Books on the Black Soldiers Experience in Vietnam
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The Autobiography of Clabon Jones
Clabon Jones tells how he went from being the mischievous son of a Louisiana sharecropper to a well-trained teenage sergeant in the Army leading men in and out of firefights in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
The Black Side of Vietnam
The Black Side of The Vietnam War is a story about a seventeen- years old name Marshall R.D Butler. After he got a letter from the U.S Government to report to the Draft Board, little that he knew, he was drafted into the military.
Sgt. Rodney M. Davis: The Making of a Hero
When an enemy grenade landed in the trench in the midst of his men, Sgt. Davis realizing the gravity of the situation, and in a final valiant act of complete self-sacrifice, instantly threw himself upon the grenade, absorbing with his body the full and terrific force of the explosion.
Bloods
An oral history unlike any other, Bloods features twenty black men who tell the story of how members of their race were sent off to Vietnam in disproportionate numbers, and of the special test of patriotism they faced.
Soul Patrol
When Ed Emanuel was handpicked for the first African American special operations LRRP team in Vietnam, he knew his six-man team couldn’t have asked for a tougher proving ground than Cu Chi in 1968.
First African American Hero In Vietnam War
The biography of Milton L. Olive, III, the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War.
POST 8195
VFW Commander Bobby White, Post 8195 in West Park, Fl, tells the stories of fellow Black Vietnam Veterans and how they received help through the Stone of Hope Program.
African American Experience
In this book James Westheider explores the social and professional paradoxes facing African-American soldiers in Vietnam.
The Brotherhood in Combat
The Brotherhood in Combat is the first full-length, interdisciplinary study of the integration of the American military during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
My Experience in Vietnam
Isaac Witter shares with his readers some of the chilling events he witnessed and participated in as an American soldier,
African Americans in the Vietnam War
This series provides a detailed look at the Vietnam War from the point of view of Americans who lived and served throughout the conflict.
Sunk by the Navy
James Smith personal experience as a black sailor in the Navy during the Vietnam Era
Expression of Hope
His gift of the speed reached a pinnacle when he won a Gold Medal as a member of the 4 x 100 relay team in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The feat was accomplished while Army Captain Pender was a combat soldier pulled out of the fighting in Vietnam.
Colin Powell My American Journey
Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history—Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, Desert Storm—but a history that until now has been known only on the surface. Here, for the first time, Colin Powell himself tells us how it happened, in a memoir distinguished by a heartfelt love of country and family, warm good humor, and a soldier’s directness.
The Story Of A Black Vietnam Veteran During and After
The book, The Story of a Black Vietnam Veteran During and After, narrates a true-to-life story that proves how disparity can make and break lives even at war. This story is told by a black American veteran who had a firsthand experience of prejudice against racial color. It unfolds the reality in the war zone and the fight between blacks and whites. It tells us that the blacks have not just been fighting in another country's battlefield but on their racial battlefield as well. When the war is over, it's not over for them. And until now, they are still struggling in that war.
I AM VETERAN: OF THE VIETNAM WAR IN THE USAF
This is the true account of one black female veteran's experience in the military during the Vietnam War to this present day and how she won over fear, intimidation, rejection during and after her military service. It took her many decades to write the book, because she wanted the book to be a blessing to many people male and female that have served their country and not been recognized.
Fighting on Two Fronts: African Americans and the Vietnam War
In this dramatic history of race relations during the Vietnam war, James E. Westheider illustrates how American soldiers in Vietnam grappled with many of the same racial conflicts that were tearing apart their homeland thousands of miles away. Over seven years in the making, Fighting on Two Fronts draws on interviews with dozens of Vietnam veterans―black and white―and official Pentagon documents to paint the first complete picture of the African American experience in Vietnam.
