Herman Graham, III. The Brothers’ Vietnam War: Black Power, Manhood and the Military Experience. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003. ix + 192 pp. $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 9780-8130-2646-6.
Reviewed by Janet G. Valentine (U.S. Army Center of Military History)
Published on H-1960s (October, 2005)
Black Masculinity and the Vietnam War
This book does many things. Its primary purpose
is to examine the experience of African-American combat soldiers in Vietnam. In doing so, the author deftly
places that experience within the context of the broader
American response to Vietnam, the civil rights movement, Black Power ideology, and the larger history of
blacks in the American military. As a result, the author
treats readers to a superior study not only of the military
experience of African Americans, but of the intersection
of war and society.
resistance to racial subordination” (p. 29). As a result,
Graham argues, African-American G.I.s were confronted
with two conflicting concepts of manhood. Ultimately,
black soldiers melded the notions into an understanding of masculinity that allowed them to function as part
of a close-knit combat unit, while establishing or maintaining a contrasting identity as independent and socially
and politically equal black men. The homosociality peculiar to combat soldiers dominated when units were in the
field, deflecting the friction between “Black Power” G.I.s
and white soldiers.
In the early years of the Vietnam War, as in previous
American wars, African Americans generally believed
that by demonstrating their patriotism and courage
through military service they ultimately would be rewarded with civil equality. Indeed, despite continuing racism within the military, the armed forces offered
young black men real hope for economic advancement
and introduced them to “meaningful equality and male
power” (p. 23). Military service was likely the first
time young black soldiers had interacted with whites as
peers or been exposed to African-American men who
held positions of authority over white men. Soldiering also offered “the experience of life in a homosocial world,” where demonstrating one’s masculinity and
proving one’s manhood were not only acceptable but an
inherent characteristic of the job (p. 23).
Tensions manifested, however, when soldiers moved
back to the relative safety of what passed for rear areas. There, African-American soldiers typically withdrew from the company of whites, spending their leisure
time with other black soldiers in whose solidarity they
could reaffirm their sense of what it meant to be a black
man. White soldiers often resented and feared this exclusivity, exacerbated by black soldiers’ expression of racial
pride through afro hairstyles and the “dap,” an elaborate
handshake exchanged only with other black soldiers as
a statement of brotherhood (p. 105). White attempts to
reassert the hegemonic masculinity were typically confrontational and often resulted in brawls. In a brief discussion of black sailors, the author argues that racial tensions were even greater in the Navy, because initial training was shorter, and seamen did not have to rely on their
fellows for survival as did combat soldiers.
Masculinity as taught by the military, however, was
a “hegemonic” manliness, rejected by increasingly influential, assertive proponents of “black consciousness and
An emerging black consciousness also informed how
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African-American soldiers understood the war in Vietnam. Angry at the continuing racism at home, black
soldiers began to question why they should be fighting
to protect democracy in Southeast Asia when African
Americans in the United States were still struggling for
civil rights. They also identified with the Vietnamese
struggle against colonialism, and came to see the people
of Vietnam as comrades in a fight against white domination. Many black soldiers began to see the conflict as a
race war in which they were fighting both white Americans and the Vietnamese. Ultimately, the race consciousness of African-American soldiers inspired them to question seriously American values.
Graham’s work is well-researched, carefully documented, convincingly argued, and cogently written. It is
a “must read” for understanding the experience of American combat soldiers in Vietnam, as well as the influence
of the black power movement during the Vietnam era.
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Citation: Janet G. Valentine. Review of Graham, Herman, III, The Brothers’ Vietnam War: Black Power, Manhood and
the Military Experience. H-1960s, H-Net Reviews. October, 2005.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10907
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