Jonathan Mirsky
Advice for Soldiers in Vietnam
Most American soldiers landing in Vietnam in the 1960s were handed a ninety-three-page booklet called *A Pocket Guide to Vietnam*. Produced by the Department of Defense, it described how small, well-proportioned, dignified, and restrained Vietnamese people are, how the delicately-boned local women appear in their flowing national dress, how Vietnamese love tea, and don’t like slaps on the back, how they excel at cooking fish. Soldiers reading this advice could get the mistaken idea that they were going to a tourist destination with a bit of violence on the side.
August 20, 2012