On behalf of Boston Publishing Company, it gives me great pleasure to send you Setting the Stage.

I hope that you receive as much enjoyment from reading it as we had preparing it for you.

Vietnam. For more than a decade, news from that far-off country dominated the headlines and,

for many of us, our lives. Daily events from mysterious-sounding cities like Da Nang, Kontum, and

Hue blazed across newspapers while evening newscasts related the latest casualty figures, battles,

and peace talk developments. Over three million Americans traveled halfway across the world to

fight in Vietnam while many more participated in the decision making and demonstrations at home.

Yet almost as suddenly as the Vietnam War had become our national preoccupation, Vietnam

dropped from public attention. Many of us--conservatives and liberals, hawks and doves alike--

wanted to forget the war, hoping that time alone would heal the wounds of foreign war and domestic

upheaval.

Now more than five years have passed since the last American troops returned home. Yet for

many of us, the mere mention of this small country s name still evokes strong feelings. And recent

world events have revived the difficult issues raised by Vietnam. We have weathered the Iran crisis,

watched Russia invade Afghanistan and threaten Poland, and reacted to unrest, war, and revolution

in Latin America and Africa. We have listened to news of the massive killings in Cambodia, the

continued fighting in Southeast Asia, and the flight of millions of refugees to the earth s four corners.

At the same time, Vietnam veterans have banded together to become a large, vocal group--and

America has begun to listen to their message. With the passing of time, these events have placed

the Vietnam War into a new perspective, and Americans are once again asking what happened in

Vietnam and why--what were we trying to accomplish there and who was right.