Jim Guy Tucker and Vietnam
I'm the lead archivist on the Governor James Guy Tucker, Jr., processing project, which consists of arranging and describing roughly 600 boxes of material. In addition to his many political accomplishments, Tucker also worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam. In 1968, he published a book on his experiences, Arkansas Men at War.
War Correspondent
Tucker was a correspondent, not an enlisted man. He was "in country" for a few months in 1965 and 1967. Tucker—who had served in Marines Corps Reserve before being discharged for a stomach ailment—was a sharp and objective observer of the war. As a writer, Tucker crafts his prose in the Hemingway tradition of clean, direct lines. Tucker interviewed men and wrote about them for papers in Arkansas, including the Arkansas Gazette and the Jonesboro Sun. His dispatches from Vietnam were collected into a book, Arkansas Men at War.
Tucker’s book focuses on a cross-section of Arkansas men, from a helicopter pilot, to a sniper, to a boat driver, who came from every corner of the state. Some were officers, others privates and medics. They all had something interesting to say about the war. Tucker describes the soldiers' experience in combat as well as their battles with constant rain and stinging red ants. He also provides us with men’s views on the Vietnamese and the progress of the war. Arkansas Men at War is unique in that it focuses on men from one small, southern state, but the experiences of Arkansas soldiers are representative of the millions of Americans who served in Vietnam. The book evokes the sounds, smells, terror, and boredom of fighting a war. Tucker was in danger much of the time (photos show him carrying a rifle), and the reader feels the tension at times. Straight-forward and detailed, Tucker's writings on Vietnam are an invaluable source for understanding the war.
A Walk in a Vietnamese jungle means trying to see every branch of every tree to make sure it does not hide a sniper; it means shivering as you touch each bush—because it may be booby trapped; it means walking over tunnel systems 30 feet underground that conceal a whole company of Vietcong; and finally it means a separate prayer for each footstep.
--from Arkansas Men at War
Soldier Morale
The U.S. military faced enormous logistical challenges in fighting an unconventional war thousands of miles away, in a Vietnam where the population’s allegiance to the American cause was dubious at best. Compounding the U.S.’s logistical problems were internal ones, from implementing an equitable draft, maintaining morale, and containing the ongoing racial tensions (race riots broke out in Vietnam was well as bases back home during the war).
Despite the many problems the U.S faced, Tucker's book doesn't portray the soldiers in Vietnam as demoralized. At one point, a man says that the war was being fought "about as well as it could be fought." But not all the men in Tucker’s book were sanguine about American victory. Tucker's book, nevertheless, suggests that soldiers were dedicated, professional, and optimistic, even after many American civilians and politicians—among them Arkansas senator J. William Fulbright—began to lose hope that the war could be won.
Whatever the "larger" issues involved in the outcome of the conflict, Arkansas Men at War has led me to read more about the struggle in southeast Asia. Tucker's book—which, unfortunately, has been out of print since 1968—provides a compelling look at combat in the jungles and rice paddies.
The Tucker Papers at the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture contain not only completed copies of Arkansas Men at War, but Tucker’s Vietnam notebooks, articles that he published in various Arkansas newspapers, correspondence, and rare books on Vietnam. Perhaps the most dramatic items are the many photographs (now digitized), which show Tucker talking with the Marines, wading through streams and hiking through jungle, and relaxing with friends in Saigon. The photographs also contain powerful images of the Vietnamese population, including a graphic depiction of an execution.
Tucker’s Papers will prove of interest to researchers for many reasons. But the materials concerning Vietnam give insight into a critical time during the conflict there. Anyone interested in the Vietnam War should consult the James Guy Tucker, Jr., Papers. And hopefully, Governor Tucker will one day publish more about his experiences in Vietnam.