{"product_id":"vietnam-zippos-american-soldiers-engravings-and-stories-19651973","title":"Vietnam Zippos: American Soldiers' Engravings and Stories (1965-1973)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe are the unwilling  led by the unqualified  doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful from an engraving on a Vietnam-era Zippo lighter  In 1965  journalist Morley Safer followed the United States Marines on a search and destroy mission into Cam Ne. When the Marines he accompanied reached the village  they ordered the civilians there to evacuate their homesgrass huts whose thatched roofs they set ablaze with Zippo lighters. Safers report on the event soon aired on CBS and was among the first to paint a harrowing portrait of the War in Vietnam. LBJ responded to the segment furiously  accusing Safer of having shat on the American flag. For the first time since World War II  American boys in uniform had been portrayed as murderers instead of liberators. Our perception of the warand the Zippo lighterwould never be the same.  But as this stunning book attests  the Zippo was far more than an instrument of death and destruction. For the American soldiers who wielded them  they were a vital form of social protest as well. Vietnam Zippos showcases the engravings made by U.S. soldiers on their lighters during the height of the conflict  from 1965 to 1973. In a real-life version of the psychedelic war portrayed in Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now  Sherry Buchanan tells the fascinating story of how the humble Zippo became a talisman and companion for American GIs during their tours of duty. Through a dazzling array of images  we see how Zippo lighters were used during the war  and we discover how they served as a canvas for both personal and political expression during the Age of Aquarius  engraved with etchings of peace signs and marijuana leaves and slogans steeped in all the rock lyrics  sound bites  combat slang  and antiwar mottos of the time.  Death from Above. Napalm Sticks to Kids. I Love You Mom  From a Lonely Paratrooper. The engravings gathered in this copiously illustrated volume are at once searing  caustic  and moving  running the full emotional spectrum with both sardonic reflectionsI Love the Fucking Army and the Army Loves Fucking Meand poignant maximsWhen the Power of Love Overcomes the Love of Power  the World Will Know Peace. Part pop art and part military artifact  they collectively capture the large moods of the sixties and the darkest days of Vietnamall through the world of the tiny Zippo.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983873962037,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226078280","price":59.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226078281.jpg?v=1770812039","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/vietnam-zippos-american-soldiers-engravings-and-stories-19651973","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}