Where the Domino Fell

I highly recommend this book (Sixth Edition, American and Vietnam 1945-2010). Yet as with many such books, there are some short comings which I list below.1- On page 119 is a statement that Nguyen Cao Ky was hostile towards Buddhists. I assume the authors came to that conclusion due to Ky’s suppression of the 1966 Buddhist demonstrations in Hue and Da Dang. And on page 150 is another claim that both Ky and Thieu were Roman Catholics. Yet in other accounts I’ve read Ky was considered a Buddhist, and claimed to be Buddhist himself in the autobiography, “Buddha’s Child”.2- Probably the biggest strategic mistake of the Second Indochina War was United States capitulation regarding Laos, which the authors failed to stress. “Laos is key!” - Ike remarked to JFK. President (General) Eisenhower understood the geographical importance of Laos in in regards to the defense of South Vietnam. This surpassingly weak state was the “cork in the bottle,” as Eisenhower summarized in his meeting with Kennedy….”“It was his opinion that if Laos should fall to the Communists, then it would be just a question of time until South Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma would collapse. He felt that the Communists had designs on all of Southeast Asia, and that it would be a tragedy to permit Laos to fall.” Excerpt from: Memorandum of Conference on January 19, 1961 between President Eisenhower and President-Elect Kennedy on the Subject of Laos.An extension of the DMZ across Laos to the Thai border could have been done, defended and maintained at a fraction of the effort required over the next ten years against the infinite infiltration of North Vietnamese cadre along the Laos & Cambodian borders of South Vietnam. We could have then left much of South Vietnam to the Vietnamese Government and the ARVN to manage and defend.“Had Kennedy heeded Eisenhower’s advice, the Averell Harriman Memorial Highway may never have become a reality. Without the HCMT, North Vietnam’s ability to prosecute the war would have been severely hobbled3- The authors discuss the post Tet’68 My Lai event in great detail, important in the effect it and the cover-up had on the American public. Yet there is little mention of the policy of atrocity by the North Vietnamese, in particular the Massacre of Hue during Tet ’68.4- Regarding Eddie Adam’s photo of Colonel Loan executing the VC soldier, the authors could have explained the now well-known background preceding the incident.5- Regarding the average age of an American soldier being 19 (page 206) during the war; there are other sources claiming it to be as high as 22 years of age.6- There is much discussion regarding the drug usage by U.S. Forces from 1968 onwards as rampant, yet no more so than what was taking place stateside simultaneously. Unfortunately, the use by our troops may have affected our combat ability.

To many of us now, the Domino theory that motivated Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon to send troops to Vietnam seems a bit paranoid. How could a country so small threaten US security? But seen in the context of WWII and its aftermath, it makes some sense. Hitler had expanded, invading and annexing much of Europe, and many blamed the size of WWII on Britain's unwillingness to obstruct him sooner; Neville Chamberlain has become an infamous name. Immediately after the second world war, three things happened which even in retrospect suggested danger to Capitalism and America.: (1) the Russian blockade of Berlin, (2) detonation of a Russian nuclear device, and (3) Nationalist China fell to the Communists .To some, Russian and Chinese Communism threatened the US and it's way of life; when the Communists threatened takeover of Vietnam, and perhaps all of SE Asia, it resembled a series of Dominoes, one falling after another. This excellent book recounts the American adventure in Vietnam. (Richard Merlo, Elkin, NC)

Awesome book. If you are interested in Vietnam you need to read this book.

The book is a gift for a published author on Vietnam.

I can't believe that only after 5 times opening this book within only the past 3 weeks, couple of pages was torn off because the binding wasn't even tight enough! I understand that this is a rental so if I have to pay extra or for the "damage" I will be very upset. I can't return it now because I need it for class, I don't think I have ever experienced a book falling apart so quickly before.

This is a fantastic book. It is very informative, but conveniently short.

Very boring read. Reads more like a textbook. Unfortunately, I was forced to read this for a class and just had to plug through. I grew up thinking I hated history only to find out I actually really like history but hate the boring way it’s explained in textbooks.