ARVN: Life And Death in the South Vietnamese Army (Modern War Studies) | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert K. Brigham
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 544992
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 178
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0700614338
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.704342
EAN: 9780700614332
ASIN: 0700614338
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
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Book Description
Scorned by allies and enemies alike, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was one of the most maligned fighting forces in modern history. Cobbled together by U.S. advisers from the remnants of the French-inspired Vietnamese National Army, it was effectively pushed aside by the Americans in 1965. When toward the end of the war the army was compelled to reassert itself, it was too little, too late for all concerned. In this first in-depth history of the ARVN from 1955 to 1975, Robert Brigham takes readers into the barracks and training centers of the ARVN to plumb the hearts and souls of these forgotten soldiers. Through his masterly command of Vietnamese-language sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, oral interviews, and more-he explores the lives of ordinary men, focusing on troop morale and motivation within the context of traditional Vietnamese society and a regime that made impossible demands upon its soldiers. Offering keen insights into ARVN veterans' lives as both soldiers and devout kinsmen, Brigham reveals what they thought about their American allies, their Communist enemies, and their own government. He describes the conscription policy that forced these men into the army for indefinite periods with a shameful lack of training and battlefield preparation and examines how soldiers felt about barracks life in provinces far from their homes. He also explores the cultural causes of the ARVN's estrangement from the government and describes key military engagements that defined the achievements, failures, and limitations of the ARVN as a fighting force. Along the way, he explodes some of the myths about ARVN soldiers' cowardice, corruption, and lack of patriotism that have made the ARVN the scapegoat for America's defeat. Ultimately, as Brigham shows, without any real political commitment to a divided Vietnam or vision for the future, the ARVN retreated into a subnational culture that redefined the war's meaning: saving their families. His fascinating book gives us a fuller understanding not only of the Vietnam War but also of the problems associated with U.S. nation building through military intervention. This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
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 A very different look at the maligned ARVN July 23, 2007
This book is a fine introduction to the much maligned ARVN which fought and finally lost a terrible 20 years war. It is only though a social history of the ARVN and the author doesn't delve into pure military matters, such as organisation, weapons and doctrine. The fields he covers in an excellent way are the recruitment, the training, the financial aspects of the soldiers' lives, the crucial role of families as the core of social fabric, the cultural peculiarities of Vietnam and the inability of the US advisers to recognize those facts early enough. Although there is a chapter devoted to ARVN battles, the material is very short to satisfy the reader who wants a deeper analysis. For this, you can look at Willbanks' excellent book "Abandoning Vietnam" which is a terrific addition to the studies of ARVN between 1968 and 1975. Mr Brigham's book has no maps and only a handful of bad quality b/w photos.
 high school paper in book form May 7, 2006
30 out of 37 found this review helpful
This book resemble a high school paper than a book from a serious historian, the book is quite short, total only 178 pages.
Some of the author arguments seems quite na?ve to anyone who knows Vietnamese history. For instances, the author one of the author claimed is that the ARVN was not effective because they did not use dan cong [civilian laborers ] to handle the war materials or use part time soldiers like the Ly, Tran dynasty. Brigham probably did not know that because of the intensity of the war, neither North or South Vietnam have the leisure of allowing their regular soldiers to be part time soldiers, even the example that Brigham uses about the constriction of the Ly and Tran only applied in peace time. Also, the RVN government did use part time soldiers, they are called Nhan Dan Tu Ve [Civillian Defense Force] and the Nhan Dan Tu Ve did quite well in many cases.
Brigham was correct in saying that the North Vietnamese uses civilians laborers to handle the war materials but he was wrong in his defend and legitimization for this kind of system. According to the book "2000 Ngay Dem Tran Thu Cu Chi" [2000 Nights Defending Cuchi], Duong Dinh Loi, the former military leader of the Vietcong forces in Cu Chi and a 20 years member of the Vietnamese Communist Party reveals that VC and NVA have a policy of forcing civilians in there are of control to contribute 6 months of free labor out of a year, every year to their cause by transporting war materials to various depot. International laws recognize those who transport or carry weapons to be combatant and therefore it is legal for the U.S to bombs and kills these civilians porters, the South Vietnamese recognizes this dilemma therefore they did not force their civilians to become military porters to avoid having civilians kill needlessly, yet for this they were vilified by Brigham . If George W. Bush forces all Americans to have to spend 6 months out of a years transporting war materials in Iraq until the war ends, would Brigham consider this a great idea?
