This dissertation is a comprehensive study of the content, author demographics, publishing history, and media representation of the most prominent Vietnam veteran memoirs published between 1967 and 2005. These personal narratives are important because they have affected the collective memory of the Vietnam War for decades. The primary focus of this study is an analysis of how veterans' memoirs depict seven important topics: the demographics of American soldiers, combat, the Vietnamese people, race relations among U.S. troops, male-female relationships, veterans' postwar lives, and war-related political issues. The central theme that runs through these analyses is that these seven topics are depicted in ways that show veteran narratives represent constructed memories of the past, not infallible records of historical events. One reoccurring indication of this is that while memoirists' portrayals are sometimes supported by other sources and reflect historical reality, other times they clash with facts and misrepresent what actually happened. Another concern of this dissertation is the relationship of veteran memoirs to broader trends in public remembrance of the Vietnam War, and how and why some books, but not others, were able to achieve recognition and influence. These issues are explored by charting the publishing history of veteran narratives over a thirty-eight year period, and by analyzing media coverage of these books. This research indicates that mainstream editors and reviewers selected memoirs that portrayed the war in a negative manner, but rejected those that espoused either unambiguous anti- or pro-war views. By giving some types of narratives preference over others, the media and the publishing industry helped shape the public's collective understanding of the war. / History

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept of History, August, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [317]-330).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 7, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-100).

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This dissertation examines the contributions and significance of U.S. expatriates in Great Britain, West Germany, France, and Canada to the Vietnam antiwar movement. Utilizing archives of several expatriate antiwar groups, the personal papers of prominent expatriate activists, and the U.S. government, I argue dissent from this constituency was motivated by a desire to broaden U.S. civil society so that it included the perspectives, insights, and experiences of the highly mobile postwar population and accounted for the reality of its transatlantic empire. Overseas citizens often presented their dissent as patriotic, leaning on a range of national icons and traditions to situate themselves as part of the U.S. community, and, based on their experiences abroad, they claimed a specific expertise, unavailable to most other citizens on matters of foreign policy, international relations, and national security. As such, expats contested how U.S. policymakers used claims of national security and credibility to mobilize the transatlantic public for the war, and instead disseminated alternative interpretations as the basis of their dissent.

This paper examines the partisan shift that took place in American Presidential elections during the Vietnam War. Specifically, I examine the landslide elections of 1964 and 1972 and how race, gender, and American casualties played a part in the shift.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 1049-1060). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-96).

Thesis (D.P.A.)--University of La Verne, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 300-318).