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Kim A. Wagner

@kimatiwagner.bsky.social

14K followers 2K following 850 posts

Historian of empire, violence and atrocity photography - currently writing about the My Lai Massacre. Latest book: 'Massacre in the Clouds - An American Atrocity and the Erasure of History' (PublicAffairs, 2024) London - Wylie Agency

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · Sep 1

'There was a map of Vietnam on the wall of my apartment in Saigon and some nights, coming back late to the city, I'd lie out on my bed and look at it, too tired to do anything more than just get my boots off.'

Michael Herr, Dispatches

Finally got an old French map of my own...

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 5d

More people were killed during the Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906 than at Wounded Knee and My Lai combined - and yet this American atrocity has been largely forgotten.

Review of my book 'Massacre in the Clouds' by @vrafael82.bsky.social in @nybooks.com:

www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Massacre Under the Starry Flag | Vicente L. Rafael

The history of a single photograph reveals how an atrocity in the Philippines was forgotten by its American perpetrators.

www.nybooks.com

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 6d

For a second, I thought that was a typo...

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 8d

Just bought this on Ebay for $5 - Alfred (of 'Mad Magazine' fame) as Lt. Calley, 'National Lampoon', August 1971

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 12d

Nope

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 12d

If only someone had written a book about this particular form of historical erasure...🤔

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 12d

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 16d

My current project on the My Lai Massacre is heavily influenced by the polyphonic structure of 'Rashomon'/'In the Grove' - and it's quite reassuring to find that contemporaries themselves drew that comparison. This commentary is from December 1969, just after the story first broke:

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 16d

Not really a fan of Chomsky, but he was quite perceptive and clearly ahead of his time when he denounced the use of 'remote-controlled unmanned aircraft' in 1970, during the Vietnam War...

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 20d

Very much so

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 20d

As a historian, writing about the past - no matter how violent or horrific - increasingly feels like escapism...

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 24d

🙏

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 24d

I've seen it irl - incredible!

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 24d

There were no Marines at Bud Dajo; the troops who participated in the assault included 4th Cav, 6th and 19th Inf, a small naval contingent from the gunboat 'Pampanga', and a company of Philippine Constabulary.

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 25d

My approach to research these days is to read absolutely everything I can put my hands on that will help me get the 'feel' of an event or time-period right.

Next up is Jean Larteguy's (author of 'The Centurions') fictionalised account of the disappearance of Sean Flynn in Cambodia in 1970...

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 26d

🙏

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 26d

The original is in the National Archives - you can't download it anywhere, unfortunately

Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 26d

I'm listening to the Lewellen recording of the pilot communication at My Lai for the first time. In the background, you can hear the wop-wop-wop of the Huy choppers and follow the progress of the operation minute by minute.

Is there any other massacre in history that was audio-recorded live?