In May 1965, vice president Hubert Humphrey declared that the Viet Cong has committed the most unbelievable acts of terrorism the world has ever known. And throughout the long conflict in Vietnam, Americans similarly demonized theenemy fighters as reds, gooks, and fanatical killers. Offering a radically different view of these supposedly savage soldiers, "Mekong Diaries" presents never-before-published drawings, poems, letters, and oral histories by ten of the most celebrated Viet Cong war artists.
These guerrilla artists some military officers and some civilians lived clandestinely with...