Back Many thanks for Dr. Fish and John Tegtmeier for compiling this list.
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VIETNAM VETERANS ORAL HISTORY AND FOLKLORE PROJECT
Lydia Fish, Director
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo NY 14222
Office: 716 878 6230
FAX: 716 878 4009 (needs cover sheet)
E-mail: fishlm@snybufaa.cs.snybuf.edu
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FOLKLORE (EXCLUDING FOLKSONGS) Of AMERICANS IN THE VIETNAM WAR
Baky, John. "White Cong and Black Clap: The Ambient Truth of Vietnam War
Legendry," in Duffy, Dan and Kali Tal, eds. Nobody Gets off the Bus: The
Viet Nam Generation Big Book. Woodbridge, CT: Viet Nam Generation,
1994.
Beidler, Philip. "Situation Report: The Experience of Vietnam," in American
Literature and the Experience of Vietnam. Athens, GA: The University of
Georgia of Press, 1982.
Broudy, Saul P. "Vietnamese Pidgin English," unpublished ms., 1970.
Chittenden, Varick. "'These Aren't Just My Scenes': Shared Memories in a
Vietnam Veteran's Art," Journal of American Folklore 102, no. 406
(October-December, 1989):412-423.
[Dioramas by Marine combat veteran, Michael D. Cousino, Sr.]
Clark, Gregory. Words of the Vietnam War. The Slang, Jargon, Abbreviations,
Acronyms, Nomenclature, Nicknames, Pseudonyms, Slogans, Specs,
Euphemisms, Double-talk, Chants, and Names and Places of the Era of
United States Involvement in Vietnam. Jeferson NC: McFarland and Co.,
1990.
Cornell, George. "G.I. Slang in Vietnam," Journal of American Culture, 4
(1981):195-200.
[G.I. slang in Vietnam developed as a specialized terminology and
an expression of futility. With glossary.]
Dewhurst, C, Kurt. "Pleiku Jackets, Tour Jackets, and Working Jackets: 'The
Letter Sweaters of War,'" (note) Journal of American Folklore 101, no.
399 (January-March, 1988):48-52.
Feola, Chris. "The American Who Fought on the Other Side," New York
Folklore, 15, nos. 1-2 (1989):119-120.
Discussion of a legend which circulated among soldiers during the
Philippine-American War and the Vietnam War.
Ferris, William R., Jr. "The Enlisted Man: Army Folklore," New York
Folklore, 2, nos. 3 and 4 (Winter, 1976):229-234.
[Collected at Ft. Bliss in 1970, copying machine folklore,
including "the chain of command" and a short-timer's calendar.]
Foster, Ted. The Vietnam Funny Book. Novato CA: Presidio Press, 1980.
Gibson, James William. "American Paramilitary Culture and the Reconstitution
of the Vietnam War" in Walsh, Jeffrey (ed.) and Aulich, James (ed.),
Vietnam Images: War and Representation. New York: St. Martin's, 1989.
Holm, Tom. "Culture, Ceremonialism and Stress: American Indian Veterans and
the Vietnam War." Armed Forces and Society 12 (Winter, 1986): 237-251.
Jackson, Bruce. "The Perfect Informant," Journal of American Folklore, 103,
no. 410 (October--December, 1990):400-416.
Martin, Charles E. "'A Good One Is a Dead One': The Combat Soldier's View of
Vietnam and the Indian Wars." Kentucky Folklore Record, 26, nos. 3 and
4 (July-December, 1980: 114-132.
Melvin, Ken. Sorry 'Bout That! Tokyo: The Wayward Press, 1966.
Myers, James E., ed. A Treasury of Military Humor. Springfield IL:
Lincoln-Herndon Press, 1990.
[Chapter on humor of the Vietnam War]
Nusbaum, Philip. "Traditionalizing Experience: The Case of Vietnam
Veterans," New York Folklore, 17, nos. 1 and 2 (1991): 45-62.
Pearson, Barry. "The Soldier's Point of View: The Experience of World War II
and Vietnam as Portrayed in Folklore and Oral History," unpublished ms.,
n.d.
[Material drawn from author's collection and the Maryland Folklore
Archive, University of Maryland, College Park, Md]
Pratt, John Clark. Vietnam Voices. New York: Viking, 1984.
[Office copier folklore, Saigon graffiti, text of "What the Captain
Means..."]
Smyth, Cecil. "Unofficial Military Insignia of the Vietnam War: United
States Army Special Forces," Antiques and Collecting Hobbies, 92
(February, 1988):28-30.
Sossaman, Stephen. "More on Pleiku Jackets in Vietnam," Journal of American
Folklore, 102, no. 403 (January-March):76.
Spark, Alasdair. "The Soldier at the Heart of the War: The Myth of the Green
Beret in the Popular Culture of the Vietnam Era." Journal of American
Studies, 18 (April, 1984):29-84.
