Table Of ContentVW-BioV1.tpgs 9/29/03 2:59 PM Page 1
Vietnam War
Biographies
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Volume 1: A–K
Vietnam War
Biographies
Kevin Hillstrom
and Laurie Collier
Hillstrom
Diane Sawinski, Editor
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Contents
Reader’s Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Vietnam War Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Volume 1: A-K
Spiro T. Agnew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Joan Baez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Daniel Berrigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
McGeorge Bundy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
William Calley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ramsey Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Richard J. Daley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
David Dellinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Jeremiah Denton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Daniel Ellsberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Diane Carlson Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Bernard Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Frances FitzGerald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Jane Fonda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
v
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J. William Fulbright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Barry Goldwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
David Halberstam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Tom Hayden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Michael Herr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Ho Chi Minh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Abbie Hoffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Lyndon B. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
John F. Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Robert F. Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Henry A. Kissinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Ron Kovic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliii
Volume 2: L-Z
Edward Lansdale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Le Duan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Le Duc Tho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Le Ly Hayslip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Maya Lin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Henry Cabot Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Lon Nol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Graham Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
John McCain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
George McGovern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Robert McNamara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Bobby Muller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Ngo Dinh Diem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu (Tran Le Xuan) . . . . 296
Nguyen Cao Ky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Nguyen Thi Dinh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Nguyen Van Thieu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Richard M. Nixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Tim O’Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Tim Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Pham Van Dong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Phan Thi Kim Phuc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Pol Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
vi Vietnam War: Biographies
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Dean Rusk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Jan Scruggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Neil Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Norodom Sihanouk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Souvanna Phouma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Oliver Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Maxwell Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Lynda Van Devanter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Vo Nguyen Giap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
William Westmoreland . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliii
Contents vii
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Reader’s Guide
Vietnam War: Biographies presents biographies of sixty men
and women who participated in or were affected by the
Vietnam War. These two volumes profile a diverse mix of per-
sonalities from both the United States and Vietnam, including
politicians, military leaders, antiwar activists, journalists,
authors, nurses, veterans, and civilians who got caught in the
middle of the conflict.
Detailed biographies of major Vietnam War figures
(such as Ho Chi Minh, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara,
Ngo Dinh Diem, and Richard M. Nixon) are included. But Viet-
nam War: Biographies also provides biographical information
on lesser-known but nonetheless important and fascinating
men and women of that era. Examples include Daniel Berri-
gan, a Catholic priest who went to prison for burning military
draft files as a form of protest against the war; Jeremiah Den-
ton, an American prisoner-of-war who blinked the word “tor-
ture” in Morse code during a televised interview with his
North Vietnamese captors; Tim Page, a daring British combat
photographer who produced some of the best known images
of the war before being seriously wounded; Phan Thi Kim
ix
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Phuc, a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl who was photographed
running naked down a country road after suffering terrible
burns from a U.S.-ordered napalm attack in her village; and Jan
Scruggs, an American veteran who led the drive to create the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Vietnam War: Biographies also features sidebars con-
taining interesting facts, excerpts from memoirs, diaries, and
speeches, and short biographies of people who are in some
way connected with the leading figures of the era. Within each
full-length biography, cross-references direct readers to other
individuals profiled in the two-volume set. More than seventy
black and white photographs enhance the text. In addition,
each volume contains a timeline that lists significant dates and
events of the Vietnam War era, a glossary, further readings, and
a cumulative subject index.
Vietnam War Reference Library
Vietnam War: Biographiesis only one component of the
three-part U•X•L Vietnam War Reference Library. The other
two titles in this set are:
• Vietnam War: Almanac: This work presents a comprehen-
sive overview of the Vietnam War. The volume’s sixteen
chapters cover all aspects of the conflict, from the reasons
behind American involvement, to the antiwar protests
that rocked the nation, to the fall of Saigon to Communist
forces in 1975. The chapters are arranged chronologically
and explore such topics as Vietnam’s struggles under
French colonial rule, the introduction of U.S. combat
troops in 1965, the Tet Offensive, and the lasting impact of
the war on both the United States and Vietnam. Inter-
spersed are four chapters that cover the growth of the
American antiwar movement, the experiences of U.S. sol-
diers in Vietnam, Vietnam veterans in American society,
and the effect of the war on Vietnam’s land and people.
The Almanac also contains “Words to Know” and “People
to Know” sections, a timeline, research and activity ideas
and a subject index.
• Vietnam War: Primary Sources: This title presents thirteen
full or excerpted speeches and written works from the Viet-
nam War era. The volume includes excerpts from civil
x Vietnam War: Biographies
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rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 antiwar speech
at Riverside Church in New York City; President Richard
Nixon’s 1969 “Silent Majority” speech; Le Ly Hayslip’s
memoir When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, about
growing up in a war-torn Vietnamese village and becom-
ing involved with the Viet Cong; and Admiral James Stock-
dale’s memoir about his years in a Vietnamese prisoner-of-
war camp, In Love and War. Each entry includes an
introduction, things to remember while reading the
excerpt, information on what happened after the work was
published or the event took place, and other interesting
facts. Photographs, source information, and an index sup-
plement the work.
• A cumulative index of all three titles in the U•X•L Vietnam
War Reference Library is also available.
Acknowledgments
The authors extend thanks to U•X•L Senior Editor Diane
Sawinski and U•X•L Publisher Tom Romig at the Gale Group for
their assistance throughout the production of this series.
Comments and Suggestions
We welcome your comments on Vietnam War: Biogra-
phies and suggestions for other topics in history to consider.
Please write: Editors, Vietnam War: Biographies, U•X•L, 27500
Drake Rd., Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll-
free 800-877-4253; fax to 248-414-5043; or send e-mail via
http://www.galegroup.com.
Reader’s Guide xi
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Vietnam War Timeline
1862 Under the Treaty of Saigon, Vietnam gives control of
three eastern provinces to France.
1863 France makes Cambodia a French colony.
1883 Under the Treaty of Hue, France expands its control
over all of Vietnam.
1887 France turns its holdings in Southeast Asia into one
colony, called Indochina.
1893 France makes Laos a French colony.
1930 Ho Chi Minh creates the Indochinese Communist
Party to oppose French colonial rule.
1940 Japan occupies Indochina during World War II.
1890
The Battle of Wounded
Knee ends the last 1929
1861–65 major Indian resistance Onset of the 1939–45
U.S. Civil to white settlement Great World
War in America Depression War II
1860 1900 1940
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