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Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War Kindle Edition

by Meredith H. Lair (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 30 ratings
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Popular representations of the Vietnam War tend to emphasize violence, deprivation, and trauma. By contrast, in Armed with Abundance, Meredith Lair focuses on the noncombat experiences of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, redrawing the landscape of the war so that swimming pools, ice cream, visits from celebrities, and other "comforts" share the frame with combat.

To address a tenuous morale situation, military authorities, Lair reveals, wielded abundance to insulate soldiers--and, by extension, the American public--from boredom and deprivation, making the project of war perhaps easier and certainly more palatable. The result was dozens of overbuilt bases in South Vietnam that grew more elaborate as the war dragged on. Relying on memoirs, military documents, and G.I. newspapers, Lair finds that consumption and satiety, rather than privation and sacrifice, defined most soldiers' Vietnam deployments. Abundance quarantined the U.S. occupation force from the impoverished people it ostensibly had come to liberate, undermining efforts to win Vietnamese "hearts and minds" and burdening veterans with disappointment that their wartime service did not measure up to public expectations. With an epilogue that finds a similar paradigm at work in Iraq, Armed with Abundance offers a unique and provocative perspective on modern American warfare.
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  1. Print length
    313 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    The University of North Carolina Press
  5. Publication date
    November 28, 2011
  6. File size
    3068 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Fluid and engrossing.--A Nota Bene selection of The Chronicle of Higher Education



In this refreshing, original book, Meredith Lair attempts to disrupt and transform traditional narratives of the [Vietnam] war by focusing on the overwhelming majority of American personnel in Vietnam who served in noncombat positions. . . . [Her] bold and courageous book encourages us to ask difficult questions about what this means for traditional and often-outdated ideas about the military, soldiers, and citizens during wartime.--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society



A valuable work for any student of this war. Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.--Choice



Break[s] new ground in scholarship on American experiences of the war in Vietnam. . . . Boldly and skillfully venture[s] into new historical terrain, and complicates the war story in the process.--Diplomatic History



Leading a much-needed re-evaluation of Americans' Vietnam War experiences and all the layers of complexity that are buried under public memory and myth.--Journal of Social History



Belongs on any reading list on the American experience in Southeast Asia.--Journal of American History



Lair has laid the foundation stone for a new historiographical approach, a research field that focuses on the other aspect of warfare, the leisure culture during wartime and between battles. This research can serve as a model for the examination of similar phenomena in other wars.--H-War

Review

We are entering a new era of Vietnam War scholarship, and Lair's book will be one that leads the way. Lair upsets the traditional combat narrative and reframes it on non-combat experience to devastating effect. With crisp prose and her hands on seemingly every relevant source, she tells the neglected (but fully American) story of a militaristic society's war machine in full bloom.-- Michael S. Foley, author of Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War



Meredith Lair's fascinating analysis of rear-echelon life among American G.I.s dramatically challenges our most common conceptions of U.S. military experiences in Vietnam. From steaks to steambaths, swimming pools to giant PXs, the amenities provided on large bases not only belie conventional images of that war, but also stand as dramatic testimony to the desperate and unsuccessful effort of American officials to bolster flagging troop morale as the war lurched toward its final failure.--Christian G. Appy, author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006FOHRII
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The University of North Carolina Press; Illustrated edition (November 28, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 28, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3068 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 313 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1469619032
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

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Meredith H. Lair

Meredith H. Lair

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
30 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Paul Gorski
5.0 out of 5 stars Author is a fantastic, engaging writer
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2014
Verified Purchase
I come from a military family and occasionally look for something interesting to read about the intricacies of war. This is among the most unique books I've read focusing on the daily materials lives of Vietnam soldiers. It made me look at war and service in a more nuanced way. Author is a fantastic, engaging writer.
6 people found this helpful
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Silly Granddaddy
4.0 out of 5 stars War machine, or community organizers?
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2012
Verified Purchase
A well-written, extensively documented commentary, which begs two large questions: One,why have our military leadership -- from field grade, through flag rank, to the Commander-in-Chief, failed our service men and women-- and our nation-- so badly? The American fighting men have not lost a single battle since WWII-- yet, we have never won a war in that same period. American military leaders need to read Sun Tzu's Art of War, rather than "Rolling Stone" magazine. The military is supposed to be a "lean, mean, fighting machine," not a social club, bent on making us "...happy in our work." Two. Isn't this more a commentary on the new American culture? You know, where protestors, living off welfare, and communicating over "free" phones can castigate the people who are willing to work for a living. The protestors, of course, know the liberal press will support them. This book is difficult to read, because the truth hurts!! Each page contains extensive facts and data. Reading through it reminded me of slogging knee-deep through the "sucking" mud of Vietnam under a driving rain. I did not like the mud or the rain, but, they existed, no matter how much I tried to rationalize them away! One clarification: The author correctly states the military had three official working categories: combat, combat support, and combat service support. However, she implies that there were two categories in the minds of us soldiers: "Grunts" and "REMFs". For us "grunts" there were three categories: "Grunts", the support folks, and the REMFs. Grunts recognized and appreciated the support troops. They worked their butts off to support us-- thanks,again. Then, there were the REMFs. And, you know who you are. REMFs were the ones who actively sought those cushy positions, and were more interested in "the soft life" than in supporting the grunts. Incidentally, the REMF mentality (today, I understand they are called "FoBbitts") existed at least as far down as combat battalions. Unfortunately, few battalion commanders had the courage and/or wisdom to send them out to the line units. For another view of REMFs-- see the book The Best Government Money Can Buy. On Amazon
4 people found this helpful
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Mel Heis
5.0 out of 5 stars well researched
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2012
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having been a grunt in Vietnam, did not receive the benefits of those in the rear...we always did without so they could be safe and spoiled
2 people found this helpful
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Stacy
4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling inquiry into the modern dynamics of war-making
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2015
Verified Purchase
A well-researched glimpse at an under-reported aspect of the Vietnam War: the fact that 2/3 of the people who served, served in the rear in non-combat roles. The central question of the book is this: "What if we focus on the majority experience of war in the contemporary US military, as opposed to the minority of combat vets? How would that affect the way we think about war and militarism?" It's a worthwhile question.
Lair has dug deeply into the national archives to document the importance of consumerism to the maintenance of morale "in country." Given that most soldiers were drafted individually, not as part of a unit, and served for only one year, it was difficult to articulate the mission in a meaningful way. Instead of giving soldiers a compelling reason to fight, commanders sought to appease them by providing for their every consumer desire. More and better food, lavish vacations, cut-rate consumer electronics, cars, and loans, "clean sheets and cold beer," all of this encouraged the Boys in Green to think of Vietnam as a holiday from reality, a permissive space where nearly anything was possible or could be had for the right price. Yet, while such extravagance enabled many working class youth to acquire the trappings of middle class life, it still didn't boost morale...why not? A compelling inquiry into the modern dynamics of war-making. Explains a lot about what happened in Iraq 30 years later!
8 people found this helpful
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Snoopy 6
2.0 out of 5 stars REMF ... a picture of me
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2018
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Verbose ... like beating a dead horse. Brevity does not live here
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Gibbo59
4.0 out of 5 stars A few myths dispelled here
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
Good insight into life in Vietnam. I had no idea that so many non front line troops were there, and the lengths the military went to try (unsuccessfully it seems) to alleviate the boredom.
Interesting that all personnel count as vets even though the majority never saw combat.
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