-------- "Flight Controls: The Social History of the Helicopter as a Symbol
of Vietnam," in Walsh, Jeffrey (ed.) and Aulich, James (ed.), Vietnam
Images: War and Representation. New York: St. Martin's, 1989.
Tuso, Joseph F. "A Folk Drama: 'What the Captain Means Is...,' or That
Interview You Never Saw on TV," Folklore Forum, 5, no. 1 (January,
1972):25-27.
[Text of a humorous sketch which circulated widely among pilots in
Southeast Asia.]
Zidek, Tony. Choi-oi: The Lighter Side of Vietnam. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle
Co., 1965.
FOLKSONGS OF AMERICANS IN THE VIETNAM WAR
Bartman, William J. "Soldiers' Ballads Tell Saga of Vietnam War." Stars and
Stripes (European edition), July 24, 1989.
Bloom, Lary. "Boonie Tunes." Hartford Courier, August 4, 1991.
Broudy, Saul P. "A Chopper Pilot's Day": The Singing Tradition of the Army
Aviator in Vietnam," unpublished ms., 1987.
-------- "G.I. Folklore in Vietnam." M.A. thesis, University of
Pennsylvania, 1969.
[Briefly discusses military folklore in Vietnam with a list of
slang terms. Also reproduces 23 texts from the songbook of the 48th
Assault Helicopter Company and 22 songs transcribed from a tape
recording of a singing contest held at an aviation unit commanders'
conference in Nha Trang, April, 1967.]
-------- "Politics in Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Songs," unpublished ms., 1972.
Burke, Carol "Marching to Vietnam," Journal of American Folklore 102, no.
406 (October-December, 1989):424-441.
[Cadence in the Vietnam-era military]
Burruss, L. H (Bucky) Lt. Col. USA Special Forces (Ret.). Mike Force. New
York: Pocket Books, 1989: 61, 110, 146, 156.
Texts of "Green Beret and Friendly FAC," "Mary Anne Barnes," "They
Promised Us Wings of Silver," and "Rat-A-Tat-Tat."
Clark, Charlie. "Looking Back on Vietnam and Its Music," Veteran, 6, no. 2
(February, 1986):10-13, 22-23.
Cleveland, Les. Dark Laughter: War in Song and Popular Culture. Westport
CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994.
[Chapter on Vietnam War songs]
-------- "Songs of the Vietnam War: An Occupational Folk Tradition,"
unpublished ms., 1986.
[Deals mostly with song traditions in New Zealand units in Vietnam]
Columbino, Ralph. "Taisau (Why)," Sing Out, 17, no. 1 (February-March,
1967):9.
[Text of song "written in Viet Nam by Lance Corporal Ralph
Columbino, USMC" in 1966; also in Lansdale]
Cote, Jean C. "Blues in Vietnam," Music Journal, 26 (February, 1968):48.
[Band of the Commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet]
Crofut, William. Troubadour: A Different Battlefield. New York: E. P.
Duttom, 1968.
[Personal account of two folksingers, Steve Addis and Bill Crofut,
who toured 29 countries in eight years for USIS. Three chapters on
Vietnam.]
Currey, Cecil. Edward Lansdale: The Unquiet American. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1989.
Dane, Barbara and Silber, Irwin. The Vietnam Songbook. New York: Guardian,
1969.
[144 songs from the anti-war movement. Two, by "anonymous American
G.I.'s" are variants of songs in the Lansdale collection. A few were
written by veterans.]
DeGracci, Jim SP4. "Band Socks It To 'em Everywhere." The Green Beret
(October, 1970), Fifth Special Forces Group (Abn.), Nha Trang.
Denisoff, R Serge. "Fighting Prophecy With Napalm: The Ballad of the Green
Berets," Journal of American Culture 13 (Spring, 1990):81-93.
[Excellent article on the early career of Barry Sadler.]
Durham, James P. ("Bull"). Songs of SACk. 1965.
-------- Songs of S.E.A. Dur-Don Enterprises, 1970.
[100 songs collected during the author's tour of duty, 1969-1970]
Fall, Bernard. Street Without Joy. Fourth edition, revised. Harrisburg:
The Stackpole Company, 1964.
Text of "The Viet-Cong Blues," sung by the Special Forces Team of
1/Lt. John B. Dooley.
Fish, Lydia. "From the Delta to the DMZ: Folksongs of the Vietnam War," New
York Folklore Newsletter, 9, no. 4, (Winter, 1988-1989), 2, 3, 11.
-------- "General Edward G. Lansdale and the Folksongs of Americans in the
Vietnam War," Journal of American Folklore 102, no. 406
(October-December, 1989) 390-411.
-------- and Bowen, Thomas. The Longest Year. A Collection of Songs by
Advisors and Civilians in the Vietnam War. Buffalo: Vietnam Veterans
Oral History and Folklore Project, 1990.
