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Slide Notes
Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail is such a unique take on the typical "Vietnam War Memoir" that it deserves special recognition and study - and the fact that it exists in relative obscurity further enhances the value of this work. Stevens relates his experiences through a highly poetic and often cryptic style that emphasizes the role of nature in the war and the insignificance of men on both sides as "the Machine" struggles to destroy nature.
Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail: Nature, Myth, and War in Viet Nam
Published on Nov 19, 2015
Richard L. Stevens illustrates his experiences in Vietnam through poetic prose rather than the harsh, gritty narrative typical of war memoirs.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail: Nature, Myth, and War in Viet Nam
by Richard L. Stevens
Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail is such a unique take on the typical "Vietnam War Memoir" that it deserves special recognition and study - and the fact that it exists in relative obscurity further enhances the value of this work. Stevens relates his experiences through a highly poetic and often cryptic style that emphasizes the role of nature in the war and the insignificance of men on both sides as "the Machine" struggles to destroy nature.
Photo by Wil Wright
The Machine and Nature
- Stevens relates his experiences to Joseph Campbell's hero mythos
- His ventures into the Trail are often frustrating in their emptiness
- The tension and fear become palpable as he feels he is cheating death
- He struggles to trust his friend, Viet, a former VC operative
- The experience is retold in fluid poetry rather than the usual gritty prose
Joseph Campbell's studies on mythology are another central focus throughout Stevens' writings - the concepts of the monomyth, or the singular common aspect that is present in all the heroic stories of different cultures, are recurring themes. As Campbell wrote (brackets indicate how Stevens' experiences mirror this idea):
"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day [the US] into a region of supernatural wonder [Vietnam]: fabulous forces are there encountered [the jungle, nature, and the always-elusive NVA] and a decisive victory is won [not a military victory, but individual survival]: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure [via helicopter rescue] with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man [the knowledge of nature]."
"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day [the US] into a region of supernatural wonder [Vietnam]: fabulous forces are there encountered [the jungle, nature, and the always-elusive NVA] and a decisive victory is won [not a military victory, but individual survival]: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure [via helicopter rescue] with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man [the knowledge of nature]."
Photo by archer10 (Dennis)
Richard L. Stevens
- Vietnam War veteran
- Professor of History at University of Hawaii
- Continues to explore and research the Trail
Stevens is now a professor at the University of Hawaii, where he lectures on history (especially the Vietnam War). There's not much else I could discover about this man - what little he wrote about himself on the book jacket is all that is found online. Perhaps he seeks to create a mysterious, mythic veil around himself to embody the larger-than-life heroic archetypes with which he frequently compares himself in the book.
Photo by Ron Cogswell
Organization
- The book is structured into 6 distinct chapters with their own themes
- 1. The Call to Adventure (beginning of his experiences)
- 2. Machine in the Forest (the US Army)
- 3. Deep Play in the Belly of the Whale (Nature of Life and Death)
- 4. The Gloomy Wood and the Poison Trees (Nature)
Each of the chapters reads like a miniature book in and of itself, with a separate theme and thesis backing each section. Many of these themes frequent the topics of nature versus machines, the individual's struggle for survival in the wilderness (this section in particular has a very Thoreau-like feel to it), and the cruel inconsistency of war.
Organization (cont'd)
- 5. Initiation-Separation-Return (thrill of the hunt vs. boredom of routine)
- 6. The Road of Trials, or the Dangerous Aspect of the Gods
- (the last, climactic incursion into the Trail)
These last few chapters delve deep into the psyche of an experienced veteran and the ever-present pall of death that hangs overhead; the feelings of cheating the inevitable and the luck and thrill of the hunt in the stealthy forays onto the Trail.
Photo by manhhai
Tone
- Stevens focuses heavily on nature and the concept of the hero mythos
- He portrays the US as the "Machine" that destroys
- Vietnam is "Nature," which is destined to bear hardship and triumph
- Stevens views the war as a doomed effort
- His individual experiences, though, are exhilarating and daring
The US military is frequently referred to as "the Machine" and is portrayed as fighting not against the Viet Cong or NVA, but against Vietnam itself - portrayed as "Nature." Stevens slowly comes to realize that the Machine will never defeat Nature, but instead of being disillusioned at the realization of such a prospect, Stevens chooses to focus on his own day-to-day survival.
Photo by Wil Wright
Use of Language
- We seem to be in a world of Nature spirits and lost, wandering human souls
- It's as if a great piece has been torn from Gaia's side...
- We see nothing. Only leaves, myriad levels of leaves...
- - Richard L. Stevens
- Stevens makes heavy emphasis of the nature of the hostile country
The selected quotes illustrate Stevens' depictions of nature as a living, hostile entity against the men of the "Machine," his fellow soldiers. The lush depiction of the scenery could almost lead one to forget the hostile nature of the war, but the interwoven tensions and frantic mind-tricks that Stevens relates make even a routine, uneventful patrol heart-poundingly nerve-wracking.
Photo by rgmcfadden
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
- Not one single homogenous path, but a network of roads and tunnels
- Much of the material transported across the Trail was done on foot
- The Trail snaked into Laos and Cambodia
- Heavy US bombing of the Trail led to the expansion of the war
- Spec Ops forces were frequently sent into the Trail on recon missions
The Ho Chi Minh Trail is a point of fascination for many who study the Vietnam War. Its highly complex intricacy, coupled with its seemingly ghost-like invisibility to even the most thorough of reconnaissance missions, frustrated the US military while perpetrating the myth of the elusive Viet Cong ghost soldier. In reality, it was a simple network of dirt footpaths and claustrophobically tight underground tunnels that snuck down past the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and into South Vietnam, often dipping past the border to the West into Laos and Cambodia.
Photo by tommy japan
MACV-SOG and Chieu-Hoi
- Stands for Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Special Operations Group
- MACV-SOG was a special forces unit that did deep recon on the Trail
- Units like Stevens' employed former VC operatives as guides
- These Chieu-Hoi, as the defectors were known, helped reveal VC locations
A Chieu-Hoi soldier named Viet features prominently in Stevens' book. Stevens helped capture Viet and played the role of "good cop" in the interrogation. Once Viet defected to the US side he became one of Stevens' companions, but Stevens constantly had misgivings about Viet's true loyalties. On the Trail, his trust in his friend was tested more than ever before. Though Viet never betrayed the MACV soldiers, several intense moments in the book detail Stevens' apprehension and fear of betrayal.
Photo by edwick
Willie and the Black Cats
- Stevens' friend Willie is a Huey helicopter pilot
- He is part of a unit designated the "Black Cats"
- Willie frequently flies in to rescue Stevens at the end of each chapter
- He is tempted by the thrill of the flight and the prospect of death
Once more, the thrills of death and escape are embodied, this time not in the stealth and caution of the hunt, but of the loud, roaring speed of the flight and escape. Willie of the Black Cats is often on R&R (Rest and Recuperation - US military-sanctioned leave) when Stevens radios him, but he always "saddles up" and flies out to rescue Stevens when he's trapped or in a bad situation (even if it takes a bit of good-natured teasing). The book's last chapter ends with Willie flying Stevens and Viet out of the Trail and back towards the base, as Stevens wonders, "What next?"
Photo by Steve Crane
