Long Time Passing

Myra Macpherson

Description

An updated edition of a journalist's account of the impact of the Vietnam War on the generation that came of age during the war—whether they fought in it, supported it, or protested against it

Praise for the original edition:

"A haunting chorus of voices, a moving deeply disturbing evocation of an era." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Myra MacPherson's book belongs with the best of the works on Vietnam, and there has been no better body of war literature that I know of." —Joseph Heller

"A brilliant and necessary book . . . this stunning depiction of Vietnam's bitter fruit is calculated to agitate even the most complacent American." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"There have been many books on the Vietnam War, but few have captured its second life as memory better than Long Time Passing." —Washington Post Book World

"A most perceptive and fascinating account of the continuing impact of the Vietnam experience. . . . As this important book makes clear, we will be paying the costs for Vietnam for long years to come. Myra MacPherson not only lived through the Vietnam years, she writes with the insight of one still deeply caught up in the issues of that tragedy." —George McGovern

"Enthralling reading . . . full of deep and strong emotions." —New York Times

This new edition of a classic book on the impact of the Vietnam War on Americans reintroduces the haunted voices of the Vietnam era to a new generation of readers. In a new introduction, Myra MacPherson reflects on what has changed, and what hasn't, in the years since these interviews were conducted, explains the key points of reference from the 1980s that feature prominently in them, and brings the stories of her principal characters up-to-date.

Contents:

Introduction
Part I. Long Time Passing
Prologue
1. Two Soldiers
2. The Generation
3. A Different War
4. Southie and the Rebels
Part II. Draft and Protest
1. Draft Board Blues
2. The Chosen
3. The Maimed
4. Hawks and Doves
5. The Scams
6. The Reserves and National Guard
7. Game of Chance
8. Confessions
9. Impressions
Part III. Still in Saigon
1. Post-Traumatic Stress
2. The Afflicted
3. The Criminals
4. The Vet Centers
5. The Disordered
6. The Significant Others
Part IV. Making It
1. Successful Veterans
2. From Losers to Winners
3. The Wounded
Part V. Resistance
1. The Deserters
2. The Exiles
3. The Imprisoned
Part VI. Women and the War
1. Mothers and Fathers
2. The Supp-Hose Five
3. The Warriors
4. Women at the Barricades
Part VII. Vietnam Kaleidoscope
1. Atrocities
2. The Reluctant Warriors
3. The Warriors
4. The Blacks
5. Drugs, Bad Paper, Prison
6. Agent Orange
Epilogue
Glossary
Appendix: Postscript, 1993
Backnotes
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• General officer
• Vietnam War
• History of the Americas
• General
• United States
• Culture

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 20 avril 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253002761
• Langue: English

Extrait

Long Time Passing
Long Time Passing
Vietnam and the Haunted Generation
New Edition
MYRA M AC PHERSON
Indiana University Press BLOOMINGTON AND INDIANAPOLIS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders   800-842-6796 Fax orders   812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail   [e-mail]
Originally published by Doubleday in 1984. First paperback edition 1993 by Anchor Books. © 1984, 2001 by Myra MacPherson All rights reserved
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint their copyrighted material. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyrighted material included in this volume. Any errors which may have occurred are inadvertent and will be corrected in subsequent editions, provided notification is sent to the publisher.
“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” by Pete Seeger © 1961 by Fall River Music Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission
“Draft Dodger Rag” by Phil Ochs © 1964 by Appleseed Music Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission
“I Ain’t Marchin’ Any More” by Phil Ochs and Bob Gibson © 1964 by Appleseed Music Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission
Lyrics excerpted from “Still in Saigon” by Dan Daley. © 1981 by Dreena Music, A Division of RBR Communications, Inc., and Dan Daley Music. Reprinted by permission of Dreena Music, A Division of RBR Communications, Inc./Dan Daley Music.
Excerpt from “The Young Dead Soldiers” by Archibald MacLeish reprinted from Act Five and Other Poems by permission of Random House, Inc.
“Goodnight, Saigon” words and music by Billy Joel. © 1981 by Joel Songs (BMI). Reprinted by permission
Lyrics excerpted from “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” Words and music © 1965 by Joe McDonald/Alkatraz Corner Music Co. (BMI) 1977. All rights reserved. Used by permission
“With God on Our Side” by Bob Dylan. © 1963 Warner Bros., Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission
Lyrics excerpted from “Be All You Can Be” by Jake Holmes. HEA Productions.
“Contrition” from the book SYMPaTHETIC MaGIC by Michael Blumenthal. Published 1980 by Water Mark Press.
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacPherson, Myra.    Long time passing : Vietnam and the haunted generation / Myra MacPherson.        p. cm.    Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1984.    Includes bibliographical references and index.    ISBN 0-253-34003-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-253-21495-5 (paper : alk. paper)
      1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961–1975—United States. 2. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961–1975—sychological aspects. 3. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961–1975—Influence. I Title.
DS558 .M32 2001 959.704′3—dc21 2001039361
1   2   3   4   5   06   05   04   03   02   01
For yesterday’s youth, the Vietnam Generation, and for Leah and Michael and all of today’s young. May past not be prologue.
Also for Jack Gordon, who changed my life.
Contents