[62 songs from various manuscript and tape sources. Some were
written or collected by General Bowen during his tours in Vietnam,
1963-1965, 1967-1969, 1971-1972.]
-------- "Vietnam War--American Songs: The General Edward G. Lansdale
Collection," Folklife Center News, 9, no. 3 (summer, 1989).
-------- "Walking in Charlie's Land: Songs by Americans in the Vietnam War,"
SUNY Research, May, 1991.
-------- "What Did You Sing in the War?" New York State Veterans'
Interchange, 1, no. 1 (spring, 1990) 15-16
Foster, Wynn F. Captain Hook: A Pilot's Tragedy and Triumph in the Vietnam
War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991.
Appendix of songs composed aboard the USS Oriskany, 1965-1966.
Getz, C.W. The Wild Blue Yonder: Songs of the Air Force. Vol I.
Burlingame, CA: Redwood Press, 1981.
[Good detail on variants and sources. Lists 33 unit songbooks.
Contains texts of 661 songs and many variants.]
-------- The Wild Blue Yonder: Songs of the Air Force. Vol. II. Stag Bar
Edition. Burlingame, CA: Redwood Press, 1986.
[Lists 23 songbooks of military organizations and reproduces 336
texts, with glossary]
Gonzalez, David. "From Smokey Saigon Bars to Stateside Concerts." The New
York Times, November 7, 1993.
Hardin, James. "Songs of Vietnam-Era Soldiers Featured at Center Program,
Folklife Center News, 9, no. 3, summer, 1989.
Hargrove, Thomas R. A Dragon Lives Forever. IVY Ballantine Books, 1994
[Memoirs of an Army Captain Ag Advisor with the CORDS in the Delta,
includes texts of songs he wrote]
Hughes, Toby. "What the Captain Means: Songs of the In-Country Air War."
Unpublished ms, 1989.
Jonas, Dick. The Dick Jonas Songbook. Vol. 1. Litchfield Park, AZ:
Erosonic Enterprises, 1976.
[Words and notes to 23 songs by Dick Jonas]
Lansdale, Edward Geary. In the Midst of Wars: An American's Mission to
Southeast Asia. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
Maxa, Rudy. "What Did You Sing in the War, Daddy?" The Washington Post,
Potomac Magazine, (February 23, 1975), 4.
Noel, Reuben, and Nancy Noel. Saigon for a Song: The True Story of a Vietnam
Gig to Remember. Phoenix: UCS Press, 1987.
[Personal narrative by a husband-wife entertainment team]
"On Top of Old Ap Bac," Newsweek, March 15, 1963
Pendleton, Scott. "The Unsung Story: Vietnam Songwriters." The Christian
Science Monitor, November 10, 1992.
Perry, Charles. "Is This Any Way To Run the Army? Stoned?" Rolling Stone
no. 51 (November 9, 1968), 1, 6, 8, 9.
[Excellent discussion of AFVN Radio and musical preferences of
troops in Vietnam]
Ploetz, Elmer. "In Country. A Buffalo State College Researcher is Compiling
the Work of Some Unlikely Musicians: Those on the Front Lines in the
Vietnam War." The Buffalo News, May 3, 1992.
"The Purple Heart Boogie." Time, March 4, 1966:41.
Ritter, Jeff. "Songs of the Vietnam War," Broadside, 172 (April, 1986):3-9,
13.
[Words of 10 songs from Lansdale collection and one by Rick Duvall,
words and music to one song by Jim Wachtendonk]
"Rock and Roll Song Becoming Vietnam's Tipperary," New York Times, June 14,
1967.
Sadler, Barry. I'm a Lucky One. With Tom Mahoney. New York: The MacMillan
Company, 1967.
[Personal narrative of Sadler's tour in Vietnam]
Safer, Morley. Flashbacks. New York: Random House, 1990: 164.
[Text of Hershel Gober's "Saigon Warrior"]
Scroft, Gene. "Eternal Mercenary." Soldier of Fortune, February, 1989.
[Recent activities of Barry Sadler]
Shadbolt, Stuart Lt. Col. Letter to Air Force Magazine, December 1971: 16.
Texts of two Nail FAC songs: "Well, I Am a Nail FAC in Laos" and
"Run, Run, Cricket Run."
Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.
New York: Random House, 1988.
Text of "Ap Bac," composed by a helicopter pilot or crewman after
the battle and "sung in the evenings over gin and whiskey and vodka and
cold beer in the clubs at Soc Trang."
Sipchen, Bob. "The Ballad of Barry Sadler." Los Angeles Times, January 27,
1989, sec. 5,col. 1.
Slavin, Peter. "Singing in the Ranks," Army Times, April 17, 1989
Stevens, Bob. "There I Was...Flat on My Back." Fallbrook CA: Aero
Publishers, 1975.
