An American Amnesia

How the US Congress Forced the Surrenders of South Vietnam and Cambodia

Bruce Herschensohn

• Publisher: Beaufort Books
• Year: 2010
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780825305610
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

January 27th, 1973: the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong sign the Paris Peace Accords, guaranteeing the right of self-determination to the South Vietnamese people. April 30th, 1975: President Duong Van Minh of South Vietnam announces the nation's unconditional surrender to the North, ending the decade-long conflict and enabling the merger of both countries into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. What happened in two short years to cause such a dramatic reversal?
In  An American Amnesia, respected political commentator Bruce Herschensohn re-examines the incredible actions taken by the 94th Congress and by many American citizens which forced South Vietnam's surrender, an event that brought about immense tragedy for Southeast Asians and haunts our political landscape to this day. Drawing on notes, speeches, and writings from his own experiences in Southeast Asia, as well as in the United States Information Agency and in the White House, Herschensohn fills in important facts in that period of history and warns against the danger of succumbing to a similar voluntary amnesia in the future.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Author’s Notes
• Introduction
• 1 Why We Forget
• 2 Enter the 94th U.S. Congress
• 3 The April Surrenders
• 4 May Day
• 5 Journeys from Nations Gone
• 6 Before Paris
• 7 Ho! Ho! Ho Chi Minh! The N.L.F. Is Going to Win!
• 8 The Fragile Bridge to Paris
• 9 Kings and Queens of D.C.’s Invisible Monarchy
• 10 Hotel Journalism
• 11 Erasing an Old Supreme Court Decision
• 12 From Vietnam to 9-11: Finding and Connecting the Dots
• Index