Return to Vietnam An Oral History of American and Australian Veterans' Journeys Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare Series

Between 1981 and 2016, thousands of American and Australian Vietnam War veterans returned to Vi?t Nam. This comparative, transnational oral history offers the first historical study of these return journeys. It shows how veterans returned in search of resolution, or peace, manifesting in shifting nostalgic visions of 'Vietnam.' Different national war narratives shaped their returns: Australians followed the 'Anzac' pilgrimage tradition, whereas for Americans the return was an anti-war act. Veterans met former enemies, visited battlefields, mourned friends, found new relationships, and addressed enduring legacies of war. Many found their memories of war eased by witnessing Vi?t Nam at peace. Yet this peacetime reality also challenged veterans' wartime connection to Vietnamese spaces. The place they were nostalgic for was Vietnam, a space in war memory, not Vi?t Nam, the country. Veterans drew from wartime narratives to negotiate this displacement, performing nostalgic practices to reclaim their sense of belonging.

Acknowledgements; A Note on Spelling; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Return: 1. Reconciliation, 1981–1994; 2. Normalization, 1995–2005; 3. Commemoration, 2006–2016; Part II. Việt Nam: 4. Relics and Remnants; 5. Meeting the Enemy; 6. Remembering the American War in Việt Nam; Part III. Legacies: 7. Revisiting Vietnam; 8. Veteran Legacies in Việt Nam; Conclusion; Appendix One: Veteran Subjects; Appendix Two: Interview Questions; Bibliography; Index.

Dr Mia Martin Hobbs is an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne. She has held fellowships and awards from the University of Melbourne, Australian Historical Association, Freilich Project, and Contemporary Histories Research Group Award, and has published prize-winning research on veterans and war memory.