is a song about a Vietnam veteran.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

There are in fact three officially released versions of this song. The popular version is the wild and energetic one that appeared on the B-side of the “Hey Jude” single. Then there’s the more sedate “Revolution 1″ on the White Album, which doesn’t have the same energy or impact, and the very experimental “Revolution 9″ on the same album, which is inscrutable and very hard to listen to. Fortunately, the single version is included on the John Lennon “Imagine” compilation CD.

(Note: I’d love to put an audio sample in this post, but at the time of writing, there is no digital version approved by the rights holder).

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Diem

On October 26th 1955, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem declared the creation of the Republic of Vietnam with himself as president. This declaration came three days after a referendum held on 23rd October to choose the form of South Vietnam’s government. The voters were asked to choose between a republic ruled by Diem and a monarchy, ruled by former Emperor Bao Dai who had abdicated to the Vietminh after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Bao Dai

Diem’s victory smacks of blatant corruption. For example, he won 98.2% of the vote, which is preposterously improbable in any election. In Saigon, which only had 450,000 registered voters, 605,025 votes were counted. Similar discrepancies occurred in other districts. There is some tragic irony here. The 1954 Geneva Accords between France and Vietnam, which separated Vietnam into North and South regions called for a re-unification of the country in July 1956 with nation-wide free elections. However, Diem had argued that there was no way a free election could be held in the communist North, hence the South would not participate in the election called for by the Accords. Apparently there was no way a free election would be held in the South either. Bao Dai had not been permitted to campaign in the country, and issued a statement warning that Diem was bound to lead the country to “ruin, famine and war”.

Diem was supported by the U.S., which found his government distasteful, but the only option it had to oppose communism in the region. This wasn’t the first nor the last time the U.S. had picked an unpleasant bedfellow in order to oppose what it saw as a greater evil.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 26th 1955)

Paragraph 29 of the document provides the best summary:

“In particular, they declared that Allied forces are in the Republic of Vietnam because that country is the object of aggression and its government requested support in the resistance of its people to aggression. They shall be withdrawn, after close consultation, as the other side withdraws its forces to the North, ceases infiltration, and the level of violence thus subsides. Those forces will be withdrawn as soon as possible and not later than six months after the above conditions have been fulfilled.”

In other words, if North Vietnam withdraws from South Vietnam, so will the U.S. and its allies.  North Vietnam ignored the statement. In hindsight this is not surprising – the North had nowhere to go, a desire to unite their country, and strong backers in China and the USSR. The declaration indicated the U.S. wanted to withdraw, so why shouldn’t North Vietnam just hold out and wear them down until they do?

According to the Philippine Daily Enquirer, the summit involved numerous heated exchanges between Presidents Johnson and Marcos (Philippines), with Johnson apparently saying “you cannot sit in the rocking chair while American soldiers are dying.”

Sadler himself was a medic in the green berets. He served in Vietnam, and was severely injured by a punji stick trap (a pit trap full of feces-covered bamboo spikes). While recovering in hospital, he sang the ballad and other songs to other patients. A visiting T.V. news crew happened to record him singing “Ballad of the Green Berets”, and the song was received very favorably when the story aired. RCA signed Saddler to release the ballad, along with a collection of other similarly themed songs, on the L.P. “Ballads of the Green Berets”. The ballad reached #1 on the Hot 100 chart for 5 weeks straight in 1966. It was an instant gold record, and the #1 album of 1966, and the ballad was the 21st most popular song of the 1960s, despite the unpopularity of the War. Evidently, Sadler’s message struck a deep emotional chord with a great many Americans.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The song pre-dates the Vietnam War (at least, from the point of view of major U.S. involvement in the war, and awareness of the war by the American general public), and was written in the 50s by Pete Seeger, and Joe Hickerson, inspired by a handful of lines of a Ukranian folk song Seeger had read a few years earlier. Seeger originally recorded and released a short version of the song as part of a medly on an obscure record “Rainbow Quest“, which remained largely unknown to the general public.

The song became a big hit when the Kingston Trio recorded it in 1961. Seeger’s recording was so unknown at the time that the Kingston Trio mistakenly thought it was a traditional song, and failed to credit Seeger. They corrected this error when it was brought to their attention.



The Kingston Trio had originally heard it in a live performance by Peter, Paul and Mary, who also recorded a very popular version of the song on their self-titled debut album in 1962, and the song is often associated with them. The song was also recorded many other singers, including Marlene Dietrich, who sang it in German and French.

