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21 - Environmental Legacies of the Vietnam War

from Part III - Legacies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

By
David Biggs
General editor
Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
Edited by
Pierre Asselin
Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Pierre Asselin
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
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Summary

The environmental history of the Vietnam War is unique in the twentieth century for the unprecedented scale of aerial bombing and use of incendiaries such as napalm, as well as the United States military’s use of tactical herbicides to destroy forest cover in combat zones. Drawing on recent trends in environmental and military history, this chapter aims to provide a more comprehensive sketch of the environmental legacies of the Vietnam War. Besides the effects of bombing and herbicides, these include inquiries into the footprints of warfare in urban and industrial development, in ethnic and demographic shifts in former warzones, in the dispersion of invasive species, and even in the creation of wilderness or conservation areas.

Keywords

Militarizationbombingmilitary basesagent orangeenvironment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War , pp. 476 - 495
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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