Everything We Had: An Oral History of the Vietnam War

by Al Santoli

Book Overview

Spontaneous tape-recorded interviews with combat veterans reveal the horror a poignancy of their war in Vietnam and bring home that war's violence, intima and unresolved trauma. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394512693
• ISBN13: 9780394512693
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 265 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.

Customer Reviews

njchurchill

A great book. If you want to know what was going on on the ground in Viet Nam, read it.

One of the best books I've ever read...

A compilation of oral recounts, "Everything We Had" gets to the meat and potatoes of the stories without delay. It kept me captivated, I could not wait to read the next story in the book. The authors were interviewed when these events were still fresh in their minds, the way they recount the stories proves this. A must read for anyone seeking an unbiased, realistic look at the viet-nam conflict, from the people that were right there.

powerful accounts rings true

EVERYTHING WE HAD is a powerful account by soldiers of the Vietnam war, compiled by a combat veteran, whose experiences and insight ring true for soldiers who have seen hostile fire in any conflict. Members of the Lao Veterans of America who fought in that war have found this book to represent their gut-level experiences and reflections. The benefit of this book for those who have not seen combat, is the fact that Santoli does not attempt to be academic, but instead presents candid personal accounts of fellow soldiers with dignity and honor. Philip Smith, Lao Veterans of America

Vietnam as American soldiers saw it

EVERYTHING WE HAD is a heart wrenching account of the experience and remembrances of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. It is the best book of its type that I have read that helped me to better understand what these brave Americans went through. I was a child in Vietnam during the war and never really understood the U.S. soldiers, as many of the soldiers explained how hard it was to understand Vietnamese culture. Their stories describe the terror, the confusion and the courage they experienced in servinf their country and their effort to save the Vietnamese people from the 25 years of suffering that has been imposed forcefully by the Communists after the war ended. I heighly recommend this book to anyone -- man or woman -- who wants to better understand American Vietnam veterans.

everyone should have this book

everyone should have this book, because it is not one of those books that are light and happy, and turn out allright in the end, but because it shows the truth of war. i am blessed to not have grown up in a time of war, and i think that it is very important that this book is kept alive by the younger generation, as well as the older one, because without it the realism of war would eventually fade, and our vets deserve much better then that! so please, but this book