Title
The Spitting Image : Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam / Jerry Lembcke.
ISBN
9780814745137
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2000]
Copyright
©2000
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9780814745137.001.0001 doi
Dewey Decimal Classification
959.704/3373
Summary
One of the most resilient images of the Vietnam era is that of the anti-war protester - often a woman - spitting on the uniformed veteran just off the plane. The lingering potency of this icon was evident during the Gulf War, when war supporters invoked it to discredit their opposition. In this startling book, Jerry Lembcke demonstrates that not a single incident of this sort has been convincingly documented. Rather, the anti-war Left saw in veterans a natural ally, and the relationship between anti-war forces and most veterans was defined by mutual support. Indeed one soldier wrote angrily to Vice President Spiro Agnew that the only Americans who seemed concerned about the soldier's welfare were the anti-war activists. While the veterans were sometimes made to feel uncomfortable about their service, this sense of unease was, Lembcke argues, more often rooted in the political practices of the Right. Tracing a range of conflicts in the twentieth century, the book illustrates how regimes engaged in unpopular conflicts often vilify their domestic opponents for "stabbing the boys in the back." Concluding with an account of the powerful role played by Hollywood in cementing the myth of the betrayed veteran through such films as Coming Home, Taxi Driver, and Rambo, Jerry Lembcke's book stands as one of the most important, original, and controversial works of cultural history in recent years.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
Available in Other Form
print 9780814751466
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ONE. Introduction
TWO. Yellow Ribbons and Spat-Upon Veterans
THREE. Dear Spiro Agnew
FOUR. The Nixon-Agnew Counteroffensive
FIVE. Spat-Upon Veterans
SIX. From Odysseus to Rambo
SEVEN. From Badness to Madness
EIGHT. Women, Wetness, and Warrior Dreams
NINE. Myth, Spit, and the Flicks
TEN. We Are What We Remember
NOTES
REFERENCES
FILMOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
