A Study of the Vietnam War ：
Overcoming the “American War” in Vietnam and Beyond
Hiroshiひ ろ し Fujimotoふ じ も と
The purpose of this book is to study the reality of the “American War” in Vietnam with a special focus on the suffering of Vietnamese civilians and to examine various efforts to overcome the Vietnam War both during and after.
Regarding the latter, this book deals with movements in and outside the U.S.
during the war to publicize “American war crimes” in Vietnam and also discusses the humanitarian work after the war by a Vietnam veteran who has promoted
“reconciliation and mutual understanding” with Vietnamese people.
This book consists of three parts, In Part 1 (Chapter 1 and 2), “Search and Destroy” mission as one of the policies of “American War” in Vietnam and the “My Lai (Son My) Massacre” as an outcome of American policy are analyzed. Part 2
（Chapter 3, 4 and 5）examines from an international perspective the role of the
“Russell Tribunal” and Vietnam veterans in challenging the official justification of the war and in their attempts to publicize “American war crimes” in Vietnam. In Part III, Chapter 6 traces the memories of the Vietnam War after the war, and Chapter 7 & 8 discuss the “Madison Quakers, Inc.” projects which have been promoted by a Vietnam veteran to nurture “reconciliation and mutual understanding” with Vietnamese people.
In light of these considerations, this book sheds new light on the study of the Vietnam War regarding the following three points: (1) The importance of paying more attention to the suffering of Vietnamese civilians; (2) Interconnected international influences on the efforts both in and outside the U.S. to publicize
“American war crimes” in Vietnam ; (3) The significance of transnational projects to nurture “reconciliation and mutual understanding” with Vietnamese people in terms of overcoming the current ethnocentric recognition of the Vietnam War in the U.S..