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The Battle of Ia Drang Valley is retold in Harold G. Moore’s book We were Soldiers Once…And Young and the first part of the battle is engagingly dramatized in the movie We Were Soldiers.)

Saigon Bride is performed with her signature style of well-articulated folk singing with a high vibrato voice and guitar accompaniment, making it one of the prettiest Vietnam War songs. The lyrical content is serious and engaging, and the seriousness is supported by her precisely-enunciated vocals. She compares the American fight in Vietnam to an incapable attempt to “stem the tide”, and asks rhetorical questions like “How many dead men will it take | To build a dike that will not break?” (in other words, the killing is not only tragic, but also futile). The song is also critical of the rationalizations for drafting soldiers: “It takes them off the streets you know | To places they would never go alone | It gives them useful trades | The lucky boys are even paid.”

(This article is part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The lyrics use a nice contrast between descriptions of unrest like “Said my name is called disturbance | I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the king, I’ll rail at all his servants”, and what could be helplessness in “what can a poor boy do except to sing for a rock and roll band [...] in sleepy London town | There’s just no place for a street fighting man.” London was relatively quiet compared to America and France at the time, hence “what can a poor boy do” except sing in a band. Jagger did participate in an anti-Vietnam War protest involving 25,000 people at the US Embassy in London that same year, and while it’s debated whether that event contributed to the song, it certainly indicates that the issue was important to him and he did do more than just sing in a band.

The song was originally recorded as “Did Everybody Pay Their Dues?“, with completely different lyrics. While this version was never released, some bootleg recordings have made it into the wild. The song really has nothing to do with the Vietnam War, as far as I can tell. On the surface it’s about an abusive chief and his suffering tribe. But there’s a hint at a deeper message, shown by the lines “He’s a tribal chief his name is called disorder | His flesh and blood he tears it up when acting right is normal “, suggesting the song is a metaphor for the disorder in society. So perhaps it is about the same thing as “Street Fighting Man”, but with much more obscure lyrics. It isn’t anywhere near as effective.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Capt. Cramer’s son is the well known folk singer Hank Cramer, who was quite persistent in uncovering the details of his father’s death, and earning him the recognition he deserves.

The definition of “first” depends on when we start counting. Captain Cramer was the first U.S. casualty in what we call the “Vietnam War” – the civil war between North and South Vietnam. The first American serviceman to die in Vietnam in any war was Lt. Col. Peter Dewey, who was an OSS officer training the Viet Minh (a Guerilla force that fought against the Japanese in World War II), on September 26 1945. After hostilities broke out between the French and Viet Minh (which would rapidly escalate into the First Indochina War), Lt. Col. Dewey was killed by Viet Minh who mistakenly thought he was a French officer.

The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956. His name was added to the Wall on Memorial Day 1999.

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 21st 1957)

The day also included violence, with protestors clashing with soldiers and police, hurling rocks at the building, and attempting to surge through police lines.  Some even gained entry to the building.  By the end of the protest, 683 demonstrators had been arrested, including famous novelist Norman Mailer, who wrote of the entire event in his novel “The Armies of the Night“.

Lyrics highlighting xenophobia

“If you don’t like the people or the way that they talk”
and
“The only gook an American can trust | Is a gook that’s got his yellow head bust.”

and global power struggle

“If you don’t kill them then the Chinese will | If you don’t want America to play second fiddle”
and
“If you let them live they might love the Russians”

are followed with the intentionally ridiculous conclusion

“Kill, Kill, Kill for Peace”.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The message of the song is delivered very dramatically with a firing squad sequence taking place in the middle of the song. In live performances the firing squad is performed by guitarist Robby Kreiger holding his guitar to mimic a rifle and “shooting” singer Jim Morrison, who would collapse on the stage and continue singing while lying “dead”.

Lyrically, the song emphasizes a couple of points. Firstly, the very real and anonymous killing that takes place, repeating “And it’s all over | For the unknown soldier”. Secondly, the way we can take this for granted, for example, while we watch it on TV or read it in the newspaper for something to do while eating our breakfast: “Breakfast where the news is read | Television children fed | Bullet strikes the helmet’s head”.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The camp at Plei Me

On October 19th 1965, North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC), under the leadership of Brigadier General Chu Huy Man, attacked the Special Forces camp at Plei Me in the central highlands of Vietnam.

