A rather remarkable book

[old_blevins]

When Christian Appy's book Working-Class War came out in 1993 I did not read it. At that point reading time was scarce and I knew it was based on his Doctoral thesis so, expecting a bunch of academic mumpitz, I passed it by.
I had since read his Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides and found that quite good.
I was in The Raven

Comments

[liddle_oldman]

My first thought was, aren't they all class wars at the bottom?

[old_blevins]

His point was that compared to WWII and even Korea the Vietnam war was mostly fought by guys from the lower socio-economic strata.
He also delved into the frosty reception many returning vets got from the WWII and Korea vets who just couldn't understand them. If you paid attention, as many here did, to the PR campaign the gov't was putting out you'd think they all lived in air-conditioned barracks eating ice-cream between Bob Hope shows.
Quick story. Guy I know comes back from a year with the 173 light infantry. He feels out of place among civvies and goes to the VFW hall to have a beer in cordial surroundings.
WWII vet. "You guys had it soft. One year and your out! Not like in WWII."
Vietnam Vet. "What were you in the war?"
WWII vet. "Infantry. All the way from D-Day to the end of the war! Not like you guys."
Vietnam Vet. "Yup. June 44 to May 45. A lot different from us guys." Flings a buck on the bar and leaves.

[floundah]

As well as wars for resources..