Wil Haygood’s ‘War Within a War’ covers the many injustices that confronted Black soldiers fighting to keep Vietnamese people free from oppression, while in their own country they were denied their civil-rights and freedoms.
American engagement in Vietnam started even before French colonialism had been dismantled in the 50s. During the Kennedy years US geopolitical involvement in Indochina increased. By the late 60s, with 500,000 American troupes in Vietnam, Americans en masse were against the war, but there was no exit strategy in sight, with US forces being outsmarted by the North Vietnamese army of a proxy war against communist Russia.
As US involvement in Vietnam continued to expand, there was a plan to entice 100,000 recruits and many young Black men were convinced it was a practical to join with promises of decent pay, educational opportunities. By the 70s African Americans were being drafted into a supposed “integrated” military.
African-American males of draft age were acutely aware of racial barriers in education, trade schools, and employment in their own country. The military stepped up their recruitment campaigns for Black recruits with promises of good pay, educational opportunities and recognition for their service.
For Black soldiers, the reality would be quite different than their government promised- on the battlefields in Vietnam and at home. Entrenched racism against soldiers of color remained firmly in place in all branches of the military, starting with segregated living quarters in boot camps to black platoons being disproportionately sent to the most dangerous fields of engagement with the Viet Cong.
Aside from writing riveting geopolitical history of the Vietnam era, Haygood’s moving profiles of the distinguished service of Black soldiers fill every chapter. How they were able to excel on the battlefield at the same navigate racial barriers in their own ranks. Haygood examines these realities and the complex racial dynamics that came into play during the Vietnam era.
The military and social layers of racism persisted in the new ‘integrated’ military at every level, in every branch. For much of the war there were only 2 percent of Black officers on active duty, administratively, or leading troupes in the field.Entrenched racism against soldiers of color remained firmly in place in all branches of the military. Starting with segregated living quarters and the most egregious policies of inequality that had Black platoons being disproportionated sent as the front lines during the most dangerous fields of battle.
Black soldiers continued to be discriminated against and faced a host of punishments including time in the brig for minor offences, including sporting Afros, even though white soldiers were permitted to keep long hair. Some Black soldiers couldn’t take the abuse in their barracks or on the battlefield and went AWOL and were summarily dealt with harsher than white soldiers. Or being harassed for soldiers who used wordless choreographed brotherly hand gestures known as dap, but white officers viewed it as some sort of nefarious code. White soldiers, meanwhile were not written up for such incidents of open bigotry toward Black troupes or even hanging confederate flags in their tents.
In January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnam People’s Army launched the Tet Offensive, a surprise attack on US military and civilian operations in South Vietnam that resulted in a catastrophic loss for the was a devastating loss for American troupes. It was a turning point and a reality check for the US involvement. Senior US military offices assessed the situation as intractable, admitting to Johnson that the Viet Cong were more formidable than his administration anticipated or planned for. The Viet Cong were decimating US troops, with attacks through underground tunnels that facilitated sudden attacks and strategic advantages.
In March1968, President Johnson bowed out of running for re-election due to the failures in Vietnam and overshadowing his presidential achievements on civil-rights initiatives, the war on poverty, voting rights. A month later Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, a tragedy which galvanized Black Americans against the war both at home and on the battlefields of Vietnam.
Relief from the pressure, soldiers hung out in a village that was dubbed Soul Alley were black soldiers were welcome by Vietnamese who would provide meals and off-duty atmosphere where they would hang-out and decompress.Meanwhile, Americans were protesting the war in the streets, on campuses, and the majority of Americans were against the war.
All of this history is reflected on through the experiences of the Black soldiers who served and these profiles are the heart and soul of Haywood’s book.
Among those profiled and interviewed are Air Force pilot Fred Cherry, the first black military officer captured by the North Vietnamese, who became a hero to 20 million black Americans and as a POW survived torture and imprisonment for 7 years, after he refused make public statements about racial intolerance in the US.
Jack Anderson, whose leadership and fearless company bravery were the subject of the Academy award-winning documentary The Anderson Platoon. Captain George Forrest, a captain who charged through enemy territory during the 1965 Battle of da Nang, to get back to his men who were suddenly surrounded.
Henry Reed, a Marine officer who was feared by the North Vietnamese and a man who stood up against racism in his own ranks as part of his mission. Philippa Schuyler, a biracial concert pianist, left her career and went on a mission to rescue orphans in Vietnam, many of whom were fathered by Black soldiers.
George Forrest, a captain who repeatedly charged through enemy territory during the 1965 battle even after he was wounded, nothing stopped him from safeguarding his troops even at his own peril.
Through the experiences of men and women whose moral courage faced and political crucible of bad US policy that cost over 58,00 American lives and thousands of soldiers, medical staffs who returned with permanent disabilities and PTSD, haunted by the atrocities they witnessed or were the ordered to be part of in the jungles of Vietnam.
The anti-war movement was also in full swing on college campuses. LBJ eventually decided not to seek re-election leading the way for Richard Nixon to run on ending the war, instead his administration extended it by five more years; the Kissinger/Nixon assessment of ‘peace with honor’…..line was just that as Saigon fell to the enemy in April 1975.
Not for nothing, It’s worth noting vis-à-vis our current state of war powers affairs that the 15+ years of US involvement ‘operations’ in Vietnam was never declared a war by the US congress as the Constitution clearly instructs.
