Somebody’s Lying

1. “The United States Army has never condoned wanton killing or disregard for human life.” –Major General Franklin Davis, Jr., 1971 2. “Murder, torture, rape, abuse, forced displacement, home burnings, specious arrests, imprisonment without due…

Our Wars

On David Harris, Our War (Random House, 1996) Today there exist tremendous and unprecedented possibilities for knowing the reality of our world just as it is, with all that it has in it of anti-kingdom…

An Unpayable Debt

Upon beginning Martha Hess’s book, Then the Americans Came: Voices from Vietnam, I was immediately reminded of my late wife Mev Puleo who embarked on a similar project at about the same time as Hess….

Deep Listening

“I’m sorry. We Americans have never taken responsibility for what we did.” –Lady Borton Lady Borton worked for the American Friends Service Committee in South Vietnam from 1969-1971. A decade later, she assisted Vietnamese boat…

A Poem by Lâm Thị Mỹ Dạ

Như lúa hỏi đất Anh có tốt không ? Như cây hỏi gió Anh có tốt không ? Như mấy hỏi trời Anh có tốt không ? Trời anh mênh mông Mây em bay lượn

The Cry of Vietnam

Published in 1968, The Cry of Vietnam is a short collection of heart-breaking poems and stirring drawings by Thich Nhat Hanh and Vo-Dinh. The book’s epigraph is taken from the classic Vietnamese work, The Tale…