Date of Award

8-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

School

Humanities

Committee Chair

Heather Stur

Committee Chair School

Humanities

Committee Member 2

Andrew Wiest

Committee Member 2 School

Humanities

Committee Member 3

Rebecca Tuuri

Committee Member 3 School

Humanities

Committee Member 4

Kyle Zelner

Committee Member 4 School

Humanities

Committee Member 5

Gregory Daddis

Committee Member 5 School

Humanities

Abstract

During the Vietnam War era, thousands of American GIs married Southeast Asian women who immigrated to the United States together. While considerable scholarly attention has focused on the political and social dimensions of the Vietnam era sex work industry, the regulation of marriage and immigration policies for Vietnamese American couples provide new perspectives to explore. Although intimate encounters with local women also pervaded other twentieth century conflicts, the Vietnam War saw the American military implement a new system to screen and regulate war bride marriages. In doing so, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) constructed the first interservice set of marriage regulations. While military officials sought to create a fair and efficient application system, Vietnam era marriage policy was marred with high financial costs, bureaucratic complexity, and the prejudices of American officials. In policing war bride marriages, military officials sought to protect young GIs from the prospect of unhappy marriages. These anxieties, however, often lead to marital policy being shaped by older fears of war brides taking advantage of gullible soldiers; reinforced by Orientalist stereotypes. The difficulties faced by applying couples saw American diplomatic officials create reforms to streamline the process. The most significant of these being the K-1 or “fiancé’ visa. While these reforms helped, many couples withdrew applications and become separated as GIs returned to the United States. Despite the many challenges of applying for marriage in wartime Vietnam, thousands of American Vietnamese couples married and traveled back to the United States to start new lives together. Their unions reflect the intertwined legacy of the war that both nations engage with.

ORCID ID

0009-0004-6147-8531

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