General Man’s mission was to draw the US 1st  Cavalry Division into combat, and learn about its weapons and air mobility capabilities.  His findings, and those of his commanders, would be reported to the PAVN and VC leadership.  1965 was the first year US soldiers were deployed en-masse to Vietnam, and the US 1st Cavalry Division had only recently begun deploying to Vietnam 3 months earlier.  As a helicopter-transported airborne assault force, the 1st Cavalry Division introduced new capabilities and tactics to the War, which the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces were un-familar with.  Furthermore, this would also be the first major engagement between U.S. combat units and the PAVN. Hence the orders for General Man and his officers to engage them and report their experiences.

Maj. Beckwith

The 1st Cavalry Division was then be ordered to find and eliminate the PAVN and VC forces that had attacked Plei Me, which led to the bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. (Which is compellingly retold in Harold G. Moore’s book We were Soldiers Once…And Young and convincingly dramatized in the movie We Were Soldiers.)

(Article for “Vietnam War Timeline” / “Vietnam Timeline” for October 19th 1965)

The gist of the story is that Guthrie and a friend visited their friend Alice for Thanksgiving (Alice and her husband happen to own a restaurant, which doesn’t figure into the story other than as part of the chorus at the beginning and end of the song). There’s a pile of trash at her house, so Guthrie and friend decide to do a good deed an take it to the dump. But the dump is closed for Thanksgiving, so after failing to find a reasonable alternative, they dump the trash down a cliff off the side of the road. The next day, they’re arrested for littering and fined $50. The account of the arrest and court appearance is highly and entertainingly exaggerated, and plays on the theme of police overkill.

That’s just the setup, and is essentially a true story, albeit with theatrical exaggeration. The second part of the story is the point about the draft. This didn’t actually happen in real life, but it makes for a good story. Sometime after the littering event, Guthrie gets drafted and turns up at his local recruitment center. He tries to convince the psychiatrist he’s bloodthirsty psychopath, at which he’s told that he seems completely qualified to join the army.

…”we was both jumping up and down yelling, “KILL, KILL.” And the sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, “You’re our boy.”

Then they find out he has a criminal record for littering, and sit him in a room full of hardened criminals while they review his case, eventually concluding that because of his criminal record he’s unfit to serve. At which point he said…

“Sergeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself [...] ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug.”

The song ends with a request for the listener to sing the chorus of the song at the recruitment center if they’re ever drafted, because if enough people do it, “friends they may think it’s a movement”.

By telling an entertaining and engaging story, Guthrie very effectively conveys points about draft resistance, and the immorality of the war and of fighting in it. In 1969 the a movie version of the story was released.

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

Lyrically, the song is very simple, and while obscure towards the end, for the most part gets right to the point. The beginning lines “Machine gun | Tearing my body all apart” suggest the personal cost of the war. Lines like “Evil man make you kill me | Evil man make me kill you | Even though were only families apart” suggest that the soldiers on both sides are just ordinary people who aren’t much different from each other, and are being directed to fight each other without good reason. The lines “Yeah, machine gun | Tearing my family apart” suggest the divisiveness and tragedy that the war had brought to many families, such as when pro- and anti- war sentiments split a family, or when a family’s son or brother was killed, injured or missing.

The CD “Live at the Fillmore East” was released in 1999, and contains more recordings from the same concerts as “Band of Gypsys”, with an alternative recording of “Machine Gun”. (The audio sample from Amazon features the signature machine gun burst of guitar & drums).

(Part of a series of articles on “Vietnam War Music” and “Vietnam War Songs“)

The State Department lists his itinerary as:
October 19-20, 1966
New Zealand
Wellington
State visit; met with Prime Minister Holyoake.

October 20-23, 1966
Australia
Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville
State visit; met with Governor General Casey and Prime Minister Holt.

October 24-26, 1966
Philippines
Manila, Los Banos, Corregidor
Attended summit conference with the Heads of State and Government of Australia, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

October 26, 1966
Vietnam
Cam Ranh Bay
Visited U.S. military personnel.

October 27-30, 1966
Thailand
Bangkok
State visit; met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

October 30-31, 1966
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
State visit; met with Prime Minister Rahrman.

October 31-November 2, 1966
Korea
Seoul, Suwon
State visit; met with President Park and Prime Minister Chung.