Jan 20
A tale of two photos. Even now, with the truth about the Vietnam War trickling ever so slowly out into the world, I’ll bet most people still accept the “received wisdom” about these famous photographs. I know I had no idea.
Via The Anchoress.)
3 Responses to “Everything you know is wrong”
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January 20th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Thanks for that, Andrea. At one time I knew the story, but had forgotten. I DID remember it was ‘hype’ – not the Truth, the Whole Truth, & Nothing But the Truth. I look forward to reading the rest of her journey, but right now I gotta feed a baby. π
January 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I learned the truth about the execution photo from a documentary of Vietnam press coverage, and the guy who took the photo explained what happened. As I recall, the photographer wasn’t especially sympathetic towards the South Vietnamese…..which explains a lot, IMHO.
January 21st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Yeah, I already knew about those.
But, of course, I had to learn about them from being pointed to it by bloggers.
(It’s been a long time since I was in school, and when I was we never covered Vietnam anyway, but I’d be shocked if either photograph’s actual context was discussed.
People are continually shocked and dismissive when I point out to them that, in military terms, the US won the Vietnam war, handily, and remind them that South Vietnam fell two years after the US pulled out, and only after Congress cut off funding for their air force, so that the Soviet-backed North could overrun them.
The narrative of the US being defeated “by peasants in pajamas” and because “the US can’t win hearts and minds” is too ingrained for mere facts to overcome.)