Napalm: An American Biography

352 Pages·2013·1.43 MB·English

by  Robert M. Neer

N a p a l m
a n a mer ic a n biogr a ph y
robert m. neer
Napalm

N a p a l m
A N A M E R I C A N B I O G R A P H Y
Robert M. Neer
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts • London, En gland
2013
Copyright © 2013 by Robert M. Neer
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Neer, Robert M., 1964–
Napalm : an American biography / Robert M. Neer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 674- 07301- 2 (alk. paper)
1. Napalm— History. 2. Incendiary weapons— History. 3. Incendiary bombs—
Design and construction— History. 4. United States— Armed Forces— Weapons
systems— History. I. Title.
UG447.65.N44 2013
355.8'245—dc23 2012034926
For my father, a healer

Contents
Prologue: Trang Bang Village, South Vietnam,
June 8, 1972 1
HERO
1. Harvard’s Genius 7
2. Anonymous Research No. 4 29
3. American Kamikazes: Suicide Bomber Bats 45
4. We’ll Fight Mercilessly 52
5. The American Century 75
SOLDIER
6. Freedom’s Furnace 91
7. Vietnam Syndrome 109
8. Seeing Is Believing 126
9. Indicted 134
(cid:2)
viii Contents
PARIAH
10. Baby Burners 151
11. Trial of Fire 165
12. The Third Protocol 174
13. Judgment Day 193
14. The Weapon That Dare Not
Speak Its Name 208
Epilogue: The Whole World Is Watching 223
Notes 231
Ac know ledg ments 301
Index 305
Napalm