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vinniegetslit's review against another edition
5.0
The hardest book I’ve ever read. Not because of readability but because of content and the deep personal connection to me and my family.
The Mỹ Lai massacre was not a terrible one-off isolated event. It was the norm. “Kill anything that moves” was the order. Countless killings and atrocities of innocent Vietnamese people just trying to survive in their homes and villages.
Well researched with official documentary evidence, veterans’ testimonies, contemporaneous press coverage, Vietnamese eye witness accounts, classified official studies, and the U.S. military’s own formal investigations.
Truly heartbreaking but an absolutely necessary read.
The Mỹ Lai massacre was not a terrible one-off isolated event. It was the norm. “Kill anything that moves” was the order. Countless killings and atrocities of innocent Vietnamese people just trying to survive in their homes and villages.
Well researched with official documentary evidence, veterans’ testimonies, contemporaneous press coverage, Vietnamese eye witness accounts, classified official studies, and the U.S. military’s own formal investigations.
Truly heartbreaking but an absolutely necessary read.
kncx's review against another edition
4.0
The author is clearly very passionate, and this book was evidently well researched. I don’t feel like I learned much from it though, but that could be due to pre existing knowledge filling the gaps in. It just felt like a lot of repetition, which I understand is to get the point across, but it could have done with more progress.
mariamears's review against another edition
5.0
Hard to recommend because of the descriptions of extreme violence - it’s truly bleak, but necessary for anyone trying to understand the scale of destruction of the war. Really tough to read, but glad I did.
crybabybea's review against another edition
4.75
This book made me physically ill. Sickening, but necessary.
Nick Turse doesn't hold back when detailing the horrendous war crimes committed by US soldiers during the Vietnam war. Although most people with a cursory understanding of the war will know of the My Lai massacre, Turse makes the argument that the atrocities of My Lai were only one example out of many.
Turse highlights the systemic abuse of power shown by the US army, especially of those commanding officers which passed their horrific policies down to their (extremely young) subordinates. He fully blows away the common belief that the military is full of a few "bad apples", and that reckless violence committed during war can be excused as "kill or be killed", instead making an extremely persuasive argument that the US military itself, built on imperialism, colonialism, dehumanization, and racism is rotten to the core.
You can bet your ass that the systemic violence, racism, misogyny, classism, etc. plays a part in every US conflict to date. It's very clear that the issues laid out in this book are the modus operandi of the US military, not just a "mistake" or an "accident". It's easy to see parallels to the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the genocide in Palestine involving IDF soldiers trained directly by the US, and even as far back as the Long Walk.
Of course, the book lacks context about the war at large; why was the US involved, which events led up to massacres like My Lai, how was public reaction to certain policies, what was the president doing? But, that's not the goal of this book. Instead, Turse forces the reader to ask themselves, no matter the context, no matter the reasoning, can the careless disregard for life ever be justified?
What we're left with is yet another entry in the long, long list of atrocities committed by the United States that continue to be whitewashed and swept under the rug, that the United States refuses to address or remedy.
Nick Turse doesn't hold back when detailing the horrendous war crimes committed by US soldiers during the Vietnam war. Although most people with a cursory understanding of the war will know of the My Lai massacre, Turse makes the argument that the atrocities of My Lai were only one example out of many.
Turse highlights the systemic abuse of power shown by the US army, especially of those commanding officers which passed their horrific policies down to their (extremely young) subordinates. He fully blows away the common belief that the military is full of a few "bad apples", and that reckless violence committed during war can be excused as "kill or be killed", instead making an extremely persuasive argument that the US military itself, built on imperialism, colonialism, dehumanization, and racism is rotten to the core.
You can bet your ass that the systemic violence, racism, misogyny, classism, etc. plays a part in every US conflict to date. It's very clear that the issues laid out in this book are the modus operandi of the US military, not just a "mistake" or an "accident". It's easy to see parallels to the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the genocide in Palestine involving IDF soldiers trained directly by the US, and even as far back as the Long Walk.
Of course, the book lacks context about the war at large; why was the US involved, which events led up to massacres like My Lai, how was public reaction to certain policies, what was the president doing? But, that's not the goal of this book. Instead, Turse forces the reader to ask themselves, no matter the context, no matter the reasoning, can the careless disregard for life ever be justified?
What we're left with is yet another entry in the long, long list of atrocities committed by the United States that continue to be whitewashed and swept under the rug, that the United States refuses to address or remedy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Suicide
Everything listed here is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC. Like beyond graphic. Please be careful.