We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, from World War II to the War in Iraq
Award-winning journalist Yvonne Latty never bothered to find out the extent of her father's service until it was almost too late. Inspired by his moving story -- and eager to uncover the little-known stories of other black veterans, from those who served in the Second World War to the War in Iraq
The Black Officer Corps: A History of Black Military Advancement from Integration through Vietnam
The Black Officer Corps traces segments of the African American officers’ experience from 1946-1973. From generals who served in the Pentagon and Vietnam, to enlisted servicemen and officers' wives, Isaac Hampton has conducted over seventy-five oral history interviews with African American officers.
Black Faces of War: A Legacy of Honor from the American Revolution to Today
This commemoration of African-Americans in the U.S. military includes contributions from W. Stephen Morris and Luther H. Smith, one of the most-celebrated Tuskegee Airmen. Other black military heroes featured in the book include Crispus Attucks, the first man to die in the Revolutionary War; Lt. James Reese Europe, who brought jazz music to Europe in 1918; Lt. Charity Adams, commander of the only all-black Women's Army Corps unit during World War II; and Gen. Colin Powell, who served with distinction in Vietnam, became the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War, and retired a four-star general before becoming the first African-American Secretary of State..
War! What Is It Good For?: Black Freedom Struggles and the U.S. Military from World War II to Iraq
Using an array of sources--from newspapers and government documents to literature, music, and film--and tracing the period from World War II to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Phillips considers how federal policies that desegregated the military also maintained racial, gender, and economic inequalities. Since 1945, the nation's need for military labor, blacks' unequal access to employment, and discriminatory draft policies have forced black men into the military at disproportionate rates. Since the Vietnam War, Phillips argues, many African Americans have questioned linking militarism and war to their concepts of citizenship, equality, and freedom.
The First African American Awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War: Milton L. Olive III
If, as Sherman once said, "War is hell," the Vietnam War was hell on steroids. Robert Toporek, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, after 56 years has begun telling his story. This first chapter is about the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. This powerful book portrays the impact Milton Olive’s life and death made on Robert, his parents, and many people around the country.
Blacks in America's Wars: The Shift in Attitudes from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam
"Dr. Mullen combines in one volume a much needed chronology of Black American participation in America's wars from the Revolution to Vietnam and an in-depth examination of Black attitudes towards these wars . . . . Mullen's well-documented volume is an invaluable aid for understanding this discontent, which must be dealt with fairly if the US is to insure its ability to defend itself."
Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the Fleet during the Vietnam War Era
During the second half of the Vietnam War, the Navy witnessed some of the worst incidents of racial strife ever experienced by the American military. Sherwood introduces us to fierce encounters on American warships and bases, ranging from sit-down strikes to major race riots.
Brothers in Valor: Battlefield Stories of the 89 African Americans Awarded the Medal of Honor
Since the American Civil War, scores of African Americans have served with great distinction. Through thousands of historical accounts, photographs, and documentary evidence, Robert Jefferson introduces the 89 black soldiers who continued forward when all odds were against them. The heroes within these pages faced certain death and definite danger without flinching.
Rear Admiral Larry Chambers, USN: First African American to Command an Aircraft Carrier
The first African-American aircraft carrier commander, Rear Admiral Lawrence Cleveland Chambers (1929- ) played a prominent role as captain of the USS Midway during the Vietnam War. During the evacuation of Saigon--known as Operation Frequent Wind--he famously ordered several UH-1 helicopters pushed overboard to make room for an escaping South Vietnamese Air Force major to land his Cessna. Chambers, who had only commanded Midway for a few weeks, gave the order believing (wrongly) that he would be court-martialed for the $10 million loss. This biography covers his early life and military career, including his role in the desegregation of the U.S. Navy during a period racial strife.
Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era, Limited Edition
Even as African American men and women headed to Vietnam to fight for their country and to show their patriotism, they faced racism in the ranks, as did their families on the home front. This stunning book, which accompanies a traveling exhibit, looks at black life through the eyes of vets during the Civil Rights era by bringing together artifacts, poetry, fiction, oral histories, art, and riveting recollections that recall the horrors of war, the complexities of race, and the duality of African American life.
