Читать книгу Voices from the Vietnam War - Xiaobing Li - Страница 10

Many people at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), where I have been teaching for the past seventeen years, have contributed to this book and deserve recognition. First, I would like to thank Provost William (Bill) J. Radke, Vice Provost Patricia A. LaGrow, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Pamela Washington, Dean of the Jackson College of Graduate Studies Richard Bernard, and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Gary Steward. They have been very supportive of the project over the past eight years. The faculty merit-credit program sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Liberal Arts College research grant at UCO provided funding for my research and student assistants.

Special thanks to Stanley J. Adamiak, who proofread most of the chapters. Chen Jian, Richard Peters, Zhang Shuguang, and Xiaoming Zhang made important comments on the early draft. Lt. Col. Terry May worked with me on a couple of chapters before he passed away in 2003. Clary James reproduced all of the photos for the book. Dick Gilbreath, Stephanie Shaw, and Ted Smith at the University of Kentucky Cartography Lab produced the maps. Candace Carollo provided secretarial assistance. Lacey D. Bryant helped with documents processing. Several graduate and undergraduate students at UCO contributed to the book. They traveled with me to meet the veterans, transcribed the interviews, read parts of the manuscript, and sometimes worked on the bibliography. They are Lynn Brown, Maj. Phredd Evans (U.S. Army, ret.), Jonathan Freeman, Sharon Kelting, Hugh Long, Michael Molina, Senior Airman Oliver Pettry (U.S. Air Force), Xiaowei Wang, and Yang Yu.

I also wish to thank the two anonymous readers for the University Press of Kentucky, who offered many valuable suggestions and criticism. Several other reviewers at the early stage of this project, such as John Prados, also provided important suggestions. At the University Press of Kentucky, Stephen M. Wrinn, executive director, and Anne Dean Watkins, acquisitions editor, patiently guided the production of the book. Any remaining errors of facts, language usage, and interpretation are my own.

During the research and writing period over the past eight years, my wife, Tran, encouraged my interest and helped me with the contacts, interviews, and translations in Vietnam. Our two children, Kevin and Christina, got used to my working weekends, and shared with me the burden of overseas travel. I dedicate this book to them.