Bringing It All Back Home An Oral History of New York City's Vietnam Veterans

by Napoli, Philip F.

• ISBN13: 9780809073184
• ISBN10: 0809073188
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-06-11
• Publisher: Hill and Wang

Summary

A collection of heartrending oral histories that topples assumptions about the people who served in Vietnam The Vietnam War was a defining moment for a generation of Americans. But for years myths and prejudices about its veterans have dominated our country's consciousness. Bringing It All Back Homeintroduces us to the individuals behind this difficult time in our nation's history. In the spirit of Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation,Philip F. Napoli's collection of oral histories from New York's Vietnam vets humanizes the men and women who sacrificed for our country in a deeply troubling war. Challenging the view that Vietnam veterans were irreversibly damaged or disabled by their experiences, Napoli shares the stories of soldiers who witnessed death and destruction on the battlefield and returned home seeking to understand what they had endured. Overcoming adversity, a great many of them would go on to lead ambitious lives of public service. The memories of these men and womenincluding a nurse who went on a hunger strike to promote peace while working at a hospital aiding both soldiers and Vietnamese citizens; a paratrooper whose experiences on the battlefield left him with emotional scars that led to violence and homelessness; and a black soldier who achieved an unexpected camaraderie with his fellow servicemen in racially tense timesput a human face on the historical record.

Author Biography

Philip F. Napoli is an assistant professor of history at Brooklyn College, where he also directs the Veterans Oral History Project. He conducted many of the interviews included in Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

 1. MAKING SOLDIERS: THE BOYS WHO BECAME THE MEN 7
 2. PROFESSIONALISM: RICHARD EGGERS 23
 3. FUTILITY: SUE O’NEILL 37
 4. WAR AND LIES: JOSEPH GIANNINI 47
 5. FOLLOW ME: ANTHONY WALLACE 63
 6. THE BELIEVER: JOAN FUREY 83
 7. WAR AND LOSS: MIANO, NOWICKI, AND GONZALEZ 107
 8. WELCOME HOME, JIMMY: THE BACOLO TWINS 115
 9. AGAINST WAR: FRIEDMAN AND LOUIS 123
 10. BECOMING VETER ANS: EDELMAN, GERMAN, AND PAS 145
 11. WAR AND NORMALCY: ROBERT PTACHIK 159
 12. TWONESS: HERBERT SWEAT 169
 13. LONG ROAD HOME: NEIL KENNY 181
 14. LEADERSHIP: VINCE McGOWAN 209
 15. THE DIVERSITY OF THE VETER AN EXPERIENCE 219
 16. LIVING MEMORIALS 229

A NOTE ON METHOD 237
NOTES 241
RECOMMENDED READING 249
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 253