Vietnam

In the spring of 1966, at the age of 17, I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Lyndon Johnson had only recently warned the American people that if we did not stop the communists in Vietnam, we would one day have to fight them on the sands of Waikiki, and the words of John Kennedy were still reverberating in my heart as if he'd spoken them directly to me: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. " I was going to serve my country in Vietnam. I had never heard of Archimedes Patti or Christian de Castries, Edward Lansdale or the Binh Xuyen - key figures in the early stages of the Vietnam conflict.

The three hospitalized Vietnam veterans in Pvt. Wars never talk about the war. But that traumatic conflict is the subject of James McLure's play, which is more interested in the damage inflicted on the American psyche than it is in battlefield wounds. The guys are all psycho cases, and their struggle to return to civilian life is frequently funny but basically tragic. Their plight and the nation's have the same subtext. This is a successful play in just about every respect. I saw and admired it first 10 years ago as a one-acter with McLure's wildly funny Lone Star at the annual new- play festival in Louisville, Ky. Since then, McLure has expanded Pvt. Wars to two acts, which are strongly sustained in this McCarter Theater Company summer production.

Pham Duy, 91, Vietnam's most prolific songwriter, who captured the strength of his people through years of turbulence, and composed dozens of tunes after settling in California, died Jan. 27, from heart ailments after two operations, in Ho Chi Minh City, said his daughter Thai Hanh. Known as the "musician of 1,000 songs," Mr. Pham was revered by generations of Vietnamese, who memorized his melodies and taught them to their children and grandchildren. He led a musical dynasty that included his wife, diva Thai Hang, and eight children, who performed around the world as part of the band the Dreamers.

The Vietnam War is finally over for the family of Edward D. Reilly Jr. The remains of the Army sergeant from South Hollywood Street in Point Breeze will be returned to the United States today, the Pentagon announced yesterday. Reilly, a tank weaponry specialist, was 23 when he was declared missing in action in Tay Ninh province on April 26, 1966, after members of his combat unit saw him being led away at gunpoint by enemy soldiers. He had been in Vietnam less than three weeks.

In some quarters, it is still firmly believed that the United States lost in Vietnam for reasons having little to do with strategy or tactics or underlying conditions. A favorite villain is the press. As recently as a couple of years ago, press perfidy in the coverage of the war was the subtext of Gen. William Westmoreland's libel suit against CBS News. It is a theory that won't die, and maybe it shouldn't. Certainly its origins may be traced back to the earliest U.S. battlefield involvement.

The subject of Still Life is the difficulty encountered by an ex-GI who fought in Vietnam and now must adjust to peacetime existence. That is not an uncommon topic in post-Vietnam America, but playwright Emily Mann and the Villanova University production deal with it in an uncommonly vivid and involving manner. Mann, director Irene Baird and a strong cast conspire to draw the audience - initially, almost against its will - into the troubled lives of three people: ex-Marine Mark; his wife, Cheryl, and his girlfriend, Nadine.

One of the world's most unusual theater companies will debut in Philadelphia - in America, for that matter - on May 6, in a production that the whole family can enjoy. The Water Puppets of Vietnam, a folk-theater form dating from the 10th century, features handcrafted puppets that dance in a pool of water on stage, manipulated by rods hidden under the water. Drumbeats and music accompany the puppets as tales from mythology and village life unfold. The puppet show is the final production in Movement Theatre International's 1991-92 season.

Thirty-eight years ago this week, two U.S. Navy vessels reported being attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress promptly passed the Southeast Asia Resolution, giving the president almost unlimited authority to make war. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a surprise; the resolution was not. Many of us working in the White House knew that the draft already had been written, waiting for the right moment to be introduced....

The year was 1966. The war in Vietnam was escalating and so was criticism of the draft. Even those responsible for calling up troops were unhappy with the system. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara spoke of its "inequity. " He favored some form of universal national service for every young person. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, citing the draft's "unfairness," supported 49 weeks of military training for all 18-year-olds. Some in Congress favored sending more National Guard units to Southeast Asia.

Kim Kieu came swinging along Hamilton Walk on the University of Pennsylvania campus yesterday, apologizing as she strode. "I'm sorry if I smell of formaldehyde," she said. "I've just been in anatomy. " She was carrying a couple of textbooks. One, about the size of second base at the Vet, was titled Biochemistry. Kim Kieu smiled as she indicated it with a nod. "I purchased it second-hand," she said. "It was a good bargain. Already I have spent quite a few hours studying it. " It is safe to predict that in the foreseeable future Kim Kieu, 22, refugee from Vietnam, is going to spend lots of hours hitting many such books.