[Excellent collection of Air Force songs and cartoons from World
War II through Vietnam.]
Treaster, Joseph B. "G.I. View of Vietnam," New York Times Magazine, October
30, 1966:100, 102, 104, 106, 109.
Tuso, Joseph. "Folksongs of American Fighter Pilot in Southeast Asia,
1967-1968," Folklore Forum, Bibliographical and Special Series no. 7,
1971.
[33 pilots' songs from Vietnam with glossary and introduction
describing the performance of the songs]
-------- Singing the Vietnam Blues: Songs of the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam.
Texas A & M University Military History Series, no. 19. College Station:
Texas A and M Press, 1990.
Ward, William A. "U.S. Army Vietnam Band: Always on Sunday," Music Journal,
28 (November, 1970): 30, 31, 45.
Weiss, Lt. Col. George L, USAF (Ret.). "Throw a Nickel on the Grass." Air
Force Magazine, September, 1971: 84-90.
Woodruff, John E. "Songs Helicopter Pilots Sing on Flag Day in Vietnam:
'Napalm Sticks to Kids.'" Baltimore Sun, June 15, 1970.
VIETNAMESE FOLK SONGS
"Songs and Vietnamese Clientele are Sad at Nightclub in Saigon." New York
Times, December 14, 1969.
Treaster, Joseph B. "Saigon Bans the Anti-War Songs of Vietnamese Singer."
New York Times, February 12, 1969, 18. [Ref: Bernard]
Weinraub, Bernard. "A Vietnamese Guitarist Sings of Sadness of War," New
York Times, January 1, 1968, 3 [Ref: Arnold] Reprinted in Broadside (New
York City), 99 (June, 1969): 4
RELATED BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Bindes, Kenneth J; Houston, Craig. "Takin' Care of Business: Rock Music,
Vietnam and the Protest Myth," The Historian, 52 (November, 1989):1-23.
--------; Romanowski, William D. "The Pentagon's Top Guns: Movies and
Music," Journal of American Culture, 12 (Fall, 1989):67-78.
Elison, Mary. "Black Music and the Vietnam War," in Walsh, Jeffrey (ed.) and
Aulich, James (ed.), Vietnam Images: War and Representation. New York:
St. Martin's, 1989.
James, David R. "Rock and Roll in Representations of the Invasion of
Vietnam," Representations, 29 (Winter, 1990):78-98.
-------- "The Vietnam War and American Music," in Berg, Richard (ed.) and
Rowe, John Carlos (ed.), The Vietnam War and American Culture. New
York: Columbia University Press, 1991.
COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RECORDINGS
James P. "Bull" Durham. Bull Durham's Songs of SACk, 1963.
(Cassette, $10.00). Ten songs about SAC in the Vietnam era
-------- Bull Durham's Songs of S.E.A., 1971.
(Cassette, $10.00). Twelve songs collected during his Vietnam tour
of duty
James P. Durham
PO Box 10
Halls TN 38040
Bill Ellis. First Cav: Impressions of a Skytrooper First Team Productions,
1969, 1982.
(EP record, $5.00) Four songs about the First Cav
Bill Ellis
23298 Lone Pine Drive
Auburn CA 95602
C.W. Getz. Songs of the Air Force The Redwood Press, 1986.
(Cassette, $8.98). Twenty songs ranging from World War I to
Vietnam
C. W. Getz
105 Braemar Drive
Hillsborough CA 94010
High Priced Help (also known as Three Majors and a Minor)
A quartet of Army aviators of the 174th AHC recorded in country in
1967 (Cassette, $12.00, including S&H)
Marty Heuer
5402 Beaumont Center
Suite 102
Tampa FL 33634
In Country. Saul Broudy, Chip Dockery, Bull Durham, Bill Ellis, Toby Hughes,
Dick Jonas, Chuck Rosenberg. Flying Fish Records, 1991.
(CD, 16.00; cassette, 10.00). 28 songs by Americans in the Vietnam
War, recorded in Chicago in the summer of 1991. For more information
about this recording contact:
Lydia Fish
Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo NY 14222
E-mail: fishlm@snybufaa.cs.snybuf.edu
Dick Jonas. FSH-Volume 1. Erosonic, 1985. (Cassette, $10.00)
Ten Vietnam fighter pilot songs
------ FSH-Volume 2. Erosonic, n.d. (Cassette, $10.00)
Ten Vietnam fighter pilot songs
------ Two Sides of Dick Jonas. Erosonic, n.d. (Cassette, $10.00)
Five Vietnam fighter pilot songs, five other songs
------ Tape Four. Erosonic, n.d. (Cassette, $10.00)
Ten songs from post-war period
Dick Jonas
2001 Mountain View Glen
Ft. Mojave AZ 86426
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