CNN's Tailwind Tale - Inside Vietnam's Last Great Myth

Jerry Lembcke delves into the origins of CNN's 1998 story about U.S. soldiers in Vietnam using nerve gas on defectors and how it came to be believed, not only by those who told it, but by news reporters and the public. In his investigation, Lembcke shows that the myth of Operation Tailwind originated in the fiction of popular culture, the unreliability of memory, and the conspiracy-minded, ultra-Right wing, fundamentalist Christian community.

List of contents

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Valley of Death: From Blockbuster to Just Busted.
Chapter 3 Tailwind (Take 1): Courage and Covert Operations.
Chapter 4 Tailwind (Take 2): A Government Betrays Its People.
Chapter 5 Lies and Legends, Men and Remembered Mettle
Chapter 6 Two Parts Apocalypse Now and a Pinch of Sarin: Popular Culture's Recipe for Valley of Death.
Chapter 7 Beyond Reason: Revelation in The Valley of Death
Chapter 8 Consider the Sources: Thomas Moorer and John Singlaub
Chapter 9 What Was She Thinking? April Oliver's Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Chapter 10 The CNN-Tailwind Affair: Journalism in a Fearful America
Chapter 11 Afterword

About the author

Jerry Lembcke

Summary

CNN's story of Operation Tailwind was one of the biggest scandals of the late 1990s news industry. Here, Jerry Lembcke delves into the origins of the story and how it came to be believed, not only by those who told it but by news reporters and the public.

Product details

• Authors: Jerry Lembcke
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.08.2003
• EAN: 9780742523289
• ISBN: 978-0-7425-2328-9
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 481 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, Vietnam, Television, PERFORMING ARTS / Television / General, HISTORY / Military / General, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / Military / United States, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Modern warfare, Military history: post-WW2 conflicts, War and defence operations, War & defence operations, Vietnam War, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / General