Buckeye

War looms large over Buckeye, and one of its most important thematic projects is its examination of the devastating impact of armed conflicts on both the soldiers who fight in them and the families they leave behind. Everett Jenkins has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his experiences in World War I and does not fully recover until very late in life. Cal feels that he missed out on the chance to have his identity shaped by life as a combatant, but he does not realize how lucky he was until his own son Skip dies in Vietnam during the ill-fated Tet Offensive. Because so much of Buckeye unfolds against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and explores the way that it shaped the characters’ lives and an entire generation of Americans, it is helpful to have a better sense of the conflict as a whole and of the Tet Offensive and the My Lai massacre, in particular.

Vietnam was part of a Federation of French Colonial Possessions, known as French Indochina, that existed between 1887 and 1954. It included portions of what would become Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. French involvement in the region began during the 17th century, with the arrival of Jesuit missionaries, but it was largely limited to religious activity and trade until the 19th century, when fighting began to protect French interests in the region.