Introduction: A Generation Revisited
Part I: LONG TIME PASSING
Prologue
1 Two Soldiers
2 The Generation
3 A Different War
4 Southie and the Rebels
Part II: DRAFT AND PROTEST
1 Draft Board Blues
2 The Chosen
3 The Maimed
4 Hawks and Doves
5 The Scams
6 The Reserves and National Guard
7 Game of Chance
8 Confessions
9 Impressions
Part III: STILL IN SAIGON
1 Post-Traumatic Stress
2 The Afflicted
3 The Criminals
4 The Vet Centers
5 The Disordered
6 The Significant Others
Part IV: MAKING IT
1 Successful Veterans
2 From Losers to Winners
3 The Wounded
Part V: RESISTANCE
1 The Deserters
2 The Exiles
3 The Imprisoned
Part VI: WOMEN AND THE WAR
1 Mothers and Fathers
2 The Supp-Hose Five
3 The Women Who Went
4 Women at the Barricades
Part VII: VIETNAM KALEIDOSCOPE
1 Atrocities
2 The Reluctant Warriors
3 The Warriors
4 The Blacks
5 Drugs, Bad Paper, Prison
6 Agent Orange
Epilogue: Requiem for a Generation
Appendix: Postscript 1993
Glossary
Notes
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
A Generation Revisited
THREE VOICES OF THE GENERATION
      We’re not philosophers. We’re not religious leaders. We’re young kids. You send us over there, you put us there on a mission to kill and then we come back and you say, “what did you do over there? Kill all those women and children and all that terrible stuff?”
—Former U.S. senator and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Bob Kerrey
      I don’t remember debates [about Vietnam]. I don’t think we spent a lot of time debating it. Maybe we did, but I don’t remember
—Former member of the Air Force National Guard and U.S. president George W. Bush
      [In 2000,] President Clinton became the first American president to visit Vietnam since the end of the war For the Vietnam War generation, particularly for those of us who fought in that war, the symbolism evoked by an American president of our generation visiting Vietnam carried much meaning. . . . In the American conscience, Vietnam is finally not just a war, but a country . . . and it’s long overdue.
—U.S. senator John Kerry, Vietnam veteran and recipient of three Purple Hearts
S EVERAL YEARS AGO , V IETNAM COMBAT VETERANS WERE LEFT WITH a TERRIBLE legacy, even as an uncomprehending medical world mocked the name given to their problems and their grief. Most Americans looked upon them as sickos who had a propensity for mental illness.
What they were suffering from is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), now accepted worldwide as a disorder caused by abnormal, horrific traumatic experiences. Three decades later, a primitive seat-of-the-pants treatment has metamorphosed into an international boon to millions. Using new techniques which can greatly improve one’s chances for diminishing gruesome memories, PTSD experts now race to help victims of floods and earthquakes, refugees from wars in Bosnia and Baghdad, rape victims, survivors of Columbine and Oklahoma and, still, Vietnam veterans. And, of course, following the events of September 11, 2001, they rushed to the sides of countless thousands of Americans who had witnessed the greatest trauma America has ever experienced in one brief morning, the unparalleled attack that leveled the twin World Trade Center towers, severely damaged the Pentagon, and instantly killed thousands.
But in the years following Vietnam, Veterans Administration Hospital doctors dismissed, ignored, or misread the symptoms of flashbacks. The accompanying sensory experiences can be very strong. Your whole body is back there. You can taste it, feel it, hear the screams and sounds and fury of a Napalm attack—or crashing skyscrapers. You can smell it, feel the clouds of dust choking you. The stench of burning flesh stays with one forever, say those who have been in combat or have helped civilians in the world’s various killing fields.
When Vietnam veterans tried to explain this, doctors misdiagnosed them as hallucinating schizophrenics and numbed them with damaging Thorazine, known to veterans as “gorilla biscuits,” which turned them into slow-moving and stumbling zombies. Veterans caustically called it the “Thorazine shuffle.”
After the media began to publicize the Vet Centers and their work with traumatized veterans in the mid-eighties, some in the psychiatric community made the correlation and devised treatment for civilians after they began to see the same symptoms with traumatized flood victims as they saw in Vietnam combat vets.
My initial research for this book, in 1980, coincided with the embryonic days of the Vet Centers. This book contains vivid interviews and descriptions from PTSD veterans who were so cruelly cast aside for years.
We owe a dept to those pioneering veterans who forced the medical world to recognize and treat their symptoms. It was a terrible price to pay, but the plight of Vietnam veterans paved the way for a historical recasting of the treatment of traumatic stress patients.
Therapists responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks are helping people with their traumatized emotions—from survivors of New York’s ground zero to those as far away as California, who fear their time must be next. However, as