Nearly a quarter-century after the fall of Saigon, the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam continues to haunt the national psyche. In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle -- some would say stalemate -- that refuses to end.Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam -- among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. ("In many conversations with U.S. officers in Vietnam, I do not recall discovering any who were in doubt about what they were supposed to do there.") He exposes the myth of the MIAs -- a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism -- and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: "We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back.
