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New arrival – Keith Seafield’s War Trophies: Weapons from Vietnam

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Through a series of coincidences, I learned about War Trophies: Weapons from Vietnam by Keith Seafield and ordered a copy.

This is a self-published work of very high physical quality, though (as is often the case) it would have benefitted greatly from an experienced editor.

The work is a series of vignettes about weapon brought home as war trophies from the Vietnam War.  It is lavishly illustrated, but the weapons get much less attention than the men who brought them back.  This is where better editing could have linked the stories, which are listed in a table of contents without any page numbers.

Some sort of narrative describing the logistics of the war from the Communist perspective would also have been helpful.

All that being said, it is of great interest to collectors because it describes how weapons were brought back through dozens of examples.  There are photographs of the paperwork, reports, and one gets a clear view of the process by which so many weapons could return to the US.

One generally thinks of Vietnamese weapons being of Chinese or Russian manufacture, but there was a ton of weapons floating around Southeast Asia, the detritus of world wars, civil wars and the Cold War.  Thus, there are many SKS carbines, but also Luger pistols, French and even American service weapons from previous conflicts.

Thus, while not as comprehensive as I would have liked, it has thrown much-needed light on a little-researched topic.

One response

  1. Keith Seafield Avatar
    Keith Seafield

    Mr. Lloyd I appreciate the thoughtful and measured review of my book, “War Trophies: Weapons from Vietnam”. I am particularly pleased that you recognized the book’s value in documenting a subject that has received very little attention and in preserving the stories and documentation surrounding Vietnam War trophies. I would, however, like to clarify one point regarding your observation that “the weapons get much less attention than the men who brought them back.” That was, in fact, an intentional choice on my part. My purpose in writing War Trophies: Weapons from Vietnam was not simply to produce a technical catalog or a comprehensive study of the weapons themselves. The weapons are important, but the men who brought them home are the reason I wrote the books. Each weapon represents a story, an experience, and a connection to the men who served. I wanted to honor those veterans and preserve their personal histories alongside the artifacts they brought home. For that reason, the photographs, paperwork, reports, and individual stories are not merely supporting material for a study of firearms. They are part of the human history behind those objects. A weapon sitting in a collection can tell us what it is; the story of how a particular veteran encountered it, obtained permission to bring it home, and carried it halfway around the world tells us something much more meaningful about the individual who served. I do agree with you on the issue of the table of contents. The omission of page numbers was an oversight, and I appreciate the observation. An experienced editor could certainly have helped identify issues such as that and improve the organization and presentation of the material. You also noted that additional discussion of the war from the Communist perspective might have been helpful. That is a fair observation, although it was outside the primary purpose of this particular book. My focus was the history of war trophies and, most importantly, the veterans connected to them rather than attempting to provide a comprehensive military history of the Vietnam War or an examination of the logistics of the conflict from the North Vietnamese or Viet Cong perspective. I was especially pleased that you recognized the broader historical significance of the weapons documented in the book. The Vietnam War battlefield was not simply a collection of Soviet- and Chinese-supplied arms. Weapons from earlier conflicts and from a variety of nations circulated throughout Southeast Asia, creating an extraordinary mixture of firearms with histories extending well beyond Vietnam. Ultimately, I am grateful for the review because it recognizes what I believe is the most important aspect of War Trophies: Weapons from Vietnam: these are not simply stories about guns. They are stories about the men who served, the experiences they carried home, and the physical objects that remained as tangible reminders of their service. My hope in writing these books is that those stories will not be forgotten.

    Thanks Keith Seafield

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