Amanda Boczar - An American Brothel: Sex and Diplomacy during the Vietnam War

For Beth

Vietnamese tonal and diacritical marks have been removed in the text for ease of printing, but the Vietnamese spelling and word order is used with most terms and names. In cases where Vietnamese names are commonly known in English, like Ho Chi Minh or Saigon, the English version is used.

Reflecting on her experience as a civilian coming of age during the American War in Vietnam, Le Ly Hayslip recalled, We did nothing to make ourselves look prettier, for pretty in wartime meant dangeralthough for some girls it also meant money. The danger stemmed from aggression by both American and Vietnamese servicemen. The ability to profit, however, increased dramatically following the American escalation. Through the close contact of wartime employment, instances of intercultural dating, marriage, prostitution, and rape became regular occurrences between service members and local women. The pervasiveness of such relations has come to define the memory of life in the rear echelon within popular culture. During the war, both consensual and nonconsensual relations, on and behind the front lines, created considerable obstacles for military operations and political strategy. The personal, social, and sexual lives of civilians and soldiers threatened war efforts by impacting solider readiness and pitting allies against each other on topics like eradicating prostitution.

Sexual encounters shaped the Vietnam War by absorbing international attention and defining military and diplomatic relations. The impact of service membercivilian relationships can be seen by looking at three main areas: power relations between the United States and the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), South Vietnamese society, and US military policies. Contrary to the previous experiences of the American military in Asia during the twentieth century, the South Vietnamese bans on prostitution and resistance to interracial marriage created a new set of challenges for policy makers and their judgment in writing and enforcing social regulations. The conflict between nations illuminates the importance of social and cultural issues in the establishment of power in foreign relations. By ignoring or undermining RVN social policies, the United States contributed to the overall weakening of the relationship between the two nations and in many ways dictated the behind-the-lines conduct of service members abroad.

More than 2.7 million Americans lived, worked, and fought in Vietnam during the war. Few encounters, however, occurred in a vacuum. Managing conflicting ideas of appropriate personal interactions in an already unpopular war strained the United States relationship with its military allies as both nations jockeyed for authority and respect.

The allied governments found themselves in an age-old debate over how to manage the human side of war. The prevalence of prostitution reshaped urban and economic landscapes, spread disease, led to unwanted pregnancy, and created intercultural strife linked to racism. The flood of marriage applications frustrated the government of South Vietnam as women lined up for days to try to apply for a way out of the country and forced a racially charged immigration debate in the United States. High-profile rape accusations and convictions undermined the image of the United States as a savior figure, although the military prosecuted very few of those accused of sexual assault. The exodus of Americans between 1973 and 1975 concerned diplomats and left a bad taste in the mouth of the American people after news outlets reported on retaliation against civilians who had worked or lived with Americans. The tens of thousands of vulnerable Amerasian orphans left in Vietnam precipitated a humanitarian crisis. The nexus of sex, war, and power framed a large portion of the American experience in Vietnam, reaching from the streets of Saigon to the desk in the Oval Office.

While some Vietnamese women worried how their interactions with Americans might affect their station in life, many defied social and legal boundaries by engaging in relationships with US servicemen to pursue love or profit. The most prevalent type of sexual encounter, prostitution, promised quick money but often failed to live up to that expectation. More often it only brought legal trouble, illness, and backlash from Vietnamese citizens who disapproved of the behavior. Over time, locals began to associate any engagement with an American as code for prostitution, and this led to greater challenges for genuine romances. As bar culture flourished, heightened corruption and a lack of vigilance in the cities placed both Americans and Vietnamese at risk of being attacked. Couples who fell in love struggled to prove their feelings to a lineup of bureaucratic officials on both sides of the alliance seemingly moved only by bribe money. Those left behind after the war ended faced reeducation or worse. Children sired in wartime trysts often suffered most of all, but also served as powerful motivators in postwar healing. Sexual encounters in their many forms and repercussions shaped the war in direct and indirect ways, causing military bases to move and politicians to spar, and forever changing the lives of the individuals involved.

For many Americans who did not fight in Vietnam or experience the era firsthand, their introduction to Vietnamese women came through the lens of popular culture in films or memoirs.