So I'm a writer who likes using history when possible. In this case I want to make one of the characters a former ARVN paratrooper and I want to fully understand his identity. What he believes and what he went through/endured to create a believable person with authentic expiernces. So what do we know of ARVN soldiers perspectives during the Vietnam war and what did they believe and what happened to them after the fall of Saigon.
We definitely know more now than ever before and the scholarship keeps increasing.
A good place to start with in terms of reading is Robert K. Brigham's ARVN: Life and Death in the South Vietnamese Army is a great place to start as a beginner since it hits all those major strides that you are looking for. Andrew Wiest's Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN is likewise an amazing resource and follows in the same tradition as Brigham. Nathalie Huynh Chau Nguyen's South Vietnamese Soldiers: Memories of the Vietnam War and After adds new dimensions to this scholarship, bringing in new perspectives that were brought to light during the 2010s, something that was also present in her edited volume, New Perceptions of the Vietnam War: Essays on the War, the South Vietnamese Experience, the Diaspora and the Continuing Impact.
All of these should give you a very solid base to go by.
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
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