Another point in this book that I have a problem with, have to do with Brigham mistaken of the often use Vietnamese phrase "giu nuoc, giu nha [defending the country, defending the home/family", the word giu nha means defending the home or family, yet Brigham take this to means the ARVN only fight to defend their family and Brigham uses some of the quotes from the former ARVN and their family out of context to support this point.
Brigham contention that many of the ARVN were former French supporter is inaccurate in that many ARVN formerly joined the Vietminh to fight against the French and only left Vietminh after the "anti Nationalist, anti-bourgeois" purges within the Vietminh, my father himself was one of the victim of such purge. Brigham also ignore the fact that uncle Ho signed the Modus Viviendi agreement with Sainteny on March 6 1945, allowing the French to legally send troops to Vietnam, Ho also cooperate with the French in exterminating non Communist parties in Vietnam, was broke out between Ho and the French in 1946 only after the French have exterminated the Quoc Dan Dang, Dai Viet and other non-Communist parties.
The ARVN was formed on May 11 1950 after France and Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai sign the treaty of Auriol on March 8, 1949 in which France agreed to grant Vietnam her independent. According to Archimedes L. A. Patti , the former OSS agent in Vietnam, the treaty of Auriol gave Vietnam something that Ho Chi Minh have always demanded from the French but did not get. Brigham also ignores the fact that the Vietminh were use by the Mao as mercenaries to keep the Kuomintang forces in southern China from being move north to fight Mao, this fact was confirmed by the official Socialist Republic of Vietnam official history book.
Although the main focus of this book is about the ARVN and their family, the book completely ignore the plight of the ARVN and their family after the war when over 1 millions former government officials and former ARVN were sent to the Corrective Labored Re-education Camps without trials, some interned for as long as 18 years. Over 165,000 died or executed in these "re-education" camps, another 100,000 died in the New economic zone. ARVN family members were sent to work as slave laborers in the so-called New Economic Zones.
Another problem with Brigham book is that it completely ignore recently release MACV documents like the Abrams tapes in assessing the ARVN, instead he uses only information from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam government archive, in fact very few books written by former ARVN in America was use by Brigham in his book except for the book Doi Quan Ngu, great South Vietnamese author like Phan Nhat Nam who is currently residing in California was not interview nor was his works use by Brigham.
Recently the Vietnam Center in Lubbock held a conference assessing the ARVN called "ARVN: Reflections and Reassessment After 30 years", a large number of respected historians was there including James H. Willbanks, Mark Moyar, Bill Laurie (Brigham was a no show). Anyone interested in the ARVN can go the Vietnam Center at Lubbock website and get the whole conference video and papers for free instead of paying for this high school paper.
Tough to read narrative but important book...to better understand Vietnam May 5, 2006
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
Like most academic books Brigham's latest work reads like a history book or a Ph.D. thesis. It has five chapters totaling 130 pages. The remaining 47 pages are Notes, Bibliography and Index. Thus the subtitle, "Life and Death of the South Vietnamese Army," is not quite complete just like one of the blurbs written by Jeffrey Kimball, "The best book I've read on the ARVN." Not surprisingly all the endorsements came from academics, most of whom have been harshly critical of the ARVN and the Republic of Vietnam in general. What separates this book from the others is Brigham's focus on ordinary South Vietnamese soldiers and veterans and not its audacious and flashy generals. Without a concrete vision and solid leadership by South Vietnamese officials, ARVN soldiers fell into the "family syndrome" and in the end, took care of their own. Not much was left to defend in 1975 when there was no longer a country, an army, or an ally to fight alongside. Little coverage is given to the ARVN's finest hours at An Loc, Xuan Loc, Quang Tri and the Cambodia and Laos incursions. Then again this is not a battle book per se. Chapter Five, "Families," summarizes the ARVN. "Exhausted, demoralized, and continually defeated, ARVN troops struggle to find meaning in the war." One thing is certain. No other army will ever be as scrutinized by their allies, on the battlefield, in the media and the ivory towers, than the ARVN. Not even after 31 years since the war had ended.
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