First African American Awarded The Medal Of Honor: Story Of Medal Of Honor In The Vietnam War: The Horrors War
The biography of Milton L. Olive, III, the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. We learn not just about Milton Olive the individual, but about the special challenges of an African American coming of age in the 1960s, the issue of career choices and the necessity of staying in school and getting an education, about Milton's hometowns of Chicago, Illinois, and Lexington, Mississippi, about military life and training, about Vietnam and the war itself, and concerns about morality, violence, the obligations and responsibilities of citizenship, and about compassion and bravery. It is all here in the Milton Olive story.
MLK's Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam is a sermon delivered on April 30th, 1967 at the Riverside Church, New York by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. This soul stirring sermon is as relevant in todays convoluted geopolitical and social space as it was when it was first delivered. "It seemed that there was a real promise of hope for the poor, both black and white, through the Poverty Program.
Equality or Discrimination?: African Americans in the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War
Equality or Discrimination? strives to close the gap in existing literature and address the often-neglected field of research on the discrimination of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. Despite the awakened interest of academics, authors, artists, and experts from a multitude of fields and the vast selection of literature on the Vietnam War and its veterans, African Americans have received little attention until now.
Selma to Saigon: The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War
The civil rights and anti–Vietnam War movements were the two greatest protests of twentieth-century America. The dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam in 1965 took precedence over civil rights legislation, which had dominated White House and congressional attention during the first half of the decade. The two issues became intertwined on January 6, 1966, when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) became the first civil rights organization to formally oppose the war.
The Brothers' Vietnam War: Black Power, Manhood, and the Military Experience
“Focused on exploring the alternative notions of racial manhood which African American servicemen developed during the Black Power era, The Brothers’ Vietnam War is a welcome addition to the surprisingly small body of scholarly literature on the black experience in Vietnam. . . . Herman Graham’s exemplary use of male bonding rituals, storytelling, handshakes, and hairstyles to examine both gender consciousness and the soldiers’ and sailors’ transformation to group militancy should serve as a model for future studies.”—William L. Van Debug, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Brothers: Black Soldiers in the Nam
This book is a collection of raw, first-person accounts, written by two black soldiers who were drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968 and who eventually went to Vietnam. The informal, conversational style makes for easy reading. The subject matter is absolutely fascinating. The two writers sometimes mention issues associated with race. At the same time, race does not dominate the narrative.
Short Changed: Memoir of an American Combat Veteran
The book is the personal memoir of a Vietnam Combat Veteran sharing his plight after being wounded in action and being diagnosed with "Combat Fatigue", his struggles with the VA and in his role as an advocate for veterans' benefits and care.
Three Days Past Yesterday
Although one might think that all the military tales of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam have been told, "Three Days Past Yesterday: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Incredibility" proves that there is more to tell. Using poetry and prose, Doris I. "Lucki" Allen reveals the untold story of a black woman soldier in Vietnam. She served in military intelligence, fighting for the respect of her male peers while supplying information that could save their lives.
Rare Vietnam Books
Memphis-Nam-Sweden: The Autobiography of a Black American Exile
It is the autobiographical account of a young black man, who, newly graduated from high school, joined the Marine Corps to escape inner-city Memphis. Military service was the avenue out of the ghetto, but within six months Terry Whitmore found himself, like many African-American enlistees, in Vietnam with the infantry. He made the decision to desert. Pursued by MPs, he was shuttled about by a protective underground community until members of the international peace community spirited him to asylum in Sweden via a modern underground railroad.
Yet another voice Mass Market
Norman A. McDaniel explains how his faith in God got him through seven years of torture as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.
The 600 M.O.!.: Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam
However as we landed and started to taxi the aircraft to the side of the runway we noticed that the soldiers were armed with Ak47s (Russian-made rifles used by the Viet Cong) and not M16s (American-issued rifles) realizing that we were completely surrounded by the enemy.