Vietnam War Related Websites

The American Experience: Vietnam on Line: This beautifully designed website provides the most comprehensive account of the Vietnam War on the Internet. The website was produced by the US Public Broadcasting Service to accompany their award-winning television series: Vietnam: A Television History. The website includes an interactive time-line of the war, basic statistics, maps, a glossary of terms and acronyms, texts of key U.S. government war documents, weapons used during the war and forty-two biographical portraits of key personalities in the war, including six from North Vietnam and a bibliography for further study. The website also contains Reflections on War, a collection of twelve first-hand accounts of the conflict and transcripts of all the television programmes.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The Virtual Wall is an on-line version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, USA and has thousands of personalized tributes to the men and women who died in the war. Remembrances contain photographs, letters, poems, military citations, and personal accounts.

Vietnam Veterans: The purpose of Bill McBride's website is to "honour Vietnam veterans, living and dead, who served their country on either side of the conflict". Bill McBride's excellent website provides "an interactive, on-line forum for Vietnam veterans and their families and friends to exchange information, stories, poems, songs, art, pictures, and experiences in any publishable form." There is also a link to Bill McBride's other important Vietnam website Remembrance: Reflections, Memories and Images of Vietnam Past. The website is a collection of galleries containing stories, poems, songs, maps and narratives about the Vietnam War. The website also contains listings of all US, Australian and New Zealand casualties of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam Stories: The website is designed as a gathering place for personal stories and a forum for opinions on the war. The 'Add Your Story' page enables visitors to add their stories, images, etc. to the vast databank of information on the war. 'The Stories' page contains excerpts of selected stories and is changed regularly. An excellent search engine enables the visitor to investigate all the narratives that have been submitted to Vietnam Stories. For example, a search for the term 'friendly fire' found and listed fifty-two stories.

History of the Vietnam War: Dr. Robert M. Blackburn website provides an excellent on-line discussion forum on the history of the Vietnam War. Robert Blackburn served two combat tours in Vietnam between 1966 and 1968 as a radio operator with the U.S. Marine Corps. He also holds a Ph.D. in American Political History that included a special study of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Dr. Blackburn is willing to share his comprehensive knowledge of the conflict with all his visitors. He promises to try and answer any question on the Vietnam War that is asked. Dr. Blackburn explains that: "if I can't answer a question from either my personal experiences or from my area of expertise, I shall call on a panel of Vietnam War consultants that have knowledge in that particular area." The only request that Dr. Blackburn makes is that the visitor first checks out the FAQ page to search existing messages to make sure that he has not answered the question before.

Australian Involvement in the Vietnam War: Ern Marshall has produced an impressive website on Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. Marshall, who served in Vietnam between 1968 and 1969, has created an invaluable resource for any student who wants to study Australia's role in this conflict. The material is divided into nineteen sections including: 'History', 'Australian Involvement', 'Long Tan', 'The RAAF in Vietnam', 'The Navy in Vietnam', 'Weapons', 'Memories', 'Memorials', 'Medical', 'Government', 'Stories, Anecdotes & Humour' and 'Miscelaneous'. A comprehensive website that should be visited by all serious students of the war.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) is a national veterans' organisation that was founded in New York City in 1967 after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. It was organised to voice the growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the war, and grew rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States as well as active duty GIs stationed in Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War website enables visitor to read articles from past editions of The Veteran newspaper. The site also includes an excellent History of the Vietnam War and a large collection of photographs.

Wars for Vietnam: A website developed around the course materials used by Robert Brigham on his course on the Vietnam War at Vassar College. The main part of the site is a nine page 'Overview'. This includes sections on 'The Geneva Peace Accord', 'South Vietnam Under Ngo Dinh Diem', 'The National Liberation Front', 'December 1961', 'Military Coup', 'Gulf of Tonkin Resolution', 'The War in America', 'The Nixon Years' and 'The Paris Peace Agreement'. The website also has a document section. The twenty documents range from NLF secret papers to Richard Nixon's speech to the USA public on 30th April, 1970 justifying the offensive in Cambodia.

Vietnam: Yesterday and Today: Sandra Wittman has attempted to collect together a range of materials that provides insights into the Vietnam War. This is lusted under the categories: 'Vietnam War: Fiction', 'Vietnam War: Non-Fiction', 'Vietnam War: Fiction', 'Vietnam War: Films', 'Vietnam War: The Women's Experience' and 'The Vietnam War: The Vietnamese Perspective'. Sandra Wittman also provides a useful chronology of the Vietnam War and links to E-Journals and Discussion Lists on the Vietnam War.

American Presidency: The Grolier Corporation's The American Presidency contains detailed biographies of a large collection of presidents and vice-presidents. These biographies are cross-linked with a range of important political parties and pressure groups in the USA. Three of these biographies provide useful information for people studying the Vietnam War. The biography of John F. Kennedy covers the period in 1963 when the United States sent 16,000 military personnel to Vietnam. The section on Lyndon B. Johnson looks at the United States growing involvement in Vietnam between 1963 and 1968. The biography of Richard Nixon includes information on the bombing raids on North Vietnam, the invasion of Cambodia and the cease-fire in 1973 the bombing raids on North Vietnam, the invasion of Cambodia and the cease-fire in 1973.

Vietnam: The Interknowledge Corporation website contains a wide variety of information on Vietnam. This includes sections on: 'The History of Vietnam', 'Location, Geography and Climate', 'Vietnamese Culture' and 'Vietnamese People'.

Women Veterans: Barbara Wilson, a former captain in the USAF has produced 'Women Veterans', a website that explains the role of US women in warfare. This includes Women in Vietnam a website dedicated to explaining the role of the 10,000 women who took part in this conflict. Captain Wilson explains that for many years "accurate records on how many women were there, what decorations they earned, where they served and most important - what after effects they have suffered - and continue to suffer" were unavailable. 'Women in Vietnam' attempts to answer these questions about the 10,000 women who took part in the war.

Women in Vietnam: "The military, which prided itself on the records it kept in Vietnam - counting the enemy number of weapons captured, for example - cannot to this day say with certainty how many women served. The army that sent them never bothered to count them." This quote from Laura Palmer's book, Shrapnel in the Heart, appears on the home page of Marilyn Knapp's website, Women in Vietnam. Her website attempts to redress the balance by providing a comprehensive account of the 7,500 women who served in the military in Vietnam. Material is collected under a variety of headings including: Many Women Served, Red Cross, Military Nurses, In Memoriam, Get Back in Touch, Bibliographies, Videos, Books, etc.

Viet Quoc is the website of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The party has been involved in the struggle "for independence, freedom and prosperity of Vietnam since 1927". The website includes a whole range of articles on the Vietnam War including: 'The 1968 Tet offensive', 'The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces', 'The Forgotten Victims in Vietnam', 'Vietnamese Independence and Ho Chi Minh', 'Unmasking Ho Chi Minh', 'Twenty-Two Years Under Communism' and 'South Vietnamese Disabled Veterans'.

Vietnam Generation is a website devoted to providing a forum for people interested in "the Sixties in general and the Vietnam War in particular". The most interesting part of the site is the 'Sixties Project Web'. Visitors are encouraged to contribute a narrative of the experiences of the 1960s. These accounts can be read online or downloaded and include people's experiences of the US armed forces and the 'Anti-Vietnam War' protest movement.

Country Joe McDonald: This website tells the story of Country Joe McDonald, a leading figure in the Anti-Vietnam War movement. In 1965 McDonald wrote what became the movement's anthem I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag. The song became famous when it was featured in the film of the Woodstock Festival. A copy of Country Joe McDonald's FBI File is also on the Internet.

A-1 Skyraider Combat Journal: Byron Hukee flew and fought in the A-1 Skyraider during the Vietnam War. He has constructed a website that looks at the role that the A-1 Skyraider played in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. As well as his combat journal there are other sections including: 'History of the Skyraider', 'Bulletin Board', 'Skyraider Facts', 'A-1 Mission in South-East Asia', 'Combat Damage Images', 'South-East Asia Theatre Map' and 'Links'.

Fall of Saigon Stories: A website created by Marianne Brems, a teacher of Vietnamese students at Mission College, Santa Clara, California. In the spring of 1995 Brems began collecting first-hand accounts of people who experienced the fall of Saigon to the Vietcong in April, 1975. As Marianne Brems points out in her introduction: "Many of my Vietnamese students at Mission College experienced first hand the deprivation, humiliation, and fear associated with losing their government, their way of life, and their freedom." The website includes eighteen narratives and a list of other websites that deal with the fall of Saigon.

Nam Magazine provides the reader with actual first hand accounts from men and women who served in the Vietnam War. It can be viewed as a primary source for those studying the conflict or looking for perspectives regarding this time in history. Many of the writers that contribute served in the US Armed Forces. The stories are true and the publishers do their best to confirm the accuracy of each piece. Some veterans have contributed poetry or pieces from a published work. The magazine has also provided readers with articles written by Vietnamese individuals. Nam Magazine is currently published in a paperback format for a fee, but can also be viewed online in part. Older issues are maintained in an archive section and can be viewed in their entirety.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War is a national veterans' organization that was founded in New York City in 1967 after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. It was organized to voice the growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the still-raging war in Indochina, and grew rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States as well as active duty soldiers stationed in Vietnam. The organization's website includes a history of the Vietnam War, the Veteran newspaper and an image gallery.

Vietnam War Interactive Portfolio: This website contains over 80 photographs taken in Vietnam between 1969 and 1970, while E. Kenneth Hoffman was stationed there as a military photographer. Categories include Children, Montagnard Tribesmen, Military, Vietnamese people, Protest & et cetera, and Shrines. Using HyperNews software, visitors have the opportunity to contribute their own comments about the images or the war. Or, they can react to the comments left by others. Over 5000 comments have been recorded since the site was created in April of 1996.

Recalling the Vietnam War: The Vietnam War drove two presidents from office and destroyed the U.S. foreign policy consensus. This research gallery highlights the complex environment in which decisions were made that shattered a generation's perspective on America's role in the world. In their reminiscences, leading players in the drama and analysts of the events conjure up a fascinating portrait of the causes and consequences of US decisions. What emerges is a rich tapestry where the pressures of global and domestic politics, the implications of a flawed strategy, and the influence of human weakness and moral blindness come together to produce a tragic turning point in the history of US foreign policy.

Vietnam Gear: This website provides details and photographs of over 500 items of equipment and clothing that were used during the Vietnam conflict and are split into the following categories: Headgear, Uniforms, Footwear, Clothing Accessories, Body Armour, Individual Equipment, Special Purpose Equipment, Existence Gear, Survival kit, Insignia, Radios, Weapons, Personal Items, Manuals and Miscellaneous Items. In addition, this regularly updated site features war stories, book reviews, equipment reviews, a photo gallery, a glossary of terms and abbreviations as well as a timeline of the war from 1959 to 1975. Visitors can also vote for their favourite Vietnam War films and books, sign the guest book and find links to many other Vietnam War themed websites.