This text examines the Pacific War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, from the perspective of those who fought the wars and lived through them. The relationship between history and memory informs the book, and each war is relocated in the historical and cultural experiences of Asian countries.

Moving beyond traditional cultural and disciplinary boundaries, social scientists, humanists, natural scientists, and public servants examine the different ways in which people understand and inhabit their environments in communities across the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Rim, and throughout Asia. Utilizing ethnographic and historical case studies; textual, cartographic, and narrative analysis; and critical examinations of discourse and methods, these essays broaden our understanding of human/environmental interactions, and prompt more realistic assessments and effective action.

In contrast to the many books that use military, diplomatic, and historic language in analyzing the Korean War, this book takes a cultural approach that emphasizes the human dimension of the war, an approach that especially features Korean voices. There are chapters on Korean art on the war, translations into English of Korean poetry by Korean soldiers, and American soldier poetry on the war. There is a photographic essay on the war by combat journalist and Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Max Desfor. Another chapter includes and analyzes songs on the Korean War - Korean, American, and...