Introduction
My name is Luke Macauley and I am from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I am 23 years old and studied at
Glasgow University for five years, four as a history undergraduate and one as an American Studies
postgraduate. In my undergrad years I took a course on the Vietnam War and the media. In this course I came
across a book (and film) - 'Dear America'. It was based entirely on letters home from Vietnam by American
servicemen. I found this letters format very emotive and so much more 'alive' than any other method employed
in conveying emotions of those that served during that war. When I came to study the Korean War in a similar
manner I discovered that it had largely been ignored in comparison to the many letters that are available
from WW1, WW2 and Vietnam. Hopefully this dissertation is in some way a successful attempt to redress this
imbalance. Conducting this study was thoroughly enjoyable and everyone I was in contact with was more than
friendly - emails, letters, dvds, books...all made their way across the Atlantic. I was even able to
interview one American veteran who was holidaying in Scotland. The eagerness and enthusiasm shown by these
gentlemen is proof enough that not only is theirs a story not fully told, but also that it is certainly
worth telling. The distinction grade that the study received merely reinforces this.
Dissertation:
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