During the war years of 1954–1975 between the communist government of North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam, America invaded a pledging ally of South Vietnam, thus ending what was known as the American war in Vietnam. The Second Indochina War left a lasting legacy of extreme American brutality. The armed forces, along with the prison systems, punishments, modes of attack, and physical and psychological tortures, were inconceivable. Aside from that, the Vietnamese perception of ghosts is what gave Vietnam a place in the horror section. The proper interment of bodies and religious rites are the main foundations of Vietnamese folklore. The battle, though, devastated that. According to them, the improperly and unconventionally buried bodies have a large possibility of leaving their souls in the earth, which wanders through the connected places. This idea was also manipulated later by the U.S. army as their war strategy. In addition, many of the soldiers had many eerie encounters during that period, including ghosts, strange creatures, mishaps, and more. Apart from these strange encounters, what people have endured at the hands of humans has been intolerable, such as war strategies involving booby traps, tunnels, torture in prisons, and so on.

This is a fascinating study of the Vietnamese experience and memory of the Vietnam War through the lens of popular imaginings about the wandering souls of the war dead. These ghosts of war play an important part in postwar Vietnamese historical narrative and imagination and Heonik Kwon explores the intimate ritual ties with these unsettled identities which still survive in Vietnam today as well as the actions of those who hope to liberate these hidden but vital historical presences from their uprooted social existence. Taking a unique approach to the cultural history of war, he introduces gripping stories about spirits claiming social justice and about his own efforts to wrestle with the physical and spiritual presence of ghosts. Although these actions are fantastical, this book shows how examining their stories can illuminate critical issues of war and collective memory in Vietnam and the modern world more generally.

Vietnam has experienced rapid growth within its tourism industry during the past decades. This growth is part of Vietnam's opening economy allowing a wide range of forms of tourism. Vietnam Tourism: Policies and Practices provides a comprehensive review of tourism development in Vietnam. Part I outlines the history of tourism, the role and involvement of public and private sectors in governance and planning, and the markets for tourism. Part II offers analysis and assessment of various types of tourism in Vietnam, including marine and island, eco, heritage, dark and community-based tourism. Part III centres on current operational issues of tourism, hotels and events. Written by scholars with extensive research experience on tourism in Vietnam this book is a reliable source of reference for students, researchers and industry practitioners who are interested modern tourism specifically in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

From the moment his first novel was published, Larry Heinemann joined the ranks of the great chroniclers of the Vietnam conflict--Philip Caputo, Tim O’Brien, and Gustav Hasford.In the stripped-down, unsullied patois of an ordinary soldier, draftee Philip Dosier tells the story of his war. Straight from high school, too young to vote or buy himself a drink, he enters a world of mud and heat, blood and body counts, ambushes and firefights. It is here that he embarks on the brutal downward path to wisdom that awaits every soldier. In the tradition of Naked and the Dead and The Thin Red Line, Close Quarters is the harrowing story of how a decent kid from Chicago endures an extraordinary trial-- and returns profoundly altered to a world on the threshold of change.

Dealing with ten key narratives, including novels and personal accounts, Herzog locates them in the tradition of war literature as well as recent cinema, and charts the transformations of the American nation in its experience of modern war.

When It Gets Dark is a 600,000 word fictional Vietnam War drama based on the real events. An even more unsettling Apocalypse Now when two idealistic West Point grads fight in Vietnam their idealism and confidence takes a beating in their first tour. One platoon leader questions everything whereas his counterpart feels the need to join Special Forces to really make a difference in the war. Haunted by his charges being killed, maimed and disabled he questions his sanity about being a combat leader fighting over the same piece of real estate over and over.In the stripped-down, barbaric life of an infantryman, Michael McLachlan, a Harvard bound rich kid from Philadelphia elects to go to West Point and dismiss his chosen destiny to be an egg head lawyer working the Wall Street racket. His classmate Frenchie Goulet convinces him not to abandon Vietnam after one combat tour and join him in Special Forces. As he eventually agrees to Goulet's badgering friends and family alike question his mental state. As they both become top secret SOG commandos they realize how dark their work is and how truly convoluted the Army is, the chain of command and other meddling departments of the US government and double dealing politicians. Even the four branches of the military go to war amongst themselves over turf wars, control of assets and bombing at the cost of the lives of Special Forces troops. Further the book explores the double dealing involving the State Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Congress and President Nixon as Watergate slowly destroys any chance of saving South Vietnam.When It Gets Dark is deeply inspired by the heroic men and women who served in Vietnam, a glimpse of the sacrifices and dedication it takes to be a soldier along with the frustration of fighting in that endless war. Having met and been acquainted with many Vietnam Veterans, their stories and sacrifice had to be told. Forty years later the Vietnam Veteran has not received his due and certainly zero has been told about SOG commando's that were dispatched to kill their South Vietnamese allies, top NVA generals, treasonous Americans and foreign war profiteers. They fought with dedication to their comrades in arms and to their country. But most importantly, they showed the strength, courage and determination to fight in the most unpopular war in America's history.

Covering many aspects of the Vietnam War that have not been addressed before, this book supplies new perspectives from academics as well as Vietnam veterans that explore how this key conflict of the 20th century has influenced everyday life and popular culture during the war as well as for the past 50 years. How did the experience of the Vietnam War change the United States, not just in the 1950s through the 1970s, but through to today? What role do popular music and movies play in how we think of the Vietnam War? How similar are the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and now Syria—to the Vietnam War in terms of duration, cost, success and failure rates, and veteran issues? This two-volume set addresses these questions and many more, examining how the Vietnam War has been represented in media, music, and film, and how American popular culture changed because of the war. Accessibly written and appropriate for students and general readers, this work documents how the war that occurred on the other side of the globe in the jungles of Vietnam impacted everyday life in the United States and influenced various entertainment modes. It not only covers the impact of the counterculture revolution, popular music about Vietnam recorded while the war was being fought (and after), and films made immediately following the end of the war in the 1970s, but also draws connections to more modern events and popular culture expressions, such as films made in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Attention is paid to the impact of social movements like the environmental movement and the civil rights movement and their relationships to the Vietnam War. The set will also highlight how the experiences and events of the Vietnam War are still impacting current generations through television shows such as Mad Men.