{"title":"“让人耳目一新的暂停”:1967-1971年在澳大利亚休整的美国军人","authors":"Chris Dixon, Jon Piccini","doi":"10.1111/ajph.70000","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nearly 10% of the 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam spent one week of “R&R” leave in Australia—principally in Sydney. This “friendly invasion” constitutes a substantial neglected legacy of the conflict. Across dozens of oral history interviews and memoirs, US servicemen recall with fondness their week-long respite in a nation that was at once comfortably familiar and safely distinct. Their preconceptions of Australia were framed by racialised and sexualised imaginaries. Comforted by the prospect of spending time in a predominantly “White” nation, White Americans were candid about their desire to enjoy the company of Australian women. At the same time, perceptions of Australian racism and immigration exclusion framed the expectations of African American servicemen. Reality, however, was more complicated, and undermines easy assumptions. While Australian memory of the scheme centres on its supposedly dramatic role in Sydney's nightlife district, Kings Cross, the experiences of Americans were far more diverse than such narratives would suggest. Perhaps surprisingly, the experiences of African American and Latino servicemen in Australia were also frequently welcoming and non-discriminatory. Individual Australians were more colour-blind in their everyday interactions than their governments, reinforcing scholarly findings regarding the reception of Black servicemen during the Second World War.</p>","PeriodicalId":45431,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Politics and History","volume":"71 3","pages":"399-415"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajph.70000","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"“The Pause That Refreshes”: American Servicemen on R&R in Australia, 1967–1971\",\"authors\":\"Chris Dixon, Jon Piccini\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/ajph.70000\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>Nearly 10% of the 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam spent one week of “R&R” leave in Australia—principally in Sydney. This “friendly invasion” constitutes a substantial neglected legacy of the conflict. Across dozens of oral history interviews and memoirs, US servicemen recall with fondness their week-long respite in a nation that was at once comfortably familiar and safely distinct. Their preconceptions of Australia were framed by racialised and sexualised imaginaries. Comforted by the prospect of spending time in a predominantly “White” nation, White Americans were candid about their desire to enjoy the company of Australian women. At the same time, perceptions of Australian racism and immigration exclusion framed the expectations of African American servicemen. Reality, however, was more complicated, and undermines easy assumptions. While Australian memory of the scheme centres on its supposedly dramatic role in Sydney's nightlife district, Kings Cross, the experiences of Americans were far more diverse than such narratives would suggest. Perhaps surprisingly, the experiences of African American and Latino servicemen in Australia were also frequently welcoming and non-discriminatory. Individual Australians were more colour-blind in their everyday interactions than their governments, reinforcing scholarly findings regarding the reception of Black servicemen during the Second World War.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":45431,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Australian Journal of Politics and History\",\"volume\":\"71 3\",\"pages\":\"399-415\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-19\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajph.70000\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Australian Journal of Politics and History\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"98\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajph.70000\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"HISTORY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Politics and History","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajph.70000","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
“The Pause That Refreshes”: American Servicemen on R&R in Australia, 1967–1971
Nearly 10% of the 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam spent one week of “R&R” leave in Australia—principally in Sydney. This “friendly invasion” constitutes a substantial neglected legacy of the conflict. Across dozens of oral history interviews and memoirs, US servicemen recall with fondness their week-long respite in a nation that was at once comfortably familiar and safely distinct. Their preconceptions of Australia were framed by racialised and sexualised imaginaries. Comforted by the prospect of spending time in a predominantly “White” nation, White Americans were candid about their desire to enjoy the company of Australian women. At the same time, perceptions of Australian racism and immigration exclusion framed the expectations of African American servicemen. Reality, however, was more complicated, and undermines easy assumptions. While Australian memory of the scheme centres on its supposedly dramatic role in Sydney's nightlife district, Kings Cross, the experiences of Americans were far more diverse than such narratives would suggest. Perhaps surprisingly, the experiences of African American and Latino servicemen in Australia were also frequently welcoming and non-discriminatory. Individual Australians were more colour-blind in their everyday interactions than their governments, reinforcing scholarly findings regarding the reception of Black servicemen during the Second World War.
期刊介绍:
The Australian Journal of Politics and History presents papers addressing significant problems of general interest to those working in the fields of history, political studies and international affairs. Articles explore the politics and history of Australia and modern Europe, intellectual history, political history, and the history of political thought. The journal also publishes articles in the fields of international politics, Australian foreign policy, and Australia relations with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.