The second part of the interview between Tuoi Tre and Nick Turse, author of the NYT best-seller Kill anything that moves: The real American War in Vietnam.

Part 1: The stories of civilians need to be preserved

4. In general, what was your sense of the expectation of the Vietnamese interviewees towards your research (reflected in your conversations with them)?

At least initially, I was also shocked by the total lack of anger and animosity that I faced, despite the tremendous amount of suffering my country caused in Vietnam.  As an American, I expected at least some people to be hostile.  Instead, people invited me in, offered me tea, and talked to me about the worst days of their lives.  They endured questions about truly horrendous subjects.  They were so incredibly open and honest and were so giving of their time to stranger from a country that had caused them so much harm.  It was heartening, humbling and inspiring.  It was a true honor to speak to my interviewees.  I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from them.

5. On a personal level, was there anything you've learnt from the research for the book that you haven't been able to include in the book?

Writing Kill Anything That Moves was a deeply troubling experience for me because I had to leave out so much material that I gathered from Vietnamese interviewees.  Because people were so giving of their time and so willing to share their heartbreaking stories with me, I felt a duty to try to get as many of the stories in the book as possible.  Unfortunately, it became apparent that the book contained more accounts of horrific acts than American readers could possibly take.  My editors helped me to realize that I had to sacrifice individual stories to tell the larger truth of the war.  I deeply regret not being able to include the stories of so many courageous Vietnamese who spoke with me, but I hope it serves a greater good.

6. April 30th is when Vietnam commemorates the end of the war. The date certainly draws out complicated emotions from millions of Vietnamese at home and abroad, and I suppose from many U.S. veterans too. What do you think a book like yours can help speak to such emotions?

As an American, I hesitate to weigh in on what my book might mean to Vietnamese readers.  What I hope it can do is to start conversations about the war, even if they’re difficult.    

As far as the United States is concerned, veterans aren’t the only ones with complicated emotions stemming from what we call the “Vietnam War.”  The conflict continues to haunt my country in profound and complex ways.  Never having come to grips with what our country actually did during the war, we see its ghost arise anew with every successive military intervention -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. The true history of Vietnamese civilian suffering does not fit comfortably into America’s preferred postwar narrative -- the tale of a conflict nobly fought by responsible commanders and good American boys, who should not be tainted by the occasional mistakes of a few “bad apples” in their midst.  As a result, the war continues to haunt our society in profound and complex ways.  If America is to heal its spiritual wounds, it needs to admit what it did to the Vietnamese people. I hope that Kill Anything That Moves can help to inform Americans and, perhaps, help them to confront these hard truths.

7. Lastly, would you like to say something to the potential Vietnamese readers of your book?

I hope that Vietnamese readers will find my book useful in better understanding the American War.  Kill Anything That Moves presents long secret U.S. military files and testimony from American veterans that Vietnamese have never seen or heard.  It chronicles a hidden history and can help in understanding how and why the United States killed and wounded so many innocents.  Some readers may also be heartened to learn about the many American soldiers and returning veterans who attempted to tell the truth about the war only to have their government take efforts to silence them and cover-up the facts. 

Mostly, I hope Vietnamese readers will find value in my research and that it will spark conversations about the war and efforts to preserve the history of